{"id":51541,"date":"2019-03-18T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=51541"},"modified":"2022-10-11T15:02:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T12:02:08","slug":"why-is-amalek-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/why-is-amalek-different\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Amalek Different?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[641,460,405,386],"acf":{"old_id":"51541","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37918,"related_cahpter":"178","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"If we wish to employ the language of evil, we must be vigilant lest it pave the way for us to behave in evil ways","content":"

After Amalek\u2019s attack, Israel is charged to remember <\/span>and<\/span><\/em> act on this horrific memory: \u201cTherefore, when the Lord your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you… you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!\u201d (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).<\/span><\/p>\n

Other nations treat Israel cruelly but do not thereby become objects of enduring enmity. Edom callously refuses Israel passage through its land (Numbers 20:14-21), yet Israel is taught: \u201cYou shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother\u201d (Deuteronomy 23:8).<\/span> Egypt enslaves and oppresses Israel for generations, yet the Torah commands: \u201cYou shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land\u201d (23:8). Why is Amalek different? What is it about Amalek\u2019s attack that so incurs the wrath of God?<\/span><\/p>\n

In cutting down the stragglers in the rear, Amalek commits what to Deuteronomy is the ultimate crime: they are merciless to the weak. Amalek thus represents everything Deuteronomy hopes Israel itself will not be:<\/span> Where Amalek is barbarous and cruel, Israel is to build a society in which the weak and defenseless are protected and cared for.<\/span> Israel disdains Amalek, but at least as important, <\/span>it disdains what Amalek stands for<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Jewish imagination, Amalek comes to be seen as the archetype of murderous evil. There is something profoundly disturbing about all this. It is one thing to abhor Amalek\u2019s inhumanity; it is quite another to condemn all Amalekites, present and future, as eternal enemies of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we wish to employ the language of evil, we must be vigilant lest it pave the way for us to behave in evil ways. The Hasidic master Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev (1740-1809) teaches: \u201cIt seems that not only are the Children of Israel commanded to blot out Amalek, but also every individual Jew must blot out that evil part called \u2018Amalek\u2019 which is hidden in his heart. As long as the seed of Amalek is in the world, since a person is a miniature world (a microcosm), Amalek exists in the evil potential within the person, which awakens anew again and again to cause him to sin\u201d (Kedushat Levi, Purim).<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Levi Yitzhak no doubt intends to offer a psychological-spiritual interpretation of the mandate to blot out Amalek,<\/span> his comments have important implications for the moral-political realm as well. We should not invoke the language of Amalek\u2014and of evil more generally\u2014unless and until we are willing to recognize \u201cthe evil potential\u201d within ourselves as well.<\/span><\/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 12:02:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":366,"height":440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","medium_large-width":366,"medium_large-height":440,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","large-width":366,"large-height":440,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","1536x1536-width":366,"1536x1536-height":440,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","2048x2048-width":366,"2048x2048-height":440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","post_full_size-width":366,"post_full_size-height":440,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-349x420.jpg","home_baner-width":349,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"What To Do About Amalek-VI","main_caption":"Why Is Amalek Different?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"If we wish to employ the language of evil, we must be vigilant lest it pave the way for us to behave in evil ways","preview_embedded":"","preview_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 12:02:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":366,"height":440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","medium_large-width":366,"medium_large-height":440,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","large-width":366,"large-height":440,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","1536x1536-width":366,"1536x1536-height":440,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","2048x2048-width":366,"2048x2048-height":440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","post_full_size-width":366,"post_full_size-height":440,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-349x420.jpg","home_baner-width":349,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51541"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108503,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51541\/revisions\/108503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}