Parallels Between Hamas on October 7th, 2023, and Biblical Amalek: The Difference - Hamas Has A Choice

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:17-19

17 Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt,

18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary, and he did not fear God.

19 Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Every Abrahamic Faith accepts Moses as a pioneering prophet. In Rabbinic Judaism, Moses is the Prophet of all Prophets in the House of Israel.

Islam recognizes the authenticity of the Torah given to Moses at Sinai for Israel (Surah 17:2). While Christianity and Islam support varying degrees of replacement theology that authenticates their respective Faiths, they still hold Moses's teachings sacred.

Most 21^st-century legal forums will demur in accepting evidence from ancient revealed texts in legal proceedings. However, there have been some issues relating to Hamas' attacks on October 7 and its subsequent war that have been presented as evidence of Israel's intention to commit genocide. One of them is an Israeli official's use of words that present Hamas as biblical "Amalek", which is deserving of total destruction.

What is Amalek?

Fundamentally, the war between Israel and Amalek in antiquity is a continuous war between good and evil. It is a war that is premised on the definition of moral clarity.

Three things define Amalek in the books of Moses:

1.      Doubt in people who seek to apply objective truths to build a just and equitable world,

2.      Randomness and the blatant disregard for order, structure, and due process, and

3.      A divine decree is issued to divinely wipe out Amalek from the face of the world[1]

Since Judaism, Christianity, and Islam accept the divinity of the books of Moses, they embrace these teachings to some degree.

To the most ardent denier of religion and revelation in the Abrahamic Faiths, one thing stands out – the historical, moral leadership of the ancient Israelites and the Jewish people in a unique mission to the world.

While Jews have never been a majority in history, they remain significant in terms of their impacts on civilization. Two of the mega religions of the West evolved from Judaism.

Throughout the ancient world, Jews maintained one of the earliest literate populations in history. This came with principles of justice, separation of powers, equality, ethics, morality, and regulations that limited human conduct in pursuit of higher-order goals and ends.

In the ancient world, the Israelites were the direct opposite of Egyptian civilization, which was premised on the absolute authority of the Pharaohs, who had supernatural and unquestioned powers.[2].

Egypt was by far the most sophisticated civilization in the ancient world. The Pharaoh was considered invincible around the Known World. However, under Moses’ leadership, Israel challenged the Egyptian order and revealed ten plagues that were known far and wide. Ultimately, the entire Egyptian aristocracy, including the once-thought-to-be-undefeatable Pharaoh, drowned as they pursued the Israelites through the split sea.

Therefore, a new civilization and worldview revolution emerged from Israel's rupture from Egyptian bondage. This was spread far and wide, and all the nations of the Known World recognized Israel as having a new order or system that was divine and, therefore, superior.

Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Amalek attacked the Israelite community in the desert. The attack placed doubts on Israel’s newly assigned role to cultivate systems that would ultimately lead humanity to a more refined existence.

This was a complete departure from the protocol that was being established to lay the foundation for the transmission of a meaningful legacy outside the oppressive and authoritarian system in Egypt.

Many people do not think deeply about life in Ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs could execute anyone and enslave whole populations for centuries. Pharaoh could decree an infanticide campaign, and everyone had to follow through because Pharaoh was seen to be so mystically powerful that he could cause far-reaching damage to people. Thus, he was followed blindly.

However, Moses and Israel introduced the first ethical monotheistic order on a national scale, which contained elements of the rule of law, the sacredness of human life, equality, and justice. As such, Amalek's attack on Israel was a "cooling off" of Israel's divine cover, thereby invoking doubts among the nations—after all, Israel is not as powerful as we thought.

On the other hand, Amalek preached that life was random – things just happened by chance[3]. There was no special plan. Israel had no special role. Life was what it was as we saw it. There was no need to create law and order. Society had to just function unhindered. This randomness of Amalek renders it a threat to human civilization and the world at large.

Thus, a divine decree was issued against Amalek to wipe them out in a definite manner. Amalek, like the Pharaohs who enslaved Israel, had no role in the new world that was being created with Israel as a primary incubator of ethics, the rule of law, the sanctity of human life, and limitations on human excesses.

In more modern discourses, Amalek is seen as a power that attacks the uncertain and doubtful.[4], by sowing the seeds of doubt in them. Biblical Amalek attacked the weak, who straggled behind the people.[5].

Amalek is seen as an agent who sees the truth for what it is but believes otherwise.[6].

Amalek is also presented as one who causes others to believe and accept doubts in the face of objective truths.

Amalek is NOT a Nation, but an Ideology

The word "Amalek" belongs to a generic term often viewed as an ideology that can be inferred from their actions in the sacred texts. These are doubt, randomness, and a decree to be destroyed. It draws parallels with various "isms" or ideological movements that guide and direct the affairs of groups of people.

Rabbinic Judaism generally asserts that the war against “… Amalek are wars against practices and principles, not against ethnicities."[7]

Since Sennacherib mixed the nations[8] around 500 BCE, there was no ability to identify a distinct group called Amalek in the years that followed.

However, a few decades later, when the story of Esther occurred, Haman, who wanted to destroy the Jewish people in one day, was described as an "Agagite."[9], the very same title of the kings of Amalek.

We also know that in the days of King Saul, over 500 years earlier, Israel was able to wage war against Amalek and destroy all of Amalek[10].

So how did "Amalek" find their way into Persia?

