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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Were Amalek offered a peaceful exit?
Inspired by this:
The Rambam in Hilchos Melachim 6:1 writes:
אין עושין מלחמה עם אדם בעולם, עד שקוראין לו לשלום--אחד מלחמת הרשות, ואחד מלחמת מצוה
War is not waged with anyone in the world until they ...
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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 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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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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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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Who is Amalek in 2023
What is the Avodah of remembering Amalek today?
furthermore, what represents Amalek in present day, is it the internal battle between good vs bad?
Please cite any sources quoted (links are preferred)
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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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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 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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Why didn't Mordechai kill Haman?
Some background:
It is a mitzvah to destroy Amalek (Rambam mitzvah #188, Chinuch mitzvah 604).
The Chinuch seems to understand that this is both a mitzvah upon the Jewish people and upon every ...
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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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Treating with Amalek
The nation of Amalek sets itself apart as being eternally at war with Gd, (Ex. 17:16). We are commanded to eradicate the memory of Amalek from the world, (Deut 25:19). Yet Maimonides codifies an ...
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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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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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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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