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Why did Amalek attack knowing they would be destroyed, and how did this "cool off" Israel's reputation? Rashi (רש"י)'s scalding-water analogy seems backward—their defeat should have deterred others. The shiur argues Amalek's self-destruction delivered a chilling message: Jews are evil incarnate, and death is preferable to living in their world. This redefined Israel not as militarily powerful but as morally repugnant—a devastating philosophical attack.
The shiur examines the perplexing obligation to remember what Amalek did to Israel, specifically the concept of "asher korcha baderech"—that Amalek "cooled off" the Jewish people's reputation. Rashi (רש"י) compares this to someone jumping into scalding water: though the person gets burned, the water cools down. Yet the shiur challenges this interpretation with a fundamental question: if someone attacks and gets utterly devastated, doesn't that enhance rather than diminish the victor's reputation? Amalek was nearly obliterated—Rashi explains that Yehoshua left survivors only by divine command—which should have served as a powerful deterrent to others, following the Torah (תורה)'s principle of "lemaan yishme'u veyira'u" (that others should hear and fear). Rabbi Zweig asks why any rational nation would choose self-destruction by attacking Israel when the outcome was predictable. The answer reveals Amalek's true strategy: they were willing to die because they deemed Jewish existence intolerable. Their message to the world was not about Israel's military might but about Jewish morality—that Jews represent evil incarnate, and death is preferable to coexistence with them. This constituted the real "cooling off": transforming Israel's image from a nation of divine values and potential positive impact into the source of evil itself.
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Ki Seitzei 25:17-19
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