What do we do about Amalek today?

(8) Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. (9) Moses said to Joshua, “Pick some troops for us, and go out and do battle with Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in my hand.” (10) Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. (11) Then, whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. (12) But Moses’ hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur, one on each side, supported his hands; thus his hands remained steady until the sun set. (13) And Joshua overwhelmed the people of Amalek with the sword. (14) Then ה׳ said to Moses, “Inscribe this in a document as a reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven!” (15) And Moses built an altar and named it Adonai-nissi. (16) He said, “It means, ‘Hand upon the throne of ה׳ !’ ה׳ will be at war with Amalek throughout the ages.”

(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. (19) Therefore, when your God ה׳ grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God ה׳ is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

(1) This is the line of Esau—that is, Edom. (2) Esau took his wives from among the Canaanite women—Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah daughter of Zibeon the Hivite — (3) and also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. (4) Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; (5) and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. Those were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.(12) Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. Those were the descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.

(29) Amalekites dwell in the Negeb region; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites inhabit the hill country; and Canaanites dwell by the Sea and along the Jordan.”

ויבא עמלק THEN CAME AMALEK — Scripture places this section immediately after this preceding verse (they said, “Is the Lord among us or not?”) to imply, “I am ever among you and ready at hand for every thing you may need, and yet you say, “Is the Lord among us or not?” By your lives, I swear that the hound (Amalek) shall come and bite you, and you will cry for Me and then you will know where I am!” A parable: it may be compared to a man who carried his son upon his shoulder, and went out on a journey. The son saw an article and said, “Father, pick up that thing and give it to me”. He gave it to him, and so a second time and so also a third time. They met a certain man to whom the son said, “Have you seen my father anywhere?” Whereupon his father said to him, “Don’t you know where I am?” — He, therefore, cast him off from himself and a hound came and bit him (Midrash Tanchuma, Yitro 3).

(11) “I thought,” said Abraham, “surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.

(15) By this you shall be put to the test: unless your youngest brother comes here, by Pharaoh, you shall not depart from this place! (16) Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain confined, that your words may be put to the test whether there is truth in you. Else, by Pharaoh, you are nothing but spies!” (17) And he confined them in the guardhouse for three days. (18) On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you shall live, for I fear God.

(21) And [God] established households for the midwives, because they feared God.

(21) You shall also seek out, from among all the people, capable individuals who fear God—trustworthy ones who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and

FOR THE HAND UPON ‘KEIS Y-AH’ (THE THRONE OF THE ETERNAL). “The hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is raised to swear by His throne that He will maintain [a state of] war and enmity against Amalek forever. Now what is the significance of the word keis, and why does it not say kisei [as usual]? Furthermore, even the Divine Name is divided into half! [The answer is that] the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that the throne will not be perfect and the Name will not be full until He will blot out the name of Amalek the son of Esau. And when his name will be blotted out, then will G-d’s Name be full and the throne perfect, as it is said, The foe — they are destroyed; perpetual ruins. [This refers to Esau, of whom it is said, And he kept his wrath for ever.] Their very memorial is perished. What is written after that? And the Eternal is enthroned for ever. Thus you see [that after Amalek’s memory has perished], G-d’s Name is full. He hath established ‘kis’o’ (His throne) for judgment. Thus you see that the throne will be perfect.” Thus far the language of Rashi, and it is a Midrash of the Sages.Some scholars explain the verse as meaning that “when there will be a ‘hand,’ [i.e., king, as explained further], upon the throne of the Eternal, the Eternal will have war with Amalek, and so shall it be from generation to generation.” The purport of this is that when there will be a king in Israel sitting upon the throne of the Eternal, he shall wage war against Amalek, thus alluding to Saul, the first king [of Israel]. And so shall it continue from generation to generation, that every king of Israel shall be duty-bound to fight with them until their name will extinct.The following is also a Midrash of the Gemara, as found in [Tractate Sanhedrin] in the chapter of the High Priest: “By saying, The hand upon the throne of the Eternal: the Eternal will have war with Amalek from generation to generation, Scripture intimates that the Israelites must first appoint a king over themselves [before they are to annihilate the offspring of Amalek], for the throne of the Eternal refers only to the king, as it is said, Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Eternal. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, this is correct.And by way of the Truth, [that is, the mystic lore of the Cabala, the verse is to be understood as meaning] that the Hand, [i.e., the attribute of justice], which is upon the throne of Y-ah, and which is the war from the Eternal, will continue with Amalek from generation to generation, for the high attribute of justice will pursue his extinction forever from generation to generation. The Midrash of the Sages [mentioned above] concerning “the full Divine Name” and “the perfect throne” allude to this [interpretation by way of the Truth].Now the reason for the punishment of Amalek, i.e., why punitive measures were meted out to him more than to all other nations, is that when all the nations heard [of G-d’s visitation upon the Egyptians], they trembled. Philistia, Edom, and Moab and the inhabitants of Canaan melted away from before the terror of the Eternal, and from the Glory of His majesty, whereas Amalek came from afar as if to make himself master over G-d. It is for this reason that it is said concerning him, and he feared not G-d. Besides, he was a descendant of Esau and related to us, a passer-by who meddles with a quarrel not his own.Yithro

