{"id":51537,"date":"2019-03-18T08:58:32","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T06:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=51537"},"modified":"2022-10-11T11:39:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T08:39:53","slug":"why-forgive-the-egyptians-but-not-the-amalekites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/why-forgive-the-egyptians-but-not-the-amalekites\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Forgive The Egyptians, But Not The Amalekites?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Israelites had two enemies in the days of Moses: the Egyptians and the Amalekites. The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. They turned them into a forced labour colony. They oppressed them. Pharaoh commanded them to drown every male Israelite child. It was attempted genocide. Yet about them, Moses commands:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo not despise an Egyptian, because you were strangers in his land.\u201d (Deut. 23:8)<\/span><\/p>\n

The Amalekites did no more than attack the Israelites once, an attack that they successfully repelled (Ex. 17:13). Yet Moses commands, \u201cRemember.\u201d \u201cDo not forget.\u201d \u201cBlot out the name.\u201d In Exodus the Torah says that \u201cGod shall be at war with Amalek for all generations\u201d (Ex. 17:16). Why the difference? Why did Moses tell the Israelites, in effect, to forgive the Egyptians but not the Amalekites?<\/span><\/p>\n

When hate is rational, based on some fear or disapproval that \u2013 justified or not \u2013 has some logic to it, then it can be reasoned with and brought to an end. But unconditional, irrational hatred cannot be reasoned with. There is nothing one can do to address it and end it. It persists. That was the difference between the Amalekites and the Egyptians. The Egyptians\u2019 hatred and fear of the Israelites was not irrational.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Egyptians feared the Israelites because they were numerous. They constituted a potential threat to the native population. Historians tell us that this was not groundless. Egypt had already suffered from one invasion of outsiders, the Hyksos, an Asiatic people with Canaanite names and beliefs, who took over the Nile Delta during the Second Intermediate Period of the Egypt of the pharaohs. Eventually they were expelled from Egypt and all traces of their occupation were erased. But the memory persisted. It was not irrational for the Egyptians to fear that the Hebrews were another such population. They feared the Israelites because they were strong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Precisely the opposite was true of the Amalekites. They attacked the Israelites when they were \u201cweary and weak\u201d. They focused their assault on those who were \u201clagging behind.\u201d Those who are weak and lagging behind pose no danger. This was irrational, groundless hate.<\/span><\/p>\n

With rational hate it is possible to reason. Besides, there was no reason for the Egyptians to fear the Israelites any more. They had left. They were no longer a threat. But with irrational hate it is impossible to reason. It has no cause, no logic. Therefore it may never go away. Irrational hate is as durable and persistent as irrational love. The hatred symbolised by Amalek lasts \u201cfor all generations.\u201d All one can do is to remember and not forget, to be constantly vigilant, and to fight it whenever and wherever it appears.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

From:\u00a0<\/span>Two Types of Hate (Covenant & Conversation, Ki Teitse 5777)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":51527,"id":51527,"title":"gen-question-mark","filename":"gen-question-mark.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/to-fight-amalek-without-becoming-amalek\/gen-question-mark\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"gen-question-mark","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":51522,"date":"2019-03-18 06:49:31","modified":"2022-10-11 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