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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Source for how Agag had a child after being captured
Many years ago when I learned the story of King Shaul and Agag I recall learning that the Amalekites were master sorcerers and that the way King Agag was able to perpetuate his line was by cohabiting ...
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Why is Haman called an Agagite and not an Amalekite?
In Megillas Esther 3:1 Haman is called the Agagite which I always assumed meant he was a descendant of Agag the king of the Amalekite in 1 Shmuel 15:8. His lineage is confirmed in Megillah 13a as ...
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Did God destroy Amalek in King David's time, like Rashi seems to say?
I've always understood that the war with Amalek is an ongoing concern (and that the mitzvah to blot out Amalek's memory is ongoing), but I saw some puzzling Rashi today that seems to contradict that. ...
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Killing all of 'Amalek - Mitzvah or Reshuth?
This may be two questions that are closely related.
Would engaging in war with 'Amalek without a specific command (a la Shaul) be a Milhemeth Mitzvah or Milhemeth Reshuth?
Is killing all of 'Amalek (...
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What historical figures have been identified as 'Amalek?
Adolf Hitler is often said to have been from 'Amalek. I've even heard it said not only figuratively but literally (how one could know that is a mystery to me).
What other historical figures are ...
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Amalekim's disguise as Canaanites in Chukas
Rashi (in parshas Chukas perek 21 pasuk 1) says that Amalek attacked the Jews, and that the pasuk calls them Canaanites because the Amaleikim had learned the Canaanite language (so the Jews would pray ...
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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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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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How to reconcile? I must eradicate the memory of Amalek but I must help the ass of the one who hates me.
It’s Parshas Zochor (Dvarim 25) this Shabbos. “There is a mitzvah in the Torah to remember Amalek and his descendants and to orally recall their iniquity. We are to tell our children in each ...
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The 500 men killed in Shushan, and the 500 Jews who killed Amaleki
Is there a source to connect (mystically, or otherwise) those enemies of the Jews (presumably Amaleki) killed in Megillas Esther 9:12 with the 500 men from the tribe of Shimon who killed out the ...
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Why did none of the later kings of Israel destroy Amalek?
There is a commandment to obliterate Amalek.
Shaul Hamelech was commanded to obliterate Amalek and failed.
Dovid continued in the process, but obviously didn't destroy them completely.
None of the ...
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How did Dovid Hamelech kill Amaleikim?
Similar to this question.
How did Dovid Hamelech kill the Amaleikim when they were almost completely obliterated (their only survivor was a baby fathered by Agag on his last day) by Shaul Hamelech ...
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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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Why does Rashi say Yisro heard *two* things?
Shemot 18:1:
וישמע יתרו: מה שמועה שמע ובא, קריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק
Now…Jethro…heard: What news did he hear that [made such an impression that] he came? The splitting of the Red Sea and the war with ...
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Dovid haMelech and Amalek
In Shmuel Alef chapter 15 Shaul HaMelech (King Saul) loses his kingship because in his battle against Amalek he failed to kill King Agag and saved livestock to offer as sacrifices.
Later we find ...
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