Origen of Alexandria is sometimes cited as having viewed the herem passages allegorically; Hofreiter argues that although Origen viewed a spiritual interpretation as having primary importance to Christians, he did not deny that the herem passages described historical events.[54]. Amalek (/mlk/;[1] Hebrew: , 'mlq, Arabic: 'Amlq) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. R' Samson Raphael Hirsch said that the command was to destroy "the remembrance of Amalek" rather than actual Amalekites;[49] the Sfat Emet said that the command was to fully hate Amalek rather than performing any action;[50] and the Chofetz Chaim said that God would perform the elimination of Amalek, and Jews are commanded only to remember what Amalek did to them. And they do seem to show up alongside all of Israels other enemieswith Moab in Balaams oracle, with Ammon in Psalm 83, with Midian in the story of Gideon, and with all of them at the same time in Davids wars. 1 Sam 31:3-5; 2 Sam 1:4-10) was killed by David because he had slain the Lords anointed king (1:14-16), and also had confessed he was an Amalekite (1:8, 13). also Judg 10:12). It is also a concept and a spiritual reality. Streicher assumed that the origin of the Aryan race was in Persia, with a connection to the descendants of the Amalekites, who were the worst enemies of the Jewish people. As a people, the Amalekites were identified as a recurrent enemy of the Israelites. It also means that Amalek has gotten mixed into the other nations and a little bit of Amalek is in everyone., Amalek is more than a physical people. Gideon was an Abiezrite of the tribe of Manasseh who lived in Ophrah2. They didnt merely go to war with the Israelites. They are killing themselves spiritually, politically, and even physically. But each person must ask himself if he has the traits of Amalek.. How can that be? The shepherd boy who doesnt see an angel also doesnt compose a song about it. This means that we cannot point at any one nation and say that they are Amalek. Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King Davids Tomb on Mount Zion, believes that Amalek exists in the world today, in individuals and also in nations. Who is Amalek? - Aleteia We know both his mother's name (Timna, a concubine of his father Eliphaz) and his grandmother's name (Adah, wife of his grandfather Esau) (Genesis 36:9-12; 1 Chronicles 1:34-36). According to the, (homiletic teachings), after killing Jewish men, Amalek cut off the, (circumcision) of the male Jewish casualties and threw them up at heaven. Follow Christ's journey to the Cross. At the dawn of the American Revolution, John Adams observed, "If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply, than to the sense of this difference? But this one,came forward and started and showed the way to others. Amalek, a son of Esau's son Eliphaz, was presumably the eponymous ancestor of the Amalekites. Is the vacation over? | Cary Kozberg | The Blogs [8] One modern scholar believes this attests to Amalek's high antiquity,[9] while traditional commentator Rashi states: "He came before all of them to make war with Israel". This means that we cannot point at any one nation and say that they are Amalek. When God in judgment withdrew His hand of blessing and ordered them to go back S into the wilderness (14:1-25), the people again disobeyed God, and with their own feeble effort attacked the Amalekites. The other nations followed and were burned but they didnt want to look bad in front of the others now that Amalek had jumped in., We see this happening today. The second reason is the one adopted by most ancient and modern Jewish scholars. Since the time of King Saul, the Jews have faced many "Amaleks", set out for our destruction. On the other hand, Gen. xiv. Though the Amalekites are not mentioned in the table of nations in Genesis 10, in Numbers 24:20 they are referred to as "first among the nations." Genesis 36 refers to the descendants of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau, as Amalekites (verses 12 and 16). That Amaleks unrelenting and destructive spirit and action against God and the cause of His people Israel was heinous to the Lord is seen later in the reminder to Saul concerning these wilderness incidents and in Gods command that the king is to destroy these God-defying Amalekites (1 Sam 15:2, 3; cf. Amalekite | ancient tribe | Britannica Territory. Not great for an army thats now down to three hundred men. They were nomads as a people dwelling in that tract would naturally be. Nonetheless, Israel has peace for forty years, until Gideon dies, at which point they apparently abandon the golden ephod and go back to worshiping Baal until the next invasion. Joshua and Caleb scout out the promised land and identify its inhabitants, which include Amalek (Numbers 13:29), and God turns them away from that land and into the wilderness (Numbers 14:25). [13] This is probably based on the association of this tribal group with the steppe region of ancient Israel and the area of Kadesh (Genesis 14:7). Answer (1 of 7): Amalekites are mixed with the edomites or the descendents of Esau, which in the bible is called the ruddy red faced hairy one (white People) They are who the lord calls the fake Jews! 1 Amalek grew up in