and they struck down those in your tail—all the feeble ones behind you: Meaning to say that he killed their tail, and those were the weaker ones, who had been walking at the tail of the camp, due to their weakness. And that is why it explains that Amalek gathered all the causes with which they could complete the destruction of the Jewish people: The first is that they engaged in war with Israel on the way, when they were not on guard against it, before they could put on their war gear. And in this way, they killed all of the weak ones who were at the end of the camp, as none of them remained. And the second is that they found them weary and tired from the strain of the journey. And the third is that individual providence had not yet attached itself to the Jewish people, since the Jewish did not yet fear God, as can be seen from the quarrel that they had there and tested God, may He be elevated, as it is mentioned there. And the fourth is from the general providence that Amalek would defeat Israel. And with the joining of all of these causes, such that they did not escape from their hands, so that they not destroy them and that the curses that Esav was cursed on account of the blessing of Yaakov not fall away from them and from the two sons of Esav - that is why God, may He be elevated, after they finish the wars of the seven nations, '[He] will give rest to Israel from all of the their enemies around them, [so that] they shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek,' in estimation of the evil they would try to do to the Jewish people in every generation when they have the ability. And you can already see this in the days of the Judges from Tziklag, the city of David. For this shows that they are always turning to do evil to the Jewish people when they have the ability. [Likewise] what Haman the son of Hamadata the Agagite wanted to do to the Jewish people during the days of Mordekhai and Esther. Were it not for the Lord, he would have finished them off.

(5) יהוה saw how great was human wickedness on earth—how every plan devised by the human mind was nothing but evil all the time. (6) And יהוה regretted having made humankind on earth. With a sorrowful heart, (7) יהוה said, “I will blot out from the earth humankind whom I created—humans together with beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them.”

(14) Let Me alone and I will destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make you a nation far more numerous than they.”

R. Levi said in the name of R. Simeon ben Halafta, “To what may Amalek be likened? To a fly who is inflamed [with passion] after an [open] wound. So was Amalek inflamed like a dog [with passion] after Israel.” As the Israelites went out of Egypt, [Amalek] heard that they were redeemed, and came against them upon the [Reed] Sea. But [Israel] mentioned the explicit name [of God], and [Amalek] was bewildered, as stated (Exod. 15:15), “Then the captains of Edom were bewildered.” (Deut. 25:17:) “On the way as you came out of Egypt.” It is taught (in a baraita) in the name of R. Nathan: Amalek came four hundred parasangs (i.e., a little over 900 miles) to fight with Israel in Rephidim, as stated (in Numb. 13:29), “Amalek dwells in the land of the Negeb […].” And he [dwells] in the interior beyond all of them (i.e., beyond all the tribes listed in this passage). (Deut. 25:17:) “On the way as you came out of Egypt.” R. Levi said, “He came upon them from the wayside like a bandit.” It is comparable to a king who had a vineyard which he had enclosed with a fence and in which he had put a biting dog. The king said, “Whenever anyone comes to break through the fence, the dog will bite him.” One day the king's son came and broke through the fence. The dog bit him. Whenever he wanted to bring to mind the transgression of his son who broke through to the vineyard, he would say to him, “You remember how the dog bit you.” Similarly, whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, wants to bring to mind the sin of Israel - what they did in Rephidim, when they said (in Exod. 17:7) “Is the Lord present among us or not” - He says to them (in Deut. 25:17), “Remember what Amalek did to you.” (Deut. 25:18:) “How he encountered you [on the way].” ...

... R. Huniya said, “A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a boiling bath into which no creature is able to descend. A certain ruffian came and leaped down into it. Even though he was scalded, he made it cool to others. So also when Israel came out of Egypt, and the Holy One, blessed be He, divided the sea before them, while the Egyptians were drowned in its midst, fear of them fell upon all the peoples, as stated (in Exod. 15:15-16), ‘Then were the chiefs of Edom bewildered…. [Terror and fright fell upon them].’ When Amalek came and joined in battle with them - even though he received his [scalding] at their hands - he made [Israel appear] lukewarm (in battle) before the peoples of the world.”

(25) When Sannecherib, King of Assyria, arose, he confused the identity of all the nations, mixing them together, and exiling them from their place. The Egyptians that live in the land of Egypt at present are of other nationalities. This also applies with regard to the Edomites in the field of Edom. Since these four forbidden nations became intermingled with all the nations of the world [with] whom it is permitted [to marry once they convert], all [converts] are permitted. For when anyone of them separates himself [from them by] converting, we operate under the presumption that he became separate from the majority. Therefore in the present age, in all places, whenever a convert converts, whether he be an Edomite, an Egyptian, an Ammonite, a Moabite, a Kushite, or from any of the other nations, whether male or female, he or she is permitted to marry among the Jewish people immediately.

(42) And some of them, five hundred of the Simeonites, went to Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, sons of Ishi, at their head, (43) and they destroyed the last surviving Amalekites, and they live there to this day.