The ancient Israelites certainly did. They came to Moses with a real head-scratcher.

"Moses!" they asked, according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval midrash, "One verse says, 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy' (Exodus 20:8). But another verse says, 'Remember what Amalek did to you' (Deuteronomy 25:17). How can we possibly fulfill both of these commands?"

It's a great question. How do you balance remembering joy and celebrating sacred time with remembering pain and the need for justice?

Moses, ever the wise teacher, responded with a powerful image. "The cup of spiced wine," he said, "is not to be compared to the cup of vinegar." In other words, these two "remembrances" are fundamentally different. One "Remember" is about observing and sanctifying the Sabbath, a time for rest, reflection, and connection. The other "Remember" is about justice, about destroying and cutting off the seed of Amalek.

Who was Amalek? Ah, Amalek. They were a nation that attacked the Israelites without provocation as they wandered in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. It wasn’t just a battle; it was a cowardly strike against the vulnerable. Because of this, God commanded Israel to wipe out Amalek completely, a command reiterated in Deuteronomy 25:19: "Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies… you shall not forget."

But here's where it gets complicated. According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Israel did forget to fully carry out this command. But, the text emphasizes, "the Holy One, blessed be He, did not forget."

Later, when Saul became king, the prophet Samuel came to him with a direct order from God: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel…. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have" (1 Samuel 15:2-3). And when it says "all that they have," it means everything – even, horrifyingly, "all the living male creatures."

Saul gathered his army and prepared to carry out this difficult command. But as he approached the city of Amalek, he hesitated. "If the men have sinned," Saul reasoned, "what have the beasts done amiss?" He was wrestling with a moral dilemma. Could he, in good conscience, destroy innocent animals?

Then, a Bath Kol (בַּת קוֹל), a divine voice, rang out, saying to him: "Saul! Be not more righteous than thy Creator, as it is said, 'Be not righteous overmuch' (Ecclesiastes 7:16)."

Oof. That’s a tough one, isn’t it? What do we make of this? On the one hand, we have a seemingly brutal command to wipe out an entire people, including their animals. On the other hand, we have Saul, wrestling with his conscience, trying to find a more merciful path. And then, the divine voice telling him not to be "overly righteous."

It seems like the story is trying to tell us something about the complexities of justice, the dangers of forgetting evil, and the limits of human understanding when faced with divine commands. Is it possible to be too righteous? Is there a danger in applying our own moral compass when asked to carry out something we don’t fully understand?

Perhaps the point isn't to blindly follow orders, but to grapple with the tension between justice and mercy, to wrestle with the difficult questions, and to remember – always remember – the lessons of the past. Because forgetting, as this story reminds us, can have devastating consequences.