ed note–again the painfully obvious which only a tiniest handful seem to be willing to understand in all its simplicity.
1. The ‘Jewish Problem’ is thousands of years older than the Talmud, Kabbalah, Zohar, Herzl, Jabotinsky, Balfour Declaration, etc. The deadly ingredients making it what it is now were added in the very beginning stages of its construction as clearly laid out within the very first books of the Torah (Old Testament). What we are dealing with now is a full grown alligator that started out as a baby but whose nature remains exactly the same that is always was.
We are forced to point this out due to the depressingly and distressingly high percentage of ‘activists’ out there claiming various degrees of expert-cy on all matters related to the ‘JP’ who maintain with all the fervency and certainty as those who once believed that the earth was flat that today’s condition of man and the manner by which a diabolically-insane sub-stratum of humanity now holds a sacrificial knife to the throat of every living human being on God’s green earth is that a terrible ‘change’ took place some 140 years ago when the Israeiltes, Hebrews, She-Brews, whatever combination of letters, consonants, and vowels we want to use in describing them, went from being ‘good’ to being ‘bad’ as a result of some sudden change in their DNA and in their literature.
Utter hogwash, nonsense, and completely insupportable hocus-pocus/mumbo-jumbo.
As the piece below makes patently clear, the commandment on the part of today’s followers of Judaism to ‘obliterate Amalek’ does not hail from the Talmud, Kabbalah, Zohar, Herzl, Jabotinsky, etc. It predates all of the aforementioned by thousands of years.
The other item that all persons residing on God’s green earth with a keen interest in their own continued existence need to keep in mind is that ‘Amalek’ is now a universal term that means ALL NON-JEWS, and especially those of the Ishmaelite (Arab/Persian) and Edomite (Roman, Greek, and European) pedigree.
In other words, the obligation on the part of the Jews and their nuclear armed/financially-monopolistic state to ‘Obliterate Amalek’ is represented today in their Torah-based obligation to wipe out the Arabs and the Europeans, respectively understood to be the Muslims and Christians, a vow which Jews have made to their violent god yahwew and to each other now for 4,000+ years in the yearly celebration of Purim.
Israel National News
In order to better understand the reason for the commandment to obliterate Amalek, one must know that Amalek was a tribe that did not engage in agriculture or industry, but rather, trained its’ youth to conduct surprise attacks against villages and convoys and kill those they encountered, plunder their belongings, and sell the remaining men, women and children as slaves. It was difficult to wage war against them because they did not have a permanent base, and would suddenly and unexpectedly appear at enormously distant locations, with large attacking forces. In order to protect themselves from Amalek, others would need to station large guarding forces in all towns close to the outlying areas. This being impossible, the Amalekites were able to kill and loot in their attacks, to the point where most of the people living in outlying places were forced to gather into crowded areas, and vast expanses of land that could have provided food for sizable amounts of people remained desolate due to fear of the Amalekites.
Thus, immediately after Am Yisrael left the slavery of Egypt, still tired and weary from the arduous journey, Amalek came and attacked them. Instead of realizing the greatness of the miracle, or having mercy on the newly-released slaves, the Amalekites saw before them easy prey, and taking advantage of Israel’s weakness, began attacking the stragglers in the rear of the camp, in order to make a living by selling them as slaves, and plundering their possessions.
Even after Yehoshua, on behalf of Moshe Rabbeinu, fought and drove them away, it was clear this would not be the last battle; rather, every time Amalek would perceive signs of weakness, they would attack, kill, loot, and sit in wait for the next assault.
The Three Commandments related to the Obliteration of Amalekite Consequently, we were commanded three mitzvot: 1) a positive commandment, to remember what Amalek did to us when we were leaving Egypt. 2) A negative commandment, not to forget what Amalek did to us. 3) A positive commandment to obliterate Amalek’s offspring from the world (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
In order to annihilate Amalek, a large army was needed to encircle all the widespread areas from which they operated, locate them, block their escape routes, encounter them face-to-face, and destroy them. To do this, the Jewish nation would first have to establish themselves in the land, and be able to allocate large forces for long periods of time to fight Amalek, while assigning additional forces to protect the home front during the long and protracted military operation. Regarding this, our Sages said: “Three commandments were given to Israel when they entered the land: to appoint a king, to obliterate the seed of Amalek, and only after this, would we be able to fulfill the third commandment – to build the Holy Temple” (Sanhedrin 20b).
