Amalek Today
by HaRav Shlomo Aviner
The Haftorah of Parshat Zachor states:
“So says Hashem of Hosts: I remembered what Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way, as he went up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and destroy everything he has, have no mercy on him. Kill man and woman alike, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (Shmuel 1 15:2-3).
These instructions seem extremely cruel on the face on it. How it is possible to command us to kill children and babies who did nothing wrong? This is especially true since we are discussing a sin done a long time ago. Isn’t it proper to receive clemency for a long-past transgression? Furthermore, according to halachic authorities, the obligation to wage war against Amalek was not given solely to King Shaul or King David after him – it is an eternal mitzvah for all generations until this very day. Why demand such a radical and dangerous spirit of revenge from the Nation of Israel?
Our great authority, the Rambam, allays our concerns about this mitzvah; he reminds us that we are not a Nation bent on war, and that we only respond with war after first offering enemies peace. This is in fact the case in all obligatory wars (Hilchot Melachim 6:1).
Peace with the likes of Amalek obviously requires this monstrously cruel segment of mankind to have a complete internal transformation, which is quite questionable, since it is much more complex to purify the mentality of an entire nation than to change the path of an individual. In principle, however, there is a chance for peace. Our Sages tell us that the offspring of Haman learned Torah in Bnei Brak (Gitten 57b). They were truly righteous sages who converted themselves or who were offspring of converts to Judaism, although their ancestor was an ancient day “Hitler.”
We must understand the phenomenon of Amalek in its historical and ethical context. There was no territorial dispute between us and them. We were liberated slaves who suffered horribly for generations, and we were now suddenly free and hoped for happiness. Amalek began to attack the weak, the most vulnerable among us: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he met you on the way, and cut down all the weak who struggled behind you, when you were weary and exhausted; and he did not fear G-d. Therefore, when Hashem your G-d will relieve you of all your enemies around you, in the Land which Hashem your G-d gives you as an inheritance to possess it, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” (Devarim 25:17-19).
In the face of such zealotry – to attack the weak and those free of sin without reason and with baseless cruelty, which reminds us of the unlimited Nazi-Hamas hatred – there is only one possible response. The Rambam explains in his philosophic “Moreh Nevuchim” that the answer is deterrence. It is not enough to punish. It is necessary to prevent a return to killing! Anyone who has a desire for genocide must know that the response with be unmerciful; not only will the repercussions be towards him but towards his family.
People ask whether a new Amalek exists today in the form of Hamas. To our distress, the answer is not encouraging. The Amalek/Nazi danger still exists. It appears in different forms around the world. The Torah’s anti-Amalek response is therefore still applicable.
King Shaul hastened to fill the command: “Shaul had the entire Nation summoned…two-hundred-thousand infantry, and the men of Yehudah were ten thousand” (Shmuel 1 15:4). He achieved his goal: “Shaul struck Amalek…and he captured Agag alive, the King of Amalek, and he destroyed the entire people by the sword” (ibid. v. 7-8). On the face of it, justice was served. He was successful and he therefore protected the Nation of Israel and humanity from future tragedies. But this was not in fact the case, because he deviated from the Divine instruction: “And Shaul and the Nation had pity for Agag” (ibid. v. 9). But it does not seem like a big deal, how could one lone man, whose army had been eliminated, be a threat? According to our Sages, Shaul was motivated by a humanistic impulse and by the value of an individual life. But this time, his mercy was a fateful error. “The word of Hashem came to Shmuel, saying: I have regretted that I made Shaul king, for he has turned away from Me and has not fulfilled My word” (ibid. v. 10-11). It was the prophet Shmuel, a gentle and kind man, who was forced to perform the difficult mission: “Shmuel said: Just as your sword made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among the women! And Shmuel cut Agag in pieces before Hashem in Gilgal” (ibid. v. 33).
Various times in “Moreh Nevuchim” the Rambam repeats the expression “Being merciful to the cruel is cruelty to those who are merciful.” Murderers who are granted freedom constantly endanger the lives of those free of sin. In the short period between Shaul’s inaction and Shmuel’s action, Agag ensured himself offspring with a female servant (Yalkut Shimoni 58:61). The future descendant of that relationship was Haman, who formulated the Nazi plan to erase the Nation of Israel from the world, men, women, and children on one day.
A thought from the mystical side of the Torah bears consideration: in the end, Haman also had descendants who were Torah scholars and spread Torah. The Divine spark is found everywhere, even in Amalek. The Torah emphasizes: “You shall erase the memory of Amalek from under the heaven” (Devarim 25:19). Maran HaRav Kook explained to us that there is no reason to erase the memory of Amalek above the heavens, since the Divine spark will have a salvation (Midot Ha-Re’eiyah, Ahavah #6). Shaul wanted to have mercy on this hidden spark. But Maran HaRav Kook taught us that we cannot take mystical considerations into account when running our day-to-day affairs. Mystical ideas allow us to understand the world, but we must act according to the concrete and realistic Halachah.
The wicked blood of Amalek therefore still exists in our time. King David himself did not succeed in completely eliminating this monstrous phenomenon, and it continues to reveal itself throughout the course of history. Despite the terrible suffering of the last few generations, our stubborn struggle will succeed in destroying this evil for the benefit of all mankind.