Esau's household, imbibing Esau's pathological hatred of Jacob's descendants along the way. He believed that Purim documented the fate of the enemies of the Jewish people. Thursday evening marks the holiday of Purim. He cooled you off and made you appear tepid, after you were boiling hot, for the nations were afraid to fight with you, just as people are afraid to touch something boiling hot. The Roots of Amalek - Aish.com Marilyn Wind, President, MERCAZ USA; Sheila Katz, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women; Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, Chief Executive, Rabbinical Assembly; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union of Reform Judaism; Leslie Lichter, Interim CEO, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; Rabbi Marla Feldman, Executive Director, Women of Reform Judaism; Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis; and, Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, Executive Director, Women's League for Conservative Judaism, Moreover, in 2017 progressive Jews released an open letter in defense of anti-Semite Linda Sarsour this, despite Sarsour's praise for Nation of Islam leader and rabid anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, and the claim that "sharia law is reasonable.". The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the territories of Amalek, which they inhabited. The psalmist (Ps 83:7) lists Amalek with the avowed enemies of Israel. Liberalism is what happens when you take God and meaning out of life. Eynei Kol ai, 73, on Sanhedrin 96b. Not surprisingly, many rabbis and scholars identified the Nazis with Amalek beginning in the 1930s. Yet, as Dean Sherr points out, too many Jewish organizations have a "new set of attitudes towards anti-Semitism: that it is of lesser importance in the west than other forms of racism." Instead, this is the part of the story where Israel gets angry with God for taking them out of Egypt, and God declares that nobody who left Egypt will make it to the Promised Land. Thus the people of Amalek lived on, to continue to torment the Jews for generations. Samuel, ever obedient, kills Agag himself (1 Samuel 15:3233). Based on when it happens to fall this year, the holiday will last for a full three days in Jerusalem. Amalek was one of the sons of Eliphaz and a grandson of Esau ( Gen 36:15, 16; 1 Chron 1:36 ). The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the territories of Amalek, which they inhabited. [48], A few authorities have ruled that the command never included killing Amalekites. And then Moses instructs Israel to make it happen: Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget. Amalekite, member of an ancient nomadic tribe, or collection of tribes, described in the Old Testament as relentless enemies of Israel, even though they were closely related to Ephraim, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. In fact, in 1990,JamesZogby, presidentof the Arab American Institute, established a . It is clear to me that the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah may not genetically be the descendants of Amalek, but ideologically, they are one and the same. They slaughtered those who could not defend themselves. This is not a normal occurrence. ", Rabbi Buchman cites the book Why the Jews authored by Prager and Telushkin which has a chapter on "Non-Jewish" Jews, from Marx to Chomsky. Among the victims of the four kings during this war was all the country of the Amalekites (Genesis 14:17). 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. Intifada Realism is becoming more clear each day when radical Islam allies itself with the radical Left. Hakirah: The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought, Volume 28, Spring 2020, pp. Amalek, on the other hand, despises the moral values in our Constitution, loathes the protections of the individual and seeks to destroy the opportunities that create our well-being and wealth. Rabbi Yosef Dayan, a member of the nascent Sanhedrin, is unafraid to make difficult judgments with dire consequences. AMALEK m lk, AMALEKITES m l k ts (, ; Gr , ). A Lesson From Timna the Concubine - Vayishlach - Chabad.org Etymology [ edit] In some rabbinical interpretations, Amalek is etymologised as am lak, 'a people who lick (blood)', [2] but most specialists regard the origin to be unknown. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Thus, we must be strong and alert in order to prevail. ", As Mark Alexander writes "[b]ut today, the ability of Americans to discern 'between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice,' is being systematically eroded by leftist politicos, in collusion with their 24/7 Left media and Big Tech enablers, relentlessly seeking to empower the state.". The Amalekites - Jewish Virtual Library However, this will most certainly be the beginning of the end, if Jews stoop to the level of Amalek and attack those weaker than us, without the pretext and rules of war. It is to wipe him out from the world because as long as there is a memory of Amalek in the world, the, Rabbi Yosef Dayan, a member of the nascent Sanhedrin, is unafraid to make difficult judgments with dire consequences. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites .