by Avi Feldblum
In late February 1985, Avi Feldblum — a researcher at AT&T Information Systems in New Jersey — posted the first in what would become a weekly series of Dvar Torah articles to net.religion.jewish. The post was forwarded through Ephrayim Naiman at AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, who relayed Feldblum's teaching to the early Usenet community.
The occasion was Parshat Zachor — the special Torah portion read on the Shabbat immediately before Purim, commanding the Jewish people to remember what Amalek did when Israel left Egypt. The Dvar Torah grapples with a question that runs through the classical commentators: why was Amalek's attack so uniquely evil that it generates not just a military command, but a permanent, personal war between God and Amalek across all generations?
Feldblum's answer, drawing on the Abravanel and the Malbim, cuts to the theological core: Amalek did not attack for territory, defense, or glory. Amalek attacked because it did not fear God — because its purpose was to disprove divine providence by demonstrating that God's miracles in Egypt meant nothing. This was not a military campaign but an ideological one. And that, Feldblum argues, is why the response required a personal divine battle, and why Israel is commanded not merely to defeat Amalek but to erase its memory.
Parshat Zachor — Introduction
This week is one of the four special section readings, the week of Parshat Zachor — Remembering Amalek. First a little bit of Halacha. One of the mitzvot asah — positive commandments — is to remember what Amalek did to the nation of Israel when they left Egypt. This mitzvah requires not only mental recall but an explicit verbal expression at least once a year. Chazal — the Sages — added that it must be read from a kosher sefer Torah, in the presence of a minyan, and established the time to be the Shabbat before Purim. The connection with Purim is that Haman was of the descendants of Amalek. As a result, with this week's Torah reading, you fulfill a d'orica (Torah-required) obligation. In addition, even if the d'rabonon (Sages-required) part is time-dependent, so that women would not be obligated, the d'orica is not time-dependent and, in the view of most poskim, women are equally obligated, so everyone should try to make it to shul this week for the Torah reading. One final point of interest: in the opinion of some poskim, you must understand what is being read as well as listen to it, so I have included here a translation of the reading.
Deuteronomy 25:17–19
- Remember what Amalek did unto you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; 18) how he met you by the way and smote the hindmost of you, all that were enfeebled in your rear, when you were faint and weary; and he feared not God. 19) Therefore it shall be when the Lord thy God has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; you shall not forget.
Why Amalek?
One point that I have found interesting is to try to understand why the battle with Amalek is of such importance. There have been many nations that did battle with Bnai Yisrael — the children, the people, of Israel — both in the desert and in the land of Canaan. What was so different about Amalek?
There are two references to the battle, one at the time it occurred in Shemos (Exodus) 18:8 and the second in Devorim (Deuteronomy) 25:17. In Shemos we read:
Ki yad al cas yah, milchoma le'Hashem ba'amalak me'dor dor.
For the hand upon the throne of Hashem, Hashem will have war with Amalek for all time.
What we see here is that in some sense, there exists an everlasting battle between Hashem and Amalek. While the concept of battle between Hashem and His creations is difficult to comprehend, it is clear that there must have been a grave offense against Hashem by Amalek to provoke this response. Given the above, it would be easy to sit back and say that if Hashem is doing battle, we can sit back — as indeed Moshe told Bnei Yisrael by the splitting of the Yam Soof (Red or Reed Sea). It is exactly this point that Moshe deals with in this week's reading: "Remember what Amalek did to you" — to you and not only to Hashem — and as such there is a requirement upon the nation of Israel to destroy utterly the very memory of Amalek.
The Nature of Amalek's Attack
So what was the nature of Amalek's act? Several of the commentators (see especially the Abravanel) explain that there are several reasons why nations engage in war, none of which apply to the battle between Bnai Yisrael and Amalek.
First, to conquer new territory and expand their borders. In this case, the battle occurred "in the way, when you left Egypt." We had no land for Amalek to conquer; we had just left Egypt and were traveling in the uninhabited desert.
Second, nations go to war to defend their borders against nations engaged in reason one above. But here "he met you by the way" — you were not headed toward his land and were no threat to him.
Third, he did not meet with you face to face to do battle, but acted in a cowardly way, attacking the stragglers and weakest, those who trailed the main camp and feared attacking directly, even though "you were faint and weary." The Malbim explains it somewhat differently: the third reason for war is to gain "glory" by attacking a nation that is seen as being powerful or important and defeating it. But you had just come out of Egypt and were weak, and they could gain no such glory by attacking you.
"He Feared Not God"
Why then did Amalek attack? Because "he feared not God."
The purpose of the miracles surrounding the leaving of Egypt was to proclaim to the nations of the world that Hashem is master of the world and maintains His active rulership: "In order that you shall know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth" (Shemos 8:19). It was this concept that Amalek challenged. God does not interfere. We — Amalek — do not hesitate to attack this puny nation that has left Egypt. We will crush him and his God.
The attack of Amalek on Bnai Yisrael was a direct challenge to all the wonders that Hashem had performed in taking the Jews out of Egypt. It was for this reason that the response required a "personal" battle between Hashem and Amalek. But at the same time we must remember that we, as a nation, must strive to show that Hashem is the ruler "in" the land, and so we too must try to eradicate the philosophy behind the attack of Amalek.
Have a good Shabbos and a Happy Purim to all.
Colophon
Written by Avi Feldblum and posted to net.religion.jewish through Ephrayim J. Naiman ([email protected]), AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Lincroft, New Jersey, 27 February 1985. Original Message-ID: [email protected].
This was the first in what Feldblum announced as a weekly Dvar Torah series for net.religion.jewish — one of the earliest regular Torah teaching columns on the internet. The Shabbat of Parshat Zachor in 1985 fell on 2 March (10 Adar 5745).
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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