An ancient nation and arch-enemy of the Jewish people from the period of the Exodus. First mentioned in the Torah in connection with the patriarch Abraham (Gen. 14:7). When the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt, the Amalekites were the first to set upon them, attacking the weaker and more vulnerable people in the rear (Ex. 17:8–16); consequently, the Torah commands the Jews to eradicate every vestige of Amalek (Deut. 25:17–19). Saul lost the kingship for his dynasty because of his failure to destroy the Amalekites when he had the opportunity (I Sam. 15:2–34). The above passages in Deuteronomy and Samuel are read during the services on the Sabbath before Purim as a reminder that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag. On Purim itself the above passage in Exodus is read. The term “Amalek” came to signify all enemies of the Jewish people. The command to remember Amalek’s action after the Exodus and “blot out” his "memory" was interpreted by some talmudic sages as a command to recall our own misdeeds which cause our enemies to continually attack us (PdRK 27). Modern teachers frequently emphasize the point that the biblical command to "wipe out the remembrance of Amalek" can also be interpreted as a directive to oppose all aggressive evil wherever it appears.
