Page 18 - HaMizrachi Purim Australia 5781

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ל“צז

The Face of Evil

he Israelites had escaped the Shortly after, Moshe repeats the com-
seemingly inexorable danger mand about the Amalekites, adding a
Tof the chariots of the Egyptian significant detail:
army, the military high-tech of its day. “Remember what the Amalekites did to
Miraculously the sea divided, the Israel- you along the way when you came out of
ites crossed, the Egyptians, their chariot Egypt. When you were weary and worn
wheels caught in the mud, were unable out, they met you on your journey and
either to advance or retreat and were attacked all who were lagging behind;
caught by the returning tide. they had no fear of G-d … You shall blot
The Israelites sang a song and finally out the name of Amalek from under
seemed to be free, when something the Heaven. Do not forget” (Devarim
untoward and unexpected happened. 25:17–19).
They were attacked by a new enemy, We are commanded not to hate Egypt,
the Amalekites, a nomadic group living but never to forget Amalek. Why the dif-
in the desert. Moses instructed Joshua ference? The simplest answer is to recall
to lead the people in battle. They fought the Rabbis’ statement in Pirkei Avot: “If
and won. But the Torah makes it clear love depends on a specific cause, when
that this was no ordinary battle: the cause ends, so does the love. If love
“Then the L-rd said to Moses, ‘Write this does not depend on a specific cause,
on a scroll as something to be remem- it never ends.” The same applies to
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bered and make sure that Joshua hears hate. When hate depends on a specific
it, because I will completely blot out the cause, it ends once the cause disappears.
name of Amalek from under the Heaven.’ Causeless, baseless hatred lasts forever.
Moses built an altar and called it The The Egyptians oppressed the Israelites
L-rd is my Banner. He said, ‘The hand because, in Pharaoh’s words, “The Isra-
is on the L-rd’s throne. The L-rd will be elites are becoming too numerous and
at war with Amalek for all generations” strong for us” (Shemot 1:9). In other
(Shemot 17:14–16). words, their hate came from fear. It
This is a very strange statement, and it was not irrational. The Egyptians had
stands in marked contrast to the way the been attacked and conquered before by
Torah speaks about the Egyptians. The a foreign group known as the Hyksos,
Amalekites attacked Israel during the and the memory of that period was still
lifetime of Moshe just once. The Egyp- acute and painful. The Amalekites, how-
tians oppressed the Israelites over an ever, were not being threatened by the
extended period, oppressing and enslav- Israelites. They attacked a people who
ing them and starting a slow genocide were “weary and worn out,” specifically
by killing every male Israelite child. The those who were “lagging behind.” In
whole thrust of the narrative would sug- short: the Egyptians feared the Israelites
gest that if any nation would become the because they were strong. The Amale-
symbol of evil, it would be Egypt. kites attacked the Israelites because they
But the opposite turns out to be true. were weak.
In Devarim the Torah states, “Do not In today’s terminology, the Egyptians
abhor an Egyptian, because you were were rational actors, the Amalekites
a stranger in his land” (Devarim 23:8). were not. With rational actors there can

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