Amalek

"To distance her" -- from under the wings of the divine presence, as they should have converted her.

(8) Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. (9) And Moses said unto Joshua: ‘Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.’ (10) So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. (11) And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. (12) But Moses’hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. (13) And Joshua weakened Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. (14) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ (15) And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Adonai-nissi. (16) And he said: ‘The hand upon the throne of the LORD: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’

(1) Know, that it is necessary to judge every person favorably. Even if someone is entirely wicked, it is necessary to search and find in him some bit of good, that in that bit he is not wicked, and by means of this, that you find in him a bit of good, and judge him as meritorious, by means of this you raise him in truth to the side of merit, and you can return him in repentance... This is "a little bit and there is no wicked" - you have to search out in him a bit of good that is still there, where he is not wicked, because even though he is wicked, how is it possible that there isn't still a bit of good, because how is possible that he didn't do a mitzvah or a good thing his whole life? By means of this that you find in him a bit of good where he is not wicked, and you judge him as meritorious, by means of this you raise him in truth from the side of liability to the side of merit, until he returns in repentance by means of his own...

(18) Korcha (Smote) - comes from the expression "happenstance"(mikreh) ... A third possibility: This is the language of cool (kor) and heat, cooled you and stopped you from boiling. All the nations of the world were afraid to fight you [Israel] and this one came and started and showed the way to others. It is likened to a legend of a boiling bath that no creature could enter. A scoundrel came and jumped in. Even though he was scalded, he cooled it down for others.

However, if either the seven nations or Amalek refuse to accept a peaceful settlement, not one soul of them may be left alive as ibid. 20:15-16 states: 'Do this to all the cities that ... are not the cities of these nations. However, from the cities of these nations,... do not leave a soul alive.' Similarly, in regard to Amalek, Deuteronomy 25:19 states: 'Obliterate the memory of Amalek.'

(1) "And the entire congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the desert of Sin … and they encamped in Refidim": (homiletically,) "rafu yadam" ("their hands weakened") in words of Torah. And because Israel grew lax in Torah, Amalek attacked them, for the foe comes only as the result of sin and transgression.

(17) Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.

(1) And Samuel said unto Saul: ‘The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. (2) Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. (3) Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.’ .

1) We are commanded to eradicate the seed of Amalek and destroy its memory from the world, man and woman, child and adult.

2) The source of the mitzvah: to put into our hearts that anyone who causes trouble for the jewish people is hated by G-d and the response by G-d will be just like the wickedness of the perpetrator. Amalek was the first to attack and therefore they have been condemned to destruction.

4) This mitzvah is incumbent upon everyone. It is a commandment on the individual as well as on the nation. If one Jew has the ability to kill a member of amalek and doesn't, he is passing over a positive commandment.

ואת בהמתה לפי חרב,

You have to wipe out their memory in order to get revenge on them for Hashem.

This is the same reason why Samuel commanded Shaul to obliterate all their belongings in Samuel 1.

ולא ירא AND HE FEARED NOT —

Amalek didn't fear Hashem enough to refrain from harming the Jewish nation.

...זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק ... לא תשכח. I have found that the Torah divides this commandment into two halves. When the Jewish people are politically independent and strong, the part of the commandment we are obligated to fulfill is "to wipe out the memory of Amalek." When we are politically impotent we must still fulfil the part of the commandment which bids us "not to forget." One performs this part by cursing the name of Amalek and what that nation stands for.

(15) After they had crossed the Sea, they grumbled about the water and wicked Amalek came upon them, he who kept a grudge against them on account of the birthright and the blessing which Jacob our father took from Esau. And he came to wage war against Israel because she neglected the words of the Law. And from beneath the edges of the cloud of glory, the wicked Amalek would steal souls from the tribe of Dan to kill them, because the graven image of Micah was in their hands. At that time the House of Israel would have been condemned to destruction (like a vineyard about to be destroyed), if it had not been for the righteous ones of that generation (who may be compared to a sweet perfume). (16) At that time, they turned in repentance. And Moses the prophet stood ready and prayed before Adonai. Joshua, his servant, was equipped and went forth from beneath the edges of Adonai’s cloud glory, and with him went righteous heroes (who in their deeds resemble the rose). They waged war against Amalek and shattered Amalek and his people under the ban of Adonai: death and destruction according to the law of the sword.

