DEUT1477 The classic people in the Torah who hated the Jews are the Amalekites, who first attacked the Jews immediately after they left Egypt. Throughout history, even today, there are essentially four reasons why one nation attacks another nation: (1) to gain land, (2) to show power to other nations (and sometimes to themselves), (3) fear of being attacked, so they attack first, (4) a holy war. The way the Torah describes the attack of Amalek [this verse], it is clear that none of these reasons applied. The verse starts off by saying that the Jews were attacked "on the way," meaning in no-man's-land. Therefore, the reason could not have been to gain territory. The next phrase in the verse is "they smote the weakest in the back ranks." Therefore, they could not have demonstrated power even if they had been victorious, since they attacked only the weakest. The verse continues "when you (the Jewish people) were faint and weary." Therefore, the reason could not of been fear of an attack by the Jews, since they were tired. Finally, the verse concludes "and they did not fear God." Therefore, it could not have been a holy war. If all the usual reasons were not present, why, then, did the Amalekites attack the Jews? There are some non-Jews who hate Jews for no reason at all, other than that they are Jews. Thus, some forms of anti-Semitism are based not anything specific, just on the fact that Jews exist. This phenomenon is expressed in a unique way by the Midrash (Midrash, Sifri, Behaalotcha 11). It says that It is a "known law" that Esau hates Jacob, that is, the non-Jew hates the Jew. What kind of law is this that non-Jews hate Jews? Most people think of laws as a demonstration of a man-made justice system. But there is another kind of law, the laws of nature, which are not man-made but God-made. These laws are neither good nor bad, but, rather, true or not true. Therefore, the Midrash seems to indicate that there is a natural law that the non-Jew will hate the Jew, an inescapable part of nature. Similarly, the Midrash describes the Jewish people as one lamb amongst seventy wolves (Midrash Tanchuma, Toldot 5), as a natural state of things where the wolf desires to eat the lamb, and that all the nations hate the Jews. Of course, this does not mean that all non-Jews hate Jews, only that some non-Jews hate Jews without any logical reason or provocation. Part of this "law of nature" is also the ebb and flow of the Jews and the Gentile nations in an inverse relationship: when the Jews are on top, the non-Jewish nations are falling, and when the non-Jewish nations on top, the Jews are falling (Pesachim 42b). This, then, is the definition of Amalek today, according to Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik. Although there are no longer any physical remnants of Amalek, there are spiritual heirs. Anyone who hates Jews and tries to destroy the Jews just because they are Jews (and without any concrete reason) would be considered Amalek today.
SHOW FULL EXCERPT