Amalek and Israel's Sinners

Remember that which Amalek did to you, on the way as you came out of Egypt. How he surprised you on the way and cut down all those who were weakly tailing after you, while you were faint and worn out and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when God your God will have given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the Land which God your God gives you for an inheritance to take possession of it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heaven; forget this not.                    Deuteronomy 25:17-19

            Throughout the forty years of wandering in the desert, the Children of Israel were protected by the Clouds of Glory, including at the Red Sea, where the Clouds created a barrier between the Israelites and Pharaoh’s host, to protect the Israelites from the Egyptians' arrows and the stones hurled at them.[Exodus 14:19-20]

            Because the Clouds of Glory necessarily protected the Israelites from Amalek as well, Rashi explains that “those who were weakly tailing after you” refers to those who, through their sins, had been cast out of the Clouds of Glory, since they were the only Israelites who would be vulnerable to Amalek.

            My father noted that although Israel suffered much more at the hands of the Egyptians than at the hands of Amalek, the Torah commands us to not hate the Egyptian, while enjoining us to wipe out even the memory of Amalek. What a tremendous lesson the Torah teaches us! Because the sinners of Israel remain part of the Community of Israel (Klal Yisrael) despite their sins, the Almighty Himself pledges eternal battle against those who had the audacity to attack the sinners of Israel. [Exodus 17:16]