WHO IS AMALEK?

Parashat Ki Tetze
Elul 13, 5785 / September 5-6, 2025
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10 (Fifth Haftarah of Consolation)
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This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah and a speedy and safe return of all the hostages being held by Hamas.

This d’var torah is offered for an end to the hunger crisis in Gaza.

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On September 8, we'll be at Ein Ya'akov Yevamot, p. 39 (BT Yevamot 49b) - 

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Query: Who or what is Amalek?

Answer: More people than you might think.

 
This week’s parashah contains a large number (74 according to Jewish tradition, the most of any parashah) of seemingly unrelated mitzvot. These include: restraints on a warrior who captures a woman in battle; inheritance rights; the rebellious son; returning lost objects; safety measures at home; not mixing species in the field or in the yoke; punishments for rape and adultery, and false accusations thereof; rules of marriage and divorce; caring for work animals; feeding and paying human workers; prohibiting mistreatment of debtors; and, honest weights and measures.
 
The parashah then concludes with these verses:
 
“For whoever does these things, whoever perpetrates such injustice, is an abomination to the Lord, your God. (emphasis mine) You shall remember what Amalekites did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt, how they happened upon you on the way and cut off all the defenseless who were (left) behind, when you were faint and weary, and the Amalekites did not fear God. [Therefore,] it will be, when the Lord your God grants you respite from all your enemies around [you] in the land which the Lord, your God, gives to you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens. You shall not forget!” (Deuteronomy 25:16-19)

Battle with the Amalekites, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1860) - Die Bibel in Bildern

 
Our tradition refers to Amalek as the eternal enemy of the Jewish people (Haman, Hitler, and their followers), that seeks to destroy us out of baseless hatred for us as the perpetual outsiders. Additionally, the Jewish people are sometimes described as canaries in the mine – how a society treats Jews is indicative of how it treats Others, outsiders, as well.
 
So it’s no wonder that I see from these verses that Amalek is an abomination that is equally the enemy of common decency and civilized behavior. Any society, even one that considers itself a liberal democracy, that mistreats, cheats, or exploits marginalized populations and defenseless outsiders – women, children, poor people, aliens, innocents, and animals – whether de facto, de jure, or structurally – is a society of Amalek. Such a society cannot long survive, and brings its own doom upon itself.
 
The Day of the Sounding of the Shofar is approaching. The Days of Awe are approaching. The Day of Atonement is approaching. Remember. Don’t forget.
 
Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim

שְׁתִיקָה כְּהוֹדָאָה דָמְיָא

Silence is like consent. 

BT Yevamot 87b
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