Why Does the Torah Command to Destroy Amalek? Understanding a Difficult Mitzvah

"Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you came out of Egypt: how he met you on the way, and attacked your stragglers at the rear, when you were tired and weary, and he did not fear God. Therefore, when the Lord your God grants you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land He gives you as an inheritance to possess — you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!" (Devarim 25:17–19)

Rabbi Aharon Levi once shared the following story: One late night, he heard knocking at his door. A young man stood there, his face filled with tension and distress. To the rabbi’s surprise, the issue troubling him was “the commandment to wipe out Amalek.” He spoke in a rush, barely able to collect his thoughts.

A Troubled Question

"I’ve been religious for several years now," the man explained. *"I study in a yeshiva for baalei teshuva (returnees to faith). I’m convinced the Torah was given by the Creator, and living by it has brought me joy — it’s the best thing that’s happened to me. But a few days ago, I met an old friend. I tried to share some of the wisdom I’ve been learning, but he said one sentence that broke me: ‘If God is good, how could He command genocide?’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked. He said, ‘Look it up — you’ll find the Torah commands the destruction of an entire people.’ Then he walked away.

Since then, I can’t find peace. I remembered he meant Amalek. I recalled our childhood lessons about ethics in war: the difference between fighting soldiers, which is legitimate, versus killing civilians, prisoners, women, and children — which is genocide. The thought stabbed me like poison. If God is good, how could He command such a thing? I can’t sleep, I can’t focus, I need an answer."

The Rabbi’s Response

The rabbi admitted he felt uneasy. On one hand, this man was in deep distress. On the other, this was a question that, while important, felt far removed from our daily lives. Still, he knew it was worth addressing.

"We don’t have the perspective of the all-knowing Creator," the rabbi explained. "We can’t fully judge what’s good or bad. But we can try to understand."

He could have simply said: God sees the future. For example, when King Shaul spared Agag, the Amalekite king, Agag fathered a son, and from him came Haman the Agagite, who nearly annihilated the Jewish people in the time of Esther. We therefore understand that when God commands destruction, there is a just reason. However, the rabbi sensed the man needed something more tangible.

Who Was Amalek?

The rabbi shared what he had read in ancient sources:

A Christian-Arab historian named Abul-Faraj recorded a tradition from pre-Islamic Arabia. It described great clouds over the desert near Egypt. The Amalekite tribe rode toward them, knowing full well that great miracles had occurred there. Unlike other nations who trembled and admitted these were acts of God, Amalek did the opposite. They charged straight into battle against Israel — not out of necessity, but to prove to the world that “there is no such thing as a nation protected by God.”

They even succeeded in capturing one Jewish prisoner before Joshua defeated them and scattered them. Though they lost, their very act “cooled the water”, by showing the world that it was possible to fight Israel.

The Danger of Amalek’s Ideology

Amalek’s attack taught the nations — and even some Jews, the wrong lesson. Instead of understanding that Israel’s vulnerability came from their own sins and spiritual weakness, people concluded that perhaps God doesn’t always protect his nation.

This doubt spread, giving the evil inclination ammunition: “You can sin, and nothing will happen — see, others did it too.” Amalek wasn’t just a military threat — they embodied rebellion against God.

Unlike other cruel empires, who at least cloaked their crimes in ideals of justice or equality, Amalek glorified evil openly. Ancient writers describe a nation (possibly linked to the Hyksos) known for traits of extreme cruelty and desecration of the sacred. Archaeological finds confirm that when Amalek conquered cities, they mutilated prisoners and immediately desecrated anything holy.

This was not an ordinary enemy nation with a corrupt king, but an entire culture of men, women, and children, dedicated to bloodshed, looting, and erasing faith in God.

Why the Commandment?

Understood this way, the Torah’s commandment makes sense. Just as modern navies today destroy Somali pirates — because their very survival depends on killing innocents and hijacking ships, so too, Amalek represented a society whose entire existence was a war against justice, faith, and human dignity.

Other evil nations at least tried to justify themselves, but Amalek was unique in that they glorified their corruption. For such an ideology, there is no cure. The Torah therefore commands: “Blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.”

The Man’s Relief

When the rabbi finished, he noticed the troubled man’s face light up. He now felt, in a very real way, the necessity of Amalek’s eradication — not as an arbitrary command, but as a defense of goodness, faith, and justice.

"Remember what Amalek did to you..."