(5) R. Levi declared: This situation may be compared to a child that is being carried on his father’s shoulders. When he sees something that excites him he calls out: “Father, take me there.” The father carries him to that place, and then to another and finally to a third place, yet the child, on seeing another man approaching them, asks: “Have you seen my father?” His father calls out: “You have been riding on my shoulders, and wherever you wished to go I carried you, yet now you ask ‘Have you seen my father?’” He then put him down. Whereupon a dog rushed at the child and bit him. Similarly, when the Israelites left Egypt, He surrounded them with clouds of glory, and when they wanted bread, He sent them manna, as it is said: And He caused manna to rain upon them for food, and He gave them of the corn of heaven (Ps. 78:24). And when they wanted meat, He gave them quail, as it is stated: They asked and He brought quails (ibid. 105:40). That is why it says: He gave them that which they craved (ibid. 78:29). And though He gave them whatever they demanded, yet they asked: Is the Lord among us or not? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: This is what you have been thinking. Therefore, this dog will bite you. Hence, And Amalek came.

Remember what Amalek did to you: I already mentioned above the Midrash in the Sifrei that this "remembering" must be a verbal recounting... It appears to me that the real reason that we are commanded to verbally recall the actions of Amalek, and to not forget about what they did to us until their name is wiped out from the heavens, is to ensure that we tell our children and descendants about the evils that this nation did to us, and to let them know why we have such a command. This is similar to the command to repeat the story of Aaron and Miriam gossiping about Moses which we have been commanded to teach to our children. Even though it would be more comfortable to overlook this story because it is uncomfortable to see a "tzadik" in a moment of disgrace, the Torah commands us to announce it and uncover their actions so as to provide a warning to future generations.

Write this as a remembrance: The reason that we are commanded to wipe out the memory of Amalek is because they angered Hashem. The generals of Edom where trembling in fear because of the wonders that God wrought in Egypt and in the sea, as were the nations of Moav and the Philistines. When Amalek heard about the triumph of God for His nation Israel, they came from a distant land to fight with the Israelites, and they were not afraid of God.

Rabbi Levi says in the name of R' Hunah bar Hanina: As long as the seed of Amalek exists in the world, neither the Name (of the Lord) nor the Throne are complete. When the seed of Amalek has passed from the world, the Name and the Throne will be complete.

Rabbi Elazar says, ""Whoever is compassionate to those who deserve cruelty ends up being cruel to those who deserve compassion". This can be proven from the Tanach: The verse states, "but Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the oxen"(I Samuel 15:9), and another verse states about Nov the city of the Kohanim, "He put Nob, the town of the priests, to the sword: men and women, children and infants, oxen, asses, and sheep—[all] to the sword". (I Samuel 22:19)

(4) We do not know an established time in the year or the day for this remembrance with the heart and the mouth, such as we are commanded to remember the exodus from Egypt every day and every night. And the reason [for the latter] is that that remembrance is a fundamental principle of religion, and as we have spoken about this in detail in many other places in this book. But the reason for remembering what Amalek did, is only that the hatred in our hearts not be forgotten. And for this, it is enough to remember the matter once a year, or in two years, or in three years. And behold, in all the places of Israel, they read the Book of the Torah over a year, or two or three - at the very least. And behold, they fulfill this commandment with that. And perhaps we should say that the custom of Israel to read Parashat Zachor on a specific Shabbat each and every year is [as a law from the] Torah. And it is due to this commandment that they fixed it like that. And it is always the Shabbat before Purim. And the law should be to read it on Purim day, because it is from the matter of the day, since Haman the wicked was from the seed [of Amalek]; but in order to make known that before the miracle [of Purim], we were commanded in this remembrance, they fixed the [reading] before Purim. However they made it adjacent to Purim, in the way that they, may their memory be blessed, say (Berakhot 21b) in [certain] places, "they placed the matter adjacent to it."

(5) This commandment is practiced in every place and at all times, by males, because it is upon them to wage war to avenge the enemies, and not upon women. And one who transgresses this, and did not remember and recite with his mouth what Amalek did to Israel ever, has negated this positive commandment, and also transgressed the negative commandment that comes upon this - which is "do not forget,' as we will write in the negative commandments (Sefer HaChinukh 604) with God's help.