Why Such Irrational Hate?

This week’s portion, Ki Teitzei, commands: “Remember what Amalek did to you… You shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.”

This is one of the most difficult mitzvos. How can the Torah, which proclaims “Do not murder” and affirms that every human being is created in the image of G-d, command the eradication of Amalek?

The Struggle of King Saul

Even King Shaul struggled with this. The prophet Shmuel told him to destroy Amalek, but Shaul spared their king Agag and their cattle out of compassion. Shmuel rebuked him, declaring that this misplaced mercy cost him his throne. That very night, Agag fathered a child, and generations later, his descendant was Haman, who sought to annihilate the Jews of Persia.

Here, Rabbi Moshe Alshich makes a penetrating point: both Mordechai and Esther were descendants of Shaul. When Mordechai told Esther that if she remained silent, she and her father’s house would perish, he was reminding her that her family still carried the blemish of Shaul’s misplaced compassion. When Haman fell at Esther’s feet begging for mercy, it was history repeating itself—Agag before Shaul, Haman before Esther. Esther refused his pleas, thereby correcting Shaul’s tragic mistake.

Amalek’s Hatred

But why is Amalek singled out? The Torah explains: Amalek attacked Israel not in self-defense, not to protect their land, not for gain. They ambushed the Jews just weeks after leaving Egypt, exhausted from slavery, targeting the stragglers and the weak. This was not war. It was cruelty for cruelty’s sake.

This is the essence of Amalek: irrational, groundless hate. Unlike other nations that fought Israel out of fear or threat, Amalek struck without reason.

Not Race, but Ideology

The Rambam clarifies: this is not about race. An Amalekite who accepts the Noahide laws or converts is no longer considered Amalek. The Talmud even tells us that descendants of Haman studied Torah in Bnei Brak—some traditions identify them with Rabbi Akiva himself. Amalek is not a bloodline, but an ideology of hatred.

Amalek in Our Days: October 7, 2023

Tragically, Amalek reappears in every generation. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack on Israel. They massacred families in their homes, burned people alive, murdered infants, raped women, mutilated bodies, and kidnapped hundreds. At the Nova music festival, in Kfar Aza, Be’eri, and other communities, Jews were slaughtered simply because they were Jews.

This was not war. It was not territorial defense. It was Amalek—irrational, barbaric hatred without cause. The same hatred that struck the weak and weary in the desert, that produced Haman in Persia, showed its face again on Simchat Torah, 5784.

The Compassion Trap

At first glance, the mitzvah to “blot out Amalek” seems cruel. But Shaul’s story teaches us that misplaced compassion can lead to far greater cruelty. By sparing Agag, Shaul enabled Haman, and nearly the destruction of our people. What feels merciful in the moment can, with Amalek, result in catastrophe.

Eternal Struggle

Amalek is the ideology of hate that cannot be reasoned with, cannot be appeased, and must be resisted in every generation.

And yet, Amalek does not win. The Jewish people live on. Our survival testifies to the triumph of G-d’s truth and love over the madness of hate.

Shabbat Shalom, 

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky