This Shabbat is Shabbat Zachor when we will fulfill the mitzvah of remembering what Amalek did to us. What made Amalek's deed any worse than all the other enemies who fought the Jewish people? The Torah quotes Bilaam as having said: "Amalek is the first among nations" (Bamidbar 24:20). Amalek was the first among the nations to wage battle against the Jewish people.

The nations of the world all feared Hashem, none of them had the chutzpah to fight the Jewish nation. What was the reaction of the other nations after having witnessed or having heard about the splitting of the sea and the other miracles Hashem performed in Egypt? The nations stood in fear and trepidation, as we testify to every morning: "peoples heard, they were agitated; terror gripped the dwellers of Plishtim, then the chieftains of Edom were confounded, trembling gripped the powers of Moav, all the dwellers of Canaan dissolved" (Shmot 15:14-15), they knew that they were unable to inflict any harm upon Am Yisrael. Amalek, however, was not moved.

The Torah describes the incident with Amalek: asher korcha baderech "that he happened upon you on the way" (Devarim 25:18). The word korcha can also come from the word kar - cool. Rashi cites from Chazal: "This can be compared to a boiling bath into which no person could descend, one scoundrel came, he jumped in and went down into it. Although he was scalded, he cooled it off for others". Amalek did get what they deserved: "Yehoshua weakened Amalek and its people with the sword's blade" (Shmot 17:13), yet the bath in the eyes of the world no longer intimidated them by appearing as boiling hot as it seemed originally appearing as if one who touches it would get scalded. It may be hot but the one who jumped in showed the rest of the world that there is no need to fear touching it.

"Amalek came and battled Israel in Refidim" (Shmot 17:8). Why did Amalek wage war against Am Yisrael? The Torah does not provide us with any motive, but in the piyut for Parshat Zachor we find a reason: Amalek's intention in waging war against the Jewish people was to prevent them from receiving the Torah.

We can infer from here that Amalek believed in Hashem, for if not why would they care if Moshe were to bring down two stone tablets that he happened to discover on the mountain on which he had written Ten Commandments that he had just conjured up in his mind? If the Torah is not from heaven and it has no significance, what is there to fight about and why should they try and prevent the Jewish nation from receiving the Torah? Clearly Amalek believed in Hashem's existence, and Hashem's giving the Torah to the Jewish nation was so significant that Amalek set out to prevent this from happening by waging war against Am Yisrael.

Where did Amalek go wrong? Their mistake was in thinking that they could "overpower" Hashem and thwart the Divine Plan from being carried out. They thought: "yes, it is true that Hashem took Am Yisrael out from Egypt in order to give them the Torah, but with a bit of effort it is possible to prevent this from happening". Amalek failed to understand that it is impossible to "defeat" Hashem and prevent the Divine Plan from taking place.

It is interesting to note that following the battle with Amalek: "Moshe built an altar and called its name: 'Hashem is My Miracle'" (Shmot 17:15), however following the exodus from Egypt and even following the splitting of the sea there is no record of Moshe having built an altar. Although the Korban Pesach was offered in Egypt, there is no record of any special offering following the splitting of the sea. What makes the war with Amalek so special that Moshe felt the need to bring an offering following it? We cam suggest a possible explanation based on the Rambam's view of korbanot. The Rambam writes that the purpose of korbanot is to prevent people from worshipping avoda zara. Following the splitting of the sea, Hashem's presence was so greatly felt that there was no danger of anyone turning to avoda zara, G-d forbid. Amalek, however, introduced kefira and apikorsut into the world. It was therefore at this juncture that Moshe Rabenu felt the need to erect an altar and bring an offering. Although the Ramban writes that korbanot have their own inherent value outside of deterring people from avoda zara, the Ohr Somayach explains that that is only within Yerushalayim, their value outside Yerushalayim is purely to offset any desire for avoda zara - this was not necessary following the splitting of the sea but was necessary following the battle against Amalek.