The History of Obliterating Amalekite
After the establishment of the reign of King Saul, Israel’s first king, the time had come to obliterate Amalek and their animals. The possible explanation why Israel was commanded to obliterate the animals was so they would not benefit from gezel (stolen goods), for all of Amalek’s property was stolen. And perhaps if Israel were allowed to enjoy the spoils, they would prefer to make an alliance with Amalek, allowing them to continue looting the cities of neighboring peoples in return for part of the spoils, and the guarding of the borders.
The apprehension was confirmed. King Saul did not fulfill the commandment appropriately, had mercy on Agag king of Amalek and the choice sheep and cattle, and ended the battle while many Amalekites were still alive. Apparently, instead of ending the war, he preferred to capture Agag so he would continue reigning over the remaining Amalekites under the subordination of Israel, in order to guard the edge of the desert for Israel.
As a result of the breach of the commandment, God transferred the kingdom from Saul and gave it to David, however the terrible damage had already been done. The Amalekites continued attacking Israel. A few years later, while David and his men were at war against the Philistines, the Amalekite battalion raided the city of Zeklag, burnt the city down, and took all their wives and children captive. By the grace of God, David and his men rescued the captives, and struck the battalion (see Peninei Halakha: Z’manim 5: 5).
Our Sages further related that from the time Saul delayed the killing Agag, he fathered a son or a daughter, and from them, his seed continued until the evil Haman (Megillah 13a).
The Moral Logic of the Commandment
The moral logic of the commandment is clear – just as Amalek did to all the cities they looted, so should be done to them. Actually, Amalek generally did not kill all the inhabitants of the cities they conquered, however, that was only because they hoped to profit from selling them as slaves, but when they found no buyers – they killed them.
This measure of retribution is also necessary in order to create deterrence, for whoever concedes to his enemies and fails to avenge them appropriately, encourages them to continue fighting. The great empires severely punished their foes, thus creating a deterrent that maintained their rule for centuries.
Amalekites May Repent
Although the Torah commanded to obliterate the offspring of Amalek, if an Amalekite decides to observe the Seven Noahide commandments, he is no longer judged as an Amalekite. Not only that, the Torah commanded that before we wage war against Amalek we offer them peace, in other words, to accept the Seven Noahide commandments, subjugation to Israel, and to pay tribute. If they accept, we do not wage war against them. If they refuse – we must go to war against them, until their complete destruction (Rambam, Laws of Kings, 6:1-4, Kesef Mishneh there).
Thus, unlike the Nazi policy in which a person with even the slightest trace of Jewish origin was murdered, according to Jewish law Amalekites can save themselves by way of dismissing their heritage, and accepting the moral principles of the Seven Noahide commandments. This right is reserved for all individuals, all families, and even the entire nation.
Accordingly, the ideal way to fulfill the mitzvah of obliterating Amalek is for them to repent. If they do not, there is an alternative way which is also l’chatchila (ideal) – to annihilate them in war.
In practice, the mitzvah has been fulfilled be’di’avad (in a less-than-ideal manner): over the years, the descendants of Amalek were scattered and assimilated among the nations, their trace of origin was lost, and the judgement of Amalek was annulled without their having repented.
Moreover, according to Rambam, Amalekites can convert to Judaism (Hilkhot Issurei Bi’ah 12:17); thus, some of Haman’s descendants converted and taught Torah in Bnei Brak. There are some poskim, however, who are of the opinion that an Amalekite cannot convert; nevertheless, even according to their opinion, many of them say that be’di’avad, if they converted, their conversion is kosher (Yeshuot Malcho).
