The Sefer Hachinuch (mitzvos 603, 604, and 605) discusses the 3 mitzvos in the Torah that relate to the nation of Amalek. We are responsible to remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people in the desert as we left Egypt, we need to focus on what they did consistently, and we need to even make sure to speak it out verbally from time to time. In addition to that, we are also responsible to wipe out all of the descendants of Amalek.

A shallow understanding of the verses can lead to an significant distortion of what the proper Torah values are. The Torah may seem to be teaching us that when someone hurts us or when someone is a bad person, we have no responsibility to be kind and compassionate to them. We are even allowed to be angry at them, to be mean to them, and even too take revenge against them. It would even seem that we are obligated to proactively make sure that we bear a grudge against them, that we have an eternal hatred against them, and that we are responsible to unleash out wrath against them as much as possible.

This understanding is not only not true, but it is actually the exact opposite of what the true Torah values are. The Torah teaches us that arrogance, entitlement, bearing a grudge, hatred, and revenge are all forbidden in the Torah because they are against the Torah’s moral principles. Hashem is a God of kindness and humility, not a God of anger and revenge! Therefore, it is important to understand these mitzvos, and to understand what their true context is.

The Sichos Mussar (lecture 27) explains that when someone does something that is hurtful to someone else, there is supposed to be justice; they are supposed to be held accountable. Anyone who appreciates the truth will be able to recognize this. Frequently, the responsibility to bring about this justice is reserved for Hashem himself. He is the ultimate judge and He brings about the justice. There are also times when Hashem authorizes us to carry out an element of the justice as messengers of His. Generally, those situations are reserved for the beis din. Hashem gave them the authority and the responsibility to carry out the justice on His behalf. However, for the most part, it is not the job of humans to carry out the justice on our own.

The Torah teaches us that one example of a situation where we are responsible to carry out the justice with the authority of Hashem and as the messengers of Hashem is in relation to our holding the nation of Amalek accountable for their actions.

The mishna in Sanhedrin teaches us that even when the Sanhedrin was carrying out the justice and they were executing capital punishment it wasn’t supposed to be done with a feeling of negativity toward the sinner, rather there is a responsibility for it to be done with a feeling of love, care, and concern for the person who was being held accountable. The mishna explains that in addition to capital punishment serving as a means to carry out the justice for the crime that was committed, it also served as a benefit for the sinner because it was part of his repentance and atonement.



The Sichos Mussar explains that when we carry out justice we should not have any negativity toward the sinner, rather we are focused on our job, which is to carry out the justice in a manner that we are authorized to. The Torah tells us that when Pinchus carried out justice when he killed Kasbi and Zimri, he did so as the grandson of Aaron Hakohen. He carried out the justice because he was someone who loved peace and he pursued it. It was because of his love for others that he was motivated to bring justice to the world in a manner that would benefit everyone.

Similarly, the mitzva to eradicate the nation of Amalek from the world should not be done with a feeling of arrogant superiority, or a feeling of egotistical anger and hatred. Rather, it should be carried out with a sense of responsibility to bring justice to the world as a messenger of Hashem, and it should be done with a sense of sensitivity toward those who are being held accountable as well.

The Torah teaches us about the morality of humility, kindness, compassion, and love, and the Torah also teaches us about the morality of integrity, truth, and justice as well. The Torah even teaches us how to bring the different aspects of morality together in a manner that they complement each other perfectly.