"Erase the Memory of Amalek from Under the Heavens": Why Specifically Amalek?

"Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you were leaving Egypt: how he happened upon you on the way and struck the ones lagging behind you while you were weary and exhausted, and he did not fear Hashem. And when Hashem gives you rest from all your enemies around you in the land that Hashem your God is giving you to inherit, you shall erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget."

A few years ago, Rabbi Aharon Halevi told me that he heard a knock at his door, quite late at night. He opened the door to find a young man, looking visibly stressed. It was clear he was distressed. To the Rabbi's surprise, what troubled him was "the commandment to erase Amalek." He spoke in a torrent of words, barely allowing the Rabbi the chance to help him organize his thoughts properly...

"I am a returning Jew, for quite a few years now. I study at a yeshiva for returnees, convinced that the Torah was given by the Creator, and I adore the way of life according to the Torah. It's the best thing that happened to me, I am happy. But suddenly, a few days ago, I met an old friend. I tried to share with him the wisdom I was learning. But he only said one sentence: 'Hashem is good; it can't be that He commands genocide.' 'What are you talking about?', I asked him in surprise. 'You see, you don't even know the Torah you're studying. There's a commandment in the Torah for genocide, search and you'll find it.' He said and walked away."

Since that moment, I haven't found peace of mind. I immediately recalled what he meant — the annihilation of Amalek. I remembered how in our youth, we studied morality, the rules of war, and the distinction between war against soldiers, which is legitimate, and the killing of civilians, prisoners, women, and children, which is considered genocide. The matter entered my heart like venom. If Hashem is good, how can He command genocide? I get into bed, and the sentence jumps out: 'If Hashem is good, how does He command genocide?' I wake up in the morning, and again the same sentence jumps out at me, I can't concentrate without a convincing answer. Rabbi, help me."

I didn't feel comfortable smiling, the Rabbi told me. On one hand, I thought the man was genuinely troubled, and it turned out he had a question that, while bothering him, nonetheless was far removed from our everyday lives. On the other hand, indeed, we must try to understand the command of the Creator as much as possible. We have no right or ability to judge what is good or bad; we don't have the perspective of the omniscient Creator, but attempting to understand is alright. I shall try to appease him.

I could have simply told him that the Creator foresees future generations. For when the Israelites showed mercy on Agag and did not kill him immediately, he managed to have a son, from whom came Haman the Agagite, who nearly destroyed all the Jews in King Achashverosh's provinces. Therefore, if Hashem commands someone to be killed, there is a good reason. To us, it is clear that it is right and justified. But I saw that he needed something more concrete, to feel the matter. I shared with him something I read in one of the books.

There was a writer named Abolafrej, who gathered ancient books, traditions that the inhabitants of Arabia held before Islam was born. One recounts: "Great clouds hovered over the desert near Egypt. The Amalek tribe left its place and galloped toward the clouds." All the nations in the area knew that great events had happened near Egypt; the nations melted in fear because they had the honesty to admit that these events were acts of Hashem. Even Pharaoh, whom Hashem hardened his heart, finally broke and admitted to the hand of Hashem. The Moabites knew they had no chance by natural means and thought they could entice Balaam, who was a prophet, to act miraculously against Israel, but it was revealed that this too was impossible. Hashem protects Israel.

But one nation acted exactly the opposite — the Amalekites. They didn't flee or panic; they decided to rush to the place of the miracle. They lacked nothing in their land, yet they wanted to prove to everyone that there is no such thing as "a nation protected by the Creator." They fought against Israel and managed to capture one prisoner until Joshua the son of Nun defeated them and scattered them to the winds. Indeed, they didn't win, but what they did was "cool the bath," to show the nations of the world that it is possible to fight against Israel.

But how was it that Amalek succeeded in harming Israel?

Indeed, Amalek proved something correct: the covenant between Hashem and Israel is not a one-sided insurance policy; the state of Israel always depends on their spiritual state. If their hands weaken from the Torah, Amalek can harm them. It may be a small harm, but harm nonetheless. And this lesson was learned by the nations of the world. If Amalek could succeed a little, maybe we too could succeed a bit. The non-Jews don’t always understand Hashem’s ways; hence, alongside the non-Jews who were frightened and dissolved, the Girgashite who fled, the Gibeonites who sought to make a covenant, there were nations who thought to themselves: if one can harm Israel, maybe Hashem isn't always on their side?

This heretical thought also seeped in among the weak in spirit within Israel, those who even in the generation of the wilderness, and later too, allowed themselves to sin, relying on the fact that there were non-Jews who were successful in harming Israel. Instead of understanding that such harm is possible because of the sin of Israel, they insisted on claiming that it's because Hashem doesn’t always care for the people of Israel!

In fact, were it not for Amalek's insolent act of fighting against those for whom Hashem defied all natural systems, the nations of the world, and even Israel, would have certainly believed that Hashem watches over Israel and understood that if they incur any harm, it can be rectified by drawing closer to Hashem. But after "cooling the bath," the evil inclination has something to rely on; it can whisper to a person, "do so and so and nothing will happen to you," as indeed didn’t happen to so-and-so.

Amalek didn’t just stop at a theoretical disbelief; he expressed the complete opposite of faith in all his actions. Hashem demands of us to walk the path of righteousness and goodness, yet Amalek deliberately violated all the Ten Commandments. The Sages said he was cutting off limbs from the Israelites during war. Some identified Amalek with an ancient nation called "Hyksos," which all ancient scribes described as having two main traits: cruelty and desecration of the sacred. As soon as they conquered a city, they would sever the limbs of the captives and then immediately turn to destroy and obliterate anything that represented faith or holiness. Archaeological excavations in cities where they lived (mainly the city of Avaris) have confirmed these descriptions.

Now that we know this is the Amalekite nation, the necessity of destroying such a nation is demonstrated to us. A nation of plunderers is not like a people who send an army, where in such a case, it is customary to fight only the army and not the civilians. This concerns a nation where everyone engages in the work of looting, and that is how they live. Even the women and children participate in the wicked way of life, which is entirely a war against justice and righteousness, and therefore also a war against the God of Israel who demanded justice and righteousness.

Today, even in our times, when encountering pirates (still found in the Somalia region), they too are completely eliminated, because these are people whose existence is based on the killing of innocents and loot. This can illustrate to us how our forefathers saw Amalek, as a nation of robbers, driven by an ideology that aimed to cancel faith in the Creator of the world and His demand to walk in His ways and to uphold justice and righteousness.

The difference between Amalek and other negative nations is that Amalek does not try to cover up its crimes. The communist regime, for example, behaved wickedly, destroying and torturing millions of people, but outwardly, it did everything to achieve justice and equality. People like this stand a chance of being brought back on track. But those who do not try to hide their actions, and they kill, destroy, torture, and desecrate the sacred, based on an official ideology, have no remedy, and therefore the holy Torah commands that they be destroyed.

When I finished the explanation, Rabbi Levi recounted, although it was late, I saw the eyes of my unexpected guest light up, and he felt acutely the necessity of the destruction of Amalek... Remember what Amalek did to you!