It appears the answer lies in the notion that Haman, the "Agagite" was more of a person who behaved like an arch-Amalekite. And with Haman's decision to kill all Jews in the Persian empire in one day, the Agagite label fit him clearly.

Amalek does not care.

Amalek simply refuses to recognize that Israel and the Jewish people might have a higher goal on earth. They are not sensitive to the fact that all of the Jewish people’s sacrifices are aimed at attaining an end goal based on a divine mandate. They just don’t care.

What Amalek wants to do is what he will do.

Amalek does not believe in a divine plan and is not bothered by such a plan. They just want to have their way as and when they please. Life just happens—that is Amalek. When they take a position, they implement it regardless of the consequences or relevant limits.

That is why the title of the arch-Amalekite fits Haman perfectly.

There is no obvious evidence that Haman, who lived over 500 years after the killing of the last Amalekite, was actually a descendant of the ancient Amalekites. Rather, Haman's actions directed him towards that goal.

He sought to overthrow the Jewish tradition steeped in objective truths and the pursuit of ethical excellence and replace it with nothing. That is all because Amalek doubts anything sacred and seeks random outcomes.

Christianity and Islam, which came after Judaism, have values that demand realistic limits and restrictions on behavior in favor of justice, objective truths, and ethical excellence.

Any ideology that challenges the established legal order based on Abrahamic values could be said to have a lot in common with Amalek.

Hamas on October 7

On the dawn of October 7, 2023, Hamas targeted defenseless Israelis who had no connection to the rest of the national security apparatus. The Israelis and Kibbutzim targeted were at their weakest.

The attacks happened on Simchat Torah, the day Jews around the world danced with Torah scrolls in Synagogues to complete a cycle of Torah reading. Those who were in the Gaza envelope, the rear, were attacked by Hamas as the rest of the Jewish world danced and sang joyously around Israel.

Hamas went further to film how they chased down desperate Israelis and shot them throughout the music festival and people in their beds. These helpless Israelis were attacked at the rear and killed as a means of spreading the same sentiment Amalek did over 3000 years ago – to show that Israelis are not as prone to attacks as the world may think.

In fact, the seed of doubt was the intrinsic essence of Hamas' attack. They wanted to show Israelis that they could not have safety unless they just lived in their ancestral homeland. This was to confirm prejudices and biases against Israel and present Hamas as the guiltless party.

The killing was random. It was a suicide mission, and any Israeli they met, they killed. That is to show that nothing really rules or steers affairs in the world. They wanted to attack, and they did anyway. Thus, they are showing that no order really works. Hamas will do what they want as and when they want to.

Sowing Doubt to Justify the Human Sacrifice Policy of Hamas

Extrinsically, Hamas sought to export the violence to the rest of the world.

Pro-Hamas groups have sponsored protests around the world with one goal in mind – to present Hamas as the victim.

Hamas thought Iran and their proxies would attack Israel to justify their massacres of October 7. However, that did not happen. To cover up their crimes, they started talking about Israel's "occupation" of Palestinian lands when what they actually want is genocide on the people of Israel. 

To prove their point, Hamas members are ready to sacrifice their women and children in extreme proportions to simply sow the seed of doubt in the minds of people. They have a policy of embedding themselves in the civilian population so they can present Israel as genocidal.

Now, Hamas is just pressing buttons randomly to find a solution support to end the war so they can rearm and prepare for another war against Israel. They keep reminding other Muslim states of their common religious beliefs, move from international body to international body, and put pressure on Israel on all fronts. They have demanded one-sided ceasefires and even gone as far as asking for states to sanction Israel. However, all the random acts have not yielded any results because they are steeped in an ideology that denies the basic elements of objective truths and due process. These are the very things that define the mission of the Jewish people from the days of Moses.

The Only Missing Ingredient – Compulsory Annihilation & Hamas’ Option to Return Hostages

The original biblical decree commanded Israel to blot out Amalek without preconditions.

As identified above, the ancient Amalek people are not identifiable today.

That means there can be no invocation of the exact commandments to wipe out Amalek in our times.

On the other hand, groups who think and behave like biblical Amalek abound in our times.

However, since there is no Sanhedrin (properly constituted supreme lawmaking and judicial body of the ancient Israelite nation), there can be no religiously sanctioned Jewish execution of Amalekites even if they were ever identified.

As such, there can be no compulsory wars sanctioned by an appropriate Jewish body to attack Amalek.

Wars in modern Israel are premised on Israel’s existential needs.

Thus, no compulsory annihilation of any group that can be identified as Amalek exists. This means any invocation of the term "Amalek" is nothing but an abstract notion.

Besides the absence of a formal imputation of the label of Amalek on Hamas, the group has a condition to end the war. For over a year, Israel has demanded two things – a return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the surrender of Hamas militant groups.

If these two conditions are met, Israel will have no grounds, in fact, or in law, to continue its offensive in Gaza. Therefore, it is apparent that the war in Gaza is conditional.

Conclusion

Hamas' actions on October 7, 2023, draw a lot of parallels with Amalek – including cutting down defenseless Israeli civilians on the fringes of the Gaza Envelope, trying to evade responsibility for the terror attacks by sowing doubts in their international media campaigns and engaging in random acts to cover up their human shield strategy. Clearly, Hamas shares the common values of Amalek in the era of Moses, who showed they had no respect for the mission of the Israelite community