19 Mar AMALEK AND THE GAZA WAR

I. Amalek Today
With the October 7th
Hamas attacks and the
subsequent war, many
have discussed the
concept of the timeless
war against Amalek.
Amalek is the paradigm
of the enemy of the Jewish people, a nation
that attacked us without provocation in
the desert. The nation epitomizes the
seemingly endless persecution — the
pogroms and assaults — we have suffered
throughout the ages and continue to suffer,
and the defiance of the divine protection
which was just evident in the Exodus. In
this war that spans the generations, we are
commanded to kill every Amalekite —
man and woman, child and adult (1 Shmuel
15:3). Does this apply today?
Granted, we are required to offer
Amalekites peace before attacking them
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Melachim 6:1,6)
and if they want to become Bnei Noach
(Kessef Mishneh, Hilchos Melachim
6:4) or even convert to Judaism they can
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Issurei Bi’ah
12:17, according to Chida, Pesach Einayim,
Sanhedrin 96b). However, otherwise we
are commanded to attack them. Does this
apply in our times?

On the one hand, we cannot identify
anyone as a descendant of Amalek with
any amount of certainty. On the other
hand, Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik quoted
his father, Rav Moshe Soloveichik, as
saying that any nation that acts like
Amalek and attempts to destroy the entire
Jewish nation gains the status of Amalek.
With this, he explains why the Rambam
rules that the commandment to destroy
the seven Canaanite nations no longer
applies because Sancheriv dispersed the
nations but fails to rule similarly regarding
the commandment to destroy Amalek
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Melachim 5:4-5).
Wasn’t Amalek dispersed, as well? If so,
why does that command still apply? Rav
Soloveitchik explains that the command
applies to any nation that acts like
Amalek. However, even if true, it does not
necessarily follow that there is any mitzvah
in attacking our contemporary antagonists

other than the important mitzvah of self-
defense.

II. Shaul’s Failure
First, most Rishonim believe, based on a
Gemara (Sanhedrin 20b), that the mitzvah
to destroy Amalek only applies in the times
of Mashiach. We must appoint a king and
then he leads the war against Amalek (e.g.
Hagahos Maimoniyos, Hilchos Melachim

5:1). However, I would like
to explore an approach that
understands the mitzvah
differently. In 1 Shmuel
15, the prophet Shmuel
relays the divine command
to King Shaul to kill the
Amalekites living in Israel.
Shaul allows King Agag
(and the sheep) to live,
for which he is rebuked
by Shmuel and because
of which the kingship
was removed from Shaul.
Shmuel tells Shaul that he
“did wrong in the eyes of
G-d.” What specific act of Shaul’s was
considered wrong? If anything, his sin was
failing to act by refraining from completely
destroying Amalek.
In the Chafetz Chaim Al HaTorah (Parashas
Zachor, after Terumah), this question is
answered in the name of the Chafetz Chaim
as follows: The command is to completely
destroy Amalek. If you kill some members
of the nation but not everyone, you have
not fulfilled the mitzvah. The mitzvah
is to follow the divine command in this
exceptional circumstance, to do what is
otherwise forbidden in the strongest terms.
Rather than following a divine command,
you have committed murder. Killing is
justified in rare circumstances, such as
self-defense, war, and judicial execution.
Destroying Amalek is a justified war only
in completion; otherwise, it is unjustified
and “wrong in G-d’s eyes.”
If so, this cannot be accomplished today.
Even if we could identify Amalekites, we
as individuals cannot wage war against
them all nor can an army realistically
destroy every person today who is intent
on destroying the Jewish people. There
are too many people spread across the
world. A failed attempt to completely
destroy Amalek is sinful. So the answer
to this question would be no.
Rav Shmuel Greiniman, the editor of
Chafetz Chaim Al HaTorah, attributes this
explanation to the Chafetz Chaim based
on the report of someone he considers
reliable. However, Rav Gershon Zaks,
the Chafetz Chaim’s grandson, explores
his grandfather’s view of this mitzvah
based on published sources written
by the Chafetz Chaim himself and
reaches a different conclusion (Mo’adei
HaGershuni, no. 54). Perhaps the Chafetz
Chaim offered different approaches at
different times. Regardless, Rav Moshe
Sternbuch (Mo’adim Uzemanim, vol.
2 no. 162) independently develops this
approach.

III. Life After Shaul
Rav Sternbuch asks why no later biblical
kings, after Shaul, were commanded to
destroy Amalek. Some were very righteous
and aggressive in enhancing religious
standards. Why didn’t they fulfill this
biblical commandment? And why weren’t
they punished like Shaul for failing to
do so? Rav Sternbuch explains that after
Shaul’s failed attempt, the remaining
Amalekites dispersed and assimilated into
other nations. After Shaul, it is impossible
to fulfill this mitzvah until Mashiach comes
and clarifies, ending this war that lasts
through the generations (Shemos 17:16).
As mentioned above, Hagahos
Maimoniyos (Hilchos Melachim 5:1)
quotes the Semag as saying that this mitzvah
only applies in the times of Mashiach.
Radbaz (Hilchos Melachim 5:5) asks a
brief but powerful question on this view. If
this mitzvah is reserved for Mashiach, why
was Shaul asked to do it and punished for
failing to do so? Rav Sternbuch responds
that Shaul was the last person capable of
waging this war because Amalek was still
identifiable in his time. After Shaul’s failed
attempt, Amalek dispersed and even if
individual Amalekites are identifiable, the
mitzvah cannot be performed unless all
can be found, which is impossible. Even
according to Rav Soloveitchik, there are
too many genocidal Amalekites, too many
would-be terrorists, around the world to
make this feasible even theoretically.
According to this approach, even those
Amalekites who refuse to make peace with
us and choose not to become Bnei Noach
or Jews are not subject to this ancient war.
And those of us alive today are not expected
to engage in this war. When Mashiach
comes, this will all be figured out. I pray
that the Amalekites of today will recognize

the divine hand in history and become G-d-
fearing Bnei Noach as the rest of the world

becomes filled with knowledge of G-d (Isa.
11:9).