These are the words of parshat zachor. A reminder to the Jewish people of what is in fact a somewhat enigmatic incident that took place as Am Yisrael left Egypt. The Jewish people, seemingly undefeatable, guided by G-d and protected by his miracles and wonders are set upon, unexpectedly, by an enemy. The name of this enemy – Amalek. Amalek has become synonymous with evil and unrepentant wickedness. The idea that G-d desires us to annihilate a nation, nothing less than extermination, root and stem, has also troubled ethical scholars throughout the generation. How can the G-d who prohibits murder, endorse genocide?  The answers to these questions are not easy ones and are issues we must contend with and consider as Jews and seekers of truth. 

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz of blessed memory presents an interesting observation- Amalek were not successful in their war. We are not speaking of the Nazis, or the inquisition, or any other group who managed to penetrate the heart of the Jewish people and do it tremendous damage. Even the story of Purim, and Haman, who tradition identifies as being of the seed of Amalek, ultimately failed in his attempts to bring catastrophe upon G-d’s holy nation. And that is where we obtain some insight into the nature of this mitzvah to remember Amalek. It is not a specific event we are commemorating, but an ongoing phenomenon. The phenomenon that as long as Jews have walked the earth, there are those who have hated us notwithstanding the irrationality of that hate. Rabbi Steinsaltz writes:

[The war with Amalek] lacked all the elements that could explain such hatred. All it had is this deep-seated hatred toward Jews simply because they are Jews. This fundamental hatred does not derive from any reason whatsoever, nor does it end when the hater recognizes and is rationally aware of the Jews’ virtues; a person or a people can recognize all these virtues and still continue to hate to the same degree. Amalek’s hatred of Israel, then, can be characterized as pure, causeless hatred, hatred that lacks a goal or a purpose. It is unqualified hatred of the very essence or existence of Israel.

The task of the Jewish nation is not an easy one. It is to convert the darkness in our world into light. When we try to change the world for the better, however, sometimes out of the darkness evil comes. Amalek, the spirit of the nation of Amalek, baseless, irrational Jew-hatred is something that unfortunately continues to plague and haunt our world. Parshat Zachor is a remembrance of that, that as long as there are Jews, the spirit of Amalek will persist. However, Hashem commands us to obliterate this from the world- how can Hashem give us an impossible task? To remind us that the fight against darkness is not one that will be solved in a single, act, a single generation. It is a constant one, and its timescale is the timescale of the Jewish people. Together, with the help of Hashem, we will ultimately be victorious