This sheet on Deuteronomy 25 was written by Julie Leiber for 929 and can also be found here
When genocide is discussed in a Jewish setting, it is often in the context of Jews as victims. Not so in Deuteronomy 25. Here, the Israelites are given the (in)famous command to wipe out the entirety of Amalek. Lest one think this is merely theoretical, the accompanying haftorah from I Samuel 15, makes the extent and reality of this commandment clear: not a trace of this people may remain. This is genocide in the extreme, destroying all remnants of Amalek.
This unusual mitzvah is perplexing and even disturbing. How can a people, who are commanded to emulate God’s compassion be charged with wiping out an entire people? Is it possible to cultivate the mercy and kindness and simultaneously carry out this command to murder men, women and children?
While this challenging biblical command might have remained buried in our Torah readings, like the commandment to stone one’s rebellious child, this is not so with the commandment of wiping out Amalek. Each year the Shabbat before Purim, we read these three verses publicly, reminding all those present of our ongoing commitment to destroy Amalek.
The joy-filled holiday of Purim, shortly upon us, centers on this very Jews vs. Amalek narrative. Only in this case, the plot unfolds with Amalek’s descendent Haman vowing to annihilate the Jews – men, women and children alike. We are once again the victims, not the perpetrators of this genocide. Each year, as we read the Book of Esther, we are outraged! How evil Haman must be to conjure up a plan to kill an entire people with little cause.
The Amalek narrative is a zero sum game. The Bible suggests that the newly formed Jewish nation cannot exist alongside Amalek. So too, many generations later, Haman proclaims the same about the Jews. It appears that both sides have bought into this zero-sum ideology: These two nations cannot simultaneously exist.
Or can they?
Perhaps the Purim story, dripping with irony throughout, ends with one final ironic climax. The Jews choose to commemorate their unexpected salvation by breaking the genocidal cycle. This might be the greatest genius of Esther and Mordecai, who declare that future generations of Jews on this day should not occupy themselves with destroying Amalek but with caring for the poor and strengthening communal and social bonds through gift-giving, breaking bread and merry-making. They supplant the biblical call to violence, remember what Amalek did (Zachor et asher asah) with a new command of “remembering and doing (nizcarim v’naasim bechol dor vador) that centers on compassion, love and community.
Instead of reading and the Book of Esther as yet another episode in the epic power struggle codified in our chapter, we might just see the Purim story as a courageous tale about those who dared us to disrupt entrenched patterns centered on violence and replace them with new “rememberings” and “doings” of kindness and connection.
This unusual mitzvah is perplexing and even disturbing. How can a people, who are commanded to emulate God’s compassion be charged with wiping out an entire people? Is it possible to cultivate the mercy and kindness and simultaneously carry out this command to murder men, women and children?
While this challenging biblical command might have remained buried in our Torah readings, like the commandment to stone one’s rebellious child, this is not so with the commandment of wiping out Amalek. Each year the Shabbat before Purim, we read these three verses publicly, reminding all those present of our ongoing commitment to destroy Amalek.
The joy-filled holiday of Purim, shortly upon us, centers on this very Jews vs. Amalek narrative. Only in this case, the plot unfolds with Amalek’s descendent Haman vowing to annihilate the Jews – men, women and children alike. We are once again the victims, not the perpetrators of this genocide. Each year, as we read the Book of Esther, we are outraged! How evil Haman must be to conjure up a plan to kill an entire people with little cause.
The Amalek narrative is a zero sum game. The Bible suggests that the newly formed Jewish nation cannot exist alongside Amalek. So too, many generations later, Haman proclaims the same about the Jews. It appears that both sides have bought into this zero-sum ideology: These two nations cannot simultaneously exist.
Or can they?
Perhaps the Purim story, dripping with irony throughout, ends with one final ironic climax. The Jews choose to commemorate their unexpected salvation by breaking the genocidal cycle. This might be the greatest genius of Esther and Mordecai, who declare that future generations of Jews on this day should not occupy themselves with destroying Amalek but with caring for the poor and strengthening communal and social bonds through gift-giving, breaking bread and merry-making. They supplant the biblical call to violence, remember what Amalek did (Zachor et asher asah) with a new command of “remembering and doing (nizcarim v’naasim bechol dor vador) that centers on compassion, love and community.
Instead of reading and the Book of Esther as yet another episode in the epic power struggle codified in our chapter, we might just see the Purim story as a courageous tale about those who dared us to disrupt entrenched patterns centered on violence and replace them with new “rememberings” and “doings” of kindness and connection.
Dr. Julie Lieber is a Jewish educator, and is the Director of the Pardes-Kevah Teaching Fellowship.
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