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Why does God wage eternal war against Amalek instead of destroying them immediately? Amalek embodies self-destructive awareness—the rage of realizing human mortality and squandered potential, as Adam experienced after eating from the Eitz HaDaas. The answer lies in Moshe's essence ("beshagam hu basar"): recognizing we were created mortal, meant to grow into God's image through struggle, not mourn a paradise lost.
Rabbi Zweig explores the perplexing Torah (תורה) commandment to remember and wage war against Amalek across all generations. If Amalek is God's arch-enemy, why doesn't God simply destroy them? And why must this battle continue when we don't even know who Amalek is today since Sancheriv mixed the nations? The shiur begins by examining Parshas Beshalach, where Amalek attacks Israel at Refidim. God declares He will "blot out Amalek from under the heavens" yet simultaneously swears to "wage war against Amalek from generation to generation." This apparent contradiction demands explanation. Moreover, why is Amalek—rather than more barbaric, immoral nations—considered God's ultimate enemy? The Vilna Gaon's emendation identifying Amalek as Germania (Germany) two thousand years before the Holocaust highlights this question: Germany was the height of culture, science, music, and philosophy, not primitive barbarism.
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Parshas Beshalach 17:8-16 (Amalek); Parshas Ki Teitzei (Zachor); Bereishis 3:11-12 (Adam after sin); Bereishis 6:3 (beshagam hu basar)
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