Jewish Word | What Is Cancel Culture—and What Does Judaism Say About It?

 https://momentmag.com/jewish-word-what-is-cancel-culture-and-what-does-judaism-say-about-it/

The term is new, but the questions surrounding canceling are not. They have surfaced in Judaism just as they have in other religions. “The most drastic type of canceling is when we say Yemach Shemo—blot out their name,” says Brandeis University sociologist Sylvia Barack Fishman. “Jews traditionally use that phrase for the Nazis. So when something is a moral monstrosity, that’s when one cancels [it].” Even then, Jewish tradition usually stops just shy of complete cancelation, she adds. Deuteronomy commands us to “blot out the memory of Amalek,” yet the same verse instructs us to “not forget.” That’s why every Shabbat before Purim, Jewish communities read the Torah portion reminding them of Amalek’s sins against the Israelites.