Questions tagged [amalek]
Ancient adversary of Israel and enemy of God from the offspring of Edom. They are prophesied to meet eternal ruin and Israel is commanded to erase their memory from beneath the heavens.
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Jewish Amalekites?
Can an Amalekite convert to Judaism? The Mechilta says no:
Rabbi Eliezer says: The Lord swore by His throne of glory: If a gentile comes to convert to Judaism, he will be accepted. But Amalek and ...
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Why are "Remember and don't forget Amalek" two separate commandments?
Why did the Rambam list these as two distinct commandments:
P189- Remember what Amalek did to the Israelites. [Deut. 25:17]
N59- Don't forget what Amalek did to the Israelites. [Deut. 25:19]
Aren't ...
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Blot out the memory of Amalek or kill his descendants?
Can a prophet issue commands that go beyond the Torah?
The Torah says only to blot out Amalek's memory:
The Lord said to Moses, "... I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."...
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Why did Amalekites fear the Jews at Purim fights?
In the last question, I asked "who-did-the-jews-fight-on-purim-if-nobody-could-oppose-them".
On the second thought, the Amalekites are known with their natural hatred for the Jews, as they ...
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Are the Jewish people commanded to commit genocide?
We are being confronted more and more each day with the subject of genocide. Lately, comparisons are being drawn between possibly refusing Syrian Muslim refugees, or Muslims in general, entry into the ...
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Do Amalekites not have souls?
I remember reading once (in Sender Zeyv's novel Ten Lost), that some Jewish sources say that Amalekites don't have souls. Obviously, this might not be so reliable, coming from a work of fiction, so I'...
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How do we explain how God told jews to treat Egyptian, Amalekites, and Nearby Nations that Simply Refuse to do Labors
Egyptians were pretty bad. They killed Jewish boys. It's as bad as the Chinese one-child policy. But God told Jews not to abhor the Egyptian.
The Amalekites are evil too. But they did not have non-...
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The Spies Mentioning Amalek
When the spies come back, all of them (aside from Yehoshua Bin Nun and Calev Ben Yefuneh) return with negative reports of the land. Among these reports is a reference to Amalek: “Amalek dwell in the ...
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When was the war with Amalek?
It seems from its placement in Chumash that the (first) war with Amalek occurred between the exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah at Sinai. (Is that the case, or did it occur at another time?)...
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Do the 3 Mitzvos of entering Israel apply to the Second Temple?
וכן היה רבי יהודה אומר ג' מצות נצטוו ישראל בכניסתן לארץ:
להעמיד להם מלך ולהכרית זרעו של עמלק ולבנות להם בית הבחירה (Sanhedrin 20b)
Rabbi Yehuda says: Three mitzvot were commanded to the Jewish ...
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Mordechay's decree: "kill women and children, AND/OR plunder their possessions"?
I'm a bit confused here, so maybe the title is not worded well.
Achashverosh let Mordechay write the letters to his own wording:
"ואתם כתבו על־היהודים כטוב בעיניכם בשם המלך"
And you may ...
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Why didn't Shaul kill Agag?
As recorded in I Sh'muel (chapter 15), Shaul, the king, was told by the prophet to destroy the nation of Amalek
from man to woman, youngster to suckling, ox to sheep, camel to donkey.
So he ...
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Can descendants of Amalek become Jewish?
We are commanded to "blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven". Deut 25:19 Haman was a descendant of Amalek [Esther 9:24]. Descendants of Haman studied Torah in Bnei Brak. [Sanhedrin 96b, ...
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Does the mitzvah of eradicating Amalek supersede Shabbos?
The Sefer Chinuch 604 tells us we have a mitzvah to wipe out Amalek.
למחות זרעו מן העולם - שנצטוינו למחות זרעו של עמלק ולאבד זכרו מן העולם, זכר ונקבה, גדול וקטן, ועל זה נאמר (דברים כה יט) ''תמחה את ...
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How do we erase the memory of Amalek?
What does "erase the memory of Amalek" (Deut. 25:19) mean? Does it not contradict the obligation (Deut. 25:17) to remember them every year?
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