"Bigdei Kahuna" Parsha page by Rabbi Yehuda Katz

BASHALOCH

"And G-d said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I (G-d) will utterly blot out the rememberance of Amalak from under the heaven." (17:14)

A question can be asked,as follows:Why was Amalak punished to such an extent ?I would like to proposed an original answer, Bezrat Hashem. After the Exodus from Egypt, Amalak (descendants from Esau) attacked the Israelites at a time of great Devine revelation to the world.The world literally trembled before G-d and the Israelites after witnessing the 10 plagues and the great miracles. Rashi comments that this memorial is specifically aimed at remembering "Amalak as being the nation to attack the Israelites prior to all the other nations." This point is very significant. Its not that Amalak attacked the Israelites, its that it was the first to attack thus making it a possibility that such an attack is conceivible at a very time when this notion was basically inconceivible to the world. This was Amalak's intent. They wanted to "cool" the world off of fear of Heaven. (Refer to Rashi Deut. 25:18) This enabled other nations who would otherwise not fight against G-d or the Jewish People to think that its possible. Any other nation that conceives of fighting against G-d has its roots in Amalak. Amalak's sin is ,therefore,perpetual in nature, its on going till today. Do you think that when the President of Iran,YIMOCH SHEMO, threatens to destroy Israel blatantly without any fear of G-d its not related to Amalak in any way?After each blow against G-d, it becomes easier for the next nation to fight all stemming from Amalak's first blow. We can all learn a tremendous lesson from this in regard to sinning itself. In Kiddushin40a, the Sages of blessed memory have said, "When a man has committed a sin and repeated it, it has become permissible to him." This is exactly what Amalak can teach us. Have a good Shabbos