The Rambam writes that a descendant of Amalek who converts, not only a full conversion but even one with the status of a ger toshav where he accepts upon himself the seven Noachide laws, may be accepted within the Jewish nation. How can that be, are we not commanded timche et zecher Amalek? The Torah commands us to obliterate the name of Amalek because they were described as "velo yarei Elokim" "they did not fear Hashem" (Devarim 25:18). A descendant of Amalek who fears Hashem as is indicated by his becoming a ger has shown that he does fear Hashem and thus there is no longer any reason to destroy him. If he does not keep the seven Noachide laws then he is no different than any other non-Jew who does not observe these mitzvos. Furthermore, the Torah writes: "timche et zecher Amalek mitachat hashamayim" "you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven" (ibid. 19). One who takes upon himself to keep the Torah, however, is above the heavens and thus there is no reason to obliterate him.

What does it mean that Amalek did not fear G-d? We mentioned above that they clearly did not deny Hashem's existence, for if so why should he care whether or not Moshe Rabenu continued with the Jewish nation towards Har Sinai? What would be so terrible if he were to bring down the Ten Commandments, they have no meaning anyway? Haman believed in Hashem's existence but wishes that He have no influence in the world. Haman followed in the footsteps of his ancestors. Chazal teach us that Haman spoke to Achashverosh and told him that Hashem exists but He is old and is not what He used to be, G-d forbid. He therefore believes in Hashem but feels that he is stronger and can overpower Hashem.

People often wonder why if the original Amalek sinned against the Jewish nation, must all of their descendants be wiped out including women and children, what did they do wrong? I will counter with a similar question - why does the fact that we descend from Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov make us the Chosen People? We do not come close to even approaching their level. Nevertheless every Jew has inherited some characteristic of our holy patriarchs and in that merit we ask Hashem to keep what He had promised to our forefathers. Similarly a Kohen has the right to serve in the Beit HaMikdash simply by virtue of his having descended from Aharon HaKohen. Another Jew, no matter how great a tzaddik he may be, who is not a descendant of Aharon, may not serve. This is because every Kohen has inherited a characteristic of Aharon, something which another Jew has not inherited.

We can apply the same principle to negative traits as well. Every descendant of Amalek has inherited the "he does not fear G-d" characteristic of Amalek. Of course, as we learned above, they can fight and defeat that trait by becoming either a full-fledged ger or a ger toshav. If they do not do so, however, then they remain with the negative trait of an Amalek.

The sons of Eli were not on the level of their father. Although Chazal teach us that "whoever says the sons of Eli sinned is simply mistaken, they mean that things are not as they are appear at face value. They still did not carry out their service as they should have. Hashem therefore decreed: "therefore I have sworn concerning the house of Eli that the sin of the house of Eli would never be atoned for by sacrifice or meal-offering" (Shmuel I 3:14). This means that korbanot will never atone for their sin and they therefore will be punished with dying at a young age. When we hear the sad story of people who died young, it is very possible that it was not for any sin of their own but simply that they were descendant from the house of Eli.

The Gemara cites a story of children who died young because they were from the house of Eli. The Gemara explains that Hashem only said that korbanot will not help the descendants of Eli, however Torah, tefilla, and gemillut chassadim can help prevent those from this family from dying young. The Gemara writes that Rabba and Abaye both descended from the house of Eli. Because Rabba taught much Torah he lived until age 40 (more than the 18 decreed for Beit Eli), while Abaye taught much Torah and was very involved in gemillut chassadim and therefore lived until the age of 60. By the same token, Amalek can overcome his negative characteristics by becoming a ger. We must realize that any act we do, whether mitzvoth or aveirot, influence our succeeding generations. Thank G-d none of us have descended as low as Amalek.

How can we fulfill the mitzvah of wiping out Amalek, after all we do not know who descends from Amalek. We can destroy the Amalek from within us. Each of us can strengthen their belief in Hashem. We destroy any vestige of Amalek within us by accepting the words of Torah, by striving to fulfill the Torah with ahava and yirah. Many think that it is sufficient to love Hashem and there is no need to fear Him as well. This is not true, ahava and yira are each individual positive commandments. The concept of yirat Shamayim is not limited to fear of punishment. This may be an example of fear of Hashem but there is an even higher level and that is to be in awe of Him. When we realize how great He is and how good He is to us then we will say to ourselves: "how can we possibly not follow His commands?" This is yira, awe, of His greatness.

Chazal teach us: "the removal of Achashverosh's signet ring was greater than forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses who prophesied to Israel, for they were all unable to return the Jewish nation to the path of righteousness whereas removal of the signet ring did return the Jewish people to the path of righteousness" (Megilla 14a).

All the prophets and prophetesses of Israel could not move them to repent, but  "the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman" (Esther 3:10) sparked them to immediate action. Why did the prophets not succeed in moving the nation? Did they not prophesy of terrible calamities awaiting them? Why did these prophecies not spur them to repent? Perhaps the prophecies left room for delusions, for allowing themselves to think they would never take place. People began wondering: "who is right? Perhaps the false prophets have a point! When Nebuchadnezzar king of Bavel waged war, there were of course "experts" who pointed out that he was still a great distance from the Beis HaMikdash - he would never get that far. As he got closer and set a siege around Yerushalayim, they announced: "we've seen this before - Sanherib also placed a siege around Yerushalayim during the days of Yeshayahu and in the end it was he who fell." (See Melachim II 19:35-37). With such excuses it is impossible for the words of any prophet to awaken the people.

They rationalized that perhaps the false prophets were right: "the kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the world's inhabitants, that the adversary or enemy could enter the gates of Yerushalayim" (Eicha 4:12) There was no limit to the ways in which they could convince themselves that the Beis HaMikdash would never be destroyed.

In Shushan, however, within a very short time the Jewish people were faced with a grave and threatening danger. They awoke one morning and went to Shacharis, only to suddenly discover what was awaiting all the Jews in the one hundred and twenty-seven countries under Achashverosh's sovereignty. There was no time for excuses - the sudden jolt, the shock that destruction awaited them in a mere eleven months, shook them to their very foundations. Had events developed slowly, there would have been time for excuses.

What happened? That same king, who had invited them to his feast, was now going to allow them to be annihilated. We must realize that at that royal feast not only was every imaginable delicacy available, but even the kashrus was guaranteed, as the Megillah states: "to do according to each man's pleasure" (Esther 1:8) 

This meant that whoever ate only Bada"tz food received food under the supervision of the Bada"tz, the same applied to those who relied only on She-eris Yisrael or any other form of Mehandrin hechsher. Imagine, any hechsher they wanted was available (see Esther Rabba 2:3), why should they not participate in such a feast? It's almost a mitzvah! Suddenly out of the blue they are confronted with a decree: "to destroy, to slay, and to exterminate all the Jews, from young to old, women and children" (Esther 3:13) Such a jolt shook their hearts as well as their minds. The shock of it all awakened them to repent.

There was no way to fight the enemy, for there was no Jewish army. Even had they tried to influence Achashverosh to repeal the decree it would have been of no use because, as Achashverosh said to Mordechai: "for an edict which is written in the king's name and sealed with the royal signet may not be revoked" (Esther 8:8) Achashverosh himself would be unable to rescind the terrible decree. There were no natural means at Israel's disposal by which to defend themselves. Any weapons available in Shushan would have been confiscated by the Achashdarpanim and Pachot and given to the enemies of Israel, all the Amalekite subjects of Achashverosh who would use them to fight against the Jewish nation. The only recourse was teshuva! It had to happen soon for in just a short time Haman was going to hang them. Although at a later stage Achashverosh would permit them to battle the enemy, they had no way of knowing that at this point.

The Jewish people not only repented, but even kiyemu vekiblu - they accepted the Torah willfully and not out of fear as was the case at Har Sinai where kafa aleihem har kegigit and Hashem coerced us into accepting the Torah. In Shushan we accepted the Torah out of our own free will: "kayamim asher nachu bahem haYehudim meoyveihem" "as the days in which the Jews gained relief from their enemies" (Esther 9:22) - the Torah was accepted when they no longer had the enemies threatening them. The great simcha of Purim is the simcha of accepting the Torah. The celebration of Purim is therefore not the celebration of the victory in the war but rather on the day that we rested from the enemy, for that was when "They accepted the Torah again in the days of Achashverosh" (Shabbat 88a) out of love, out of our own free will. This is the reason for our joy celebrating laYehudim hayta ora vesimcha vesasson vicar. It is incumbent upon each of us not only to feel this sense of joy but to try to bring joy unto others with mishloach manot and matanot laevyonim. The Rambam writes that the mitzvah of matanot laevyonim is greater than mishloach manot and the Purim Seudah. Making sure that the poor are happy brings true joy to Hashem. I would like to wish everyone a freiliche Purim and may we soon see a true fulfillment of laYehudim hayta ora vesimcha vesasson vikar.