Mitzvah —
598
Wipe out the descendants of Amalek
This page is incomplete.
Help complete the
Mitzvah Minute website.
Do a Mitzvah — Join us in building a living digital Beit Midrash — your partnership makes it possible.
פָּרָשַׁת כִּי־תֵצֵא
-
תִּמְחֶה אֶת־זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם לֹא תִּשְׁכָּח
Deuteronomy 25:19
-
“You shall erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.”
This Mitzvah's Summary
מִצְוָה עֲשֵׂה - Positive Commandment
מִצְוָה לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה - Negative Commandment
War – מִלְחָמָה
We are commanded to eliminate Amalek, a nation that embodied unprovoked hatred of Hashem and moral cruelty toward Israel.
This mitzvah commands the eradication of Amalek — a nation defined not merely by hostility, but by ideological opposition to Divine morality. Amalek attacked Israel at its weakest moment, targeting the vulnerable without cause or gain. The Torah presents Amalek not as a conventional enemy, but as a worldview that seeks to undermine justice, holiness, and belief in Divine providence. By commanding the obliteration of Amalek’s memory, the Torah insists that radical, purposeless evil has no place in a redeemed moral world. This mitzvah is not about vengeance, conquest, or hatred; it is about the removal of an ideology that denies responsibility, sanctity, and Divine order.
Commentaries
Rambam
- Source: Sefer HaMitzvos, Aseh 188; Hilchos Melachim 5:4–5. Rambam rules that the mitzvah to destroy Amalek applies only after Israel has established lawful governance and has offered peace under conditions of moral submission. Amalek’s destruction is not indiscriminate violence, but a judicial act against a nation that embodies total moral rebellion.
Sefer HaChinuch
- Mitzvah 604. Chinuch explains that Amalek represents cruelty without purpose — attacking the weak purely to terrorize and destabilize. The mitzvah trains Israel to recognize that some evils cannot be rehabilitated; moral clarity requires decisive removal of forces that exist only to destroy.
Rashi / Ramban / Ibn Ezra / Sforno / Abarbanel / Midrashim
- Rashi emphasizes that Amalek targeted those who were weakest and most vulnerable, revealing their moral depravity.
- Ramban teaches that Amalek’s sin was theological — denying Divine justice by attacking Israel immediately after the Exodus.
- Ibn Ezra notes that Amalek sought to inject doubt into the world, cooling awe of Hashem.
- Sforno frames Amalek as an enemy of ethical order itself, not merely of Israel.
- Abarbanel explains that Amalek represents nihilistic power — violence for its own sake.
- Midrashim portray Amalek as the archetype of baseless hatred, whose existence undermines human conscience.
Talmud & Midrash
- Sanhedrin 20b lists Amalek alongside appointing a king and building the Temple as foundational steps in national redemption.
- Midrash teaches that Amalek’s war was against Hashem as much as against Israel — an attempt to erase moral accountability from the world.
Kuzari, Maharal, and Other Rishonim
- Kuzari identifies Amalek as the antithesis of covenantal morality — a culture that glorifies power divorced from purpose.
- Maharal explains that Amalek represents chance (mikreh), denying providence and meaning. Erasing Amalek is erasing randomness as a moral philosophy.
- Other Rishonim emphasize that Amalek’s defeat restores faith that history is governed by justice, not chaos.
Shulchan Aruch & Halachic Reality
- Halacha recognizes that the practical fulfillment of this mitzvah is currently suspended due to loss of tribal identification.
- Nevertheless, its conceptual force remains binding — shaping Jewish moral consciousness and opposition to cruelty.
Acharonim & Modern Torah Giants
- Ramban (in his philosophical writings) frames Amalek as a force that attacks faith through terror.
- Rav Hirsch stresses that Amalek must be erased because it celebrates the breakdown of moral limits.
- Rav Soloveitchik explains that Amalek represents existential evil — cruelty untethered from survival or ideology.
- Rav Kook teaches that erasing Amalek means purifying humanity from the glorification of violence.
Chassidic & Mussar Classics
- Baal Shem Tov interprets Amalek internally as spiritual coldness that weakens resolve and faith.
- Tanya explains Amalek as cynicism that cools passion for holiness.
- Sfas Emes writes that Amalek is doubt that corrodes responsibility.
- Ramchal teaches that redemption requires eliminating forces that deny meaning itself.
Contrast with Other Enemies
- Other nations fight for land or power.
- Amalek fights to destroy moral order.
This difference defines the mitzvah’s severity.
(Source: Chabad.org)
Applying this Mitzvah Today
Rejecting Ideologies of Cruelty
- Amalek no longer appears as a nation, but as worldviews that glorify terror, humiliation, and harm to the innocent. This mitzvah obligates Jews to oppose such ideologies unequivocally.
Moral Clarity Without Hatred
- The Torah distinguishes between hatred of evil and hatred of people. Amalek is condemned not for identity, but for behavior and ideology.
Fighting Cynicism and Moral Relativism
- Amalek’s modern form is the claim that nothing matters, that power defines truth. This mitzvah demands resistance to that worldview.
Courage to Draw Red Lines
- Compassion without boundaries enables cruelty. This mitzvah teaches that moral clarity sometimes requires firm refusal, not dialogue.
Inner Amalek
- Every person must confront inner apathy, doubt, and moral laziness — spiritual Amalek that weakens conscience.
Notes on this Mitzvah's Fundamentals
Amalek — עֲמָלֵק
- Amalek represents a unique category of evil in Torah thought: violence divorced from necessity, ideology, or survival. Chazal emphasize that Amalek attacked not for land, power, or defense, but to terrorize and destabilize — targeting the weakest specifically to undermine moral order. Amalek thus becomes the archetype of cruelty for its own sake. This mitzvah teaches that some forces are not merely mistaken or hostile, but fundamentally corrosive to conscience itself. Erasing Amalek is not vengeance; it is the removal of a worldview that makes human dignity impossible.
Justice — צֶדֶק
- Justice here is not reactive punishment but moral boundary-setting. The Torah recognizes that tolerating radical cruelty erodes justice for everyone else. Amalek’s existence challenges the assumption that all conflicts are morally symmetrical. This mitzvah asserts that justice sometimes requires drawing an uncompromising line: there are behaviors that forfeit moral legitimacy entirely. Justice, in this sense, protects the innocent by refusing to normalize terror or excuse it as politics.
Holiness — קְדֻשָּׁה
- Kedushah in Torah is inseparable from moral clarity. Amalek desecrates holiness by treating life as expendable and fear as a tool. By commanding the eradication of Amalek, the Torah teaches that holiness cannot coexist with nihilistic violence. Sanctity flourishes only in an environment where vulnerability is protected and cruelty is rejected. This mitzvah preserves the conditions under which holiness — in people, communities, and nations — can exist at all.
Reverence — יִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם
- Amalek’s deepest offense is its attack on awe. Chazal describe Amalek as “cooling” fear of Hashem, teaching the world that no moral order truly governs history. This mitzvah restores yirat Shamayim by affirming that cruelty is not ultimate and terror is not sovereign. Reverence grows when the world knows that evil is not tolerated indefinitely and that Hashem’s justice asserts itself against those who deny it.
Faith — אֱמוּנָה
- Faith in Torah is trust that history is meaningful and governed. Amalek represents the opposite: chance, randomness, and moral emptiness. Maharal explains that Amalek embodies mikreh — the belief that events lack purpose. Erasing Amalek is therefore an act of faith: a declaration that reality is not chaotic, that cruelty is not destiny, and that Divine justice ultimately shapes outcomes. This mitzvah safeguards emunah against cynicism.
Core Beliefs — יְסוֹדוֹת הָאֱמוּנָה
- This mitzvah reinforces a foundational Torah belief: evil is real, not illusory, and it is judged. Judaism rejects both moral relativism and naïve universalism that denies the existence of irredeemable cruelty. Amalek forces confrontation with the limits of tolerance. By commanding its erasure, the Torah teaches that belief in Hashem includes belief in moral absolutes and accountability.
Community — קְהִלָּה
- Amalek’s strategy was communal fracture. By attacking the weak, it sought to unravel collective trust and replace solidarity with fear. This mitzvah protects community by asserting that terror will not be allowed to define social reality. Jewish survival depends not only on faith, but on the ability of communities to defend moral cohesion against forces that thrive on chaos and intimidation.
Between a Person and G-d — בֵּין אָדָם לְמָקוֹם
- Erasing Amalek is framed as a Divine command because the conflict is ultimately theological. Amalek’s war is against Hashem’s moral governance of the world. Fulfilling this mitzvah affirms loyalty to Hashem’s vision of justice and responsibility. It declares that human cruelty does not get the final word — Divine authority does.
