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Question: If we are commanded by Hashem to kill Amalek, then how is that any different then the Arabs who claim that Allah told them to kill Jews?
Answer
True the concept of erasing Amalek, today, sounds cruel. On the other hand, the eternal Torah, had to be relevant not only today, but 3300 years ago, as well. To judge methods of national survival 3300 (!) years ago with a modern measuring-stick is anachronistic and simply irrelevant. The same loving G-d who commanded us the super-moral mitzvot, also commanded us peace-loving and โ€œslave-mentalityโ€ Jews who just left Egypt, that sometimes we must โ€œtoughen upโ€ to โ€œfight fire with fireโ€ in self-defense and retaliation, and is the same G-d who historically โ€œlostโ€ Amalek somewhere along the line, because He doesnโ€™t want that โ€œmitzvahโ€ to be preoccupying modern man. He made sure that Amalek no longer exists, but the only thing that remains is the obligation, once a year, to remember that sometimes we โ€œnice guysโ€ who would do anything not to kill, have to artificially โ€œget toughโ€, otherwise our anti-Semitic enemies will surely take advantage of us (it still took us thousands of missiles down south until we finally retaliated!). Like a loving Father teaches his naive daughter not to let others take advantage of her. Self-defense, retaliation and deterring the enemies of peace is life-giving and moral, and the exact opposite (!) of Islamic terror which brags about how many innocent citizens they killed, and even names their streets after those evil โ€œheroesโ€ of terrorism. The world has difficulty understanding why the Arabs in Azza could be the aggressors, if they consistently suffer more casualties, because thank G-d, the world doesnโ€™t understand the mindset (and illogic) of religious Jihad!
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