EXOD96 When a person yields to temptation, he may still realize that what he is doing is wrong. He simply cannot control himself. In this situation there are aspects of hope: Although today he has lost his willpower, man is free, and tomorrow he may regain it. Today he has merely lost a battle. But there is still tomorrow, and eventually the war maybe won. Furthermore, sinners of this type are regarded more favorably in Jewish law when they seek forgiveness. The stern measures of the Bible are not intended as vengeance or reprisals; they are laws for expiation and atonement, for "settling your account," and they point the way to full forgiveness. In warning that a sinner should not be lashed to access, the Torah explains: it is in order "that your brother may not be degraded before your eyes" [this verse]. The Torah calls the sinner "your brother," to imply that after he has paid for his wrongdoing, he achieves full forgiveness and regains his status in the community of Israel. Even the death penalty is considered expiation and atonement, and it opens the way to life in the world-to-come. Thus the person who succumbs to his passions has three hopeful elements in his situation: (1) He can admit in honesty that what he did was wrong. (2) There is hope that he can return to consistent, dependable goodness and decency. (3) By accepting punishment, he is forgiven. For the rebellious sinner, however, none of these is very valid. Since he has a "philosophy," a rationale for what he does, the likelihood that he will repent and seek forgiveness is remote. In regard to such a type the Torah states, "But the person who acts with a high hand… blasphemes the Lord. … Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandments, that person shall be utterly cut off; his inquiry is upon him." (Numbers 15:30-31). The punishment for this rebellious spirit is total kareth: removal from this world and from the world-to-come. This kind of transgression lay in the action of the people of Amalek (Exodus 17:8ff), and it brought down on them the Torah's harsh sentence of total extirpation, through all generations if necessary (Exodus 17:14, 16; Deuteronomy 25:17-19; I Samuel 15:3). At first sight this might seem strange, though: After all, we have been beset by many enemies during our history. True, Amalek attacked us; but so did Babylon, Rome, and others. Why does the Torah command us only in connection with this people, "Remember what Amalek did to you… Blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven"? (Deuteronomy 25:17, 19) The answer is that Amalek attacked the Israelites not because they threatened his land, nor even from a desire for booty and spoils, nor yet for vengeance. Amalek simply wished to thwart the plan of God. Amalek "did not fear God." (Deuteronomy 25:18). Amalek set himself in rebellion against the Almighty Himself: hence his special punishment. Pharaoh, as an individual, was also guilty of this kind of rebellion when he exclaimed, "who is the Lord that I should listen to Him?" [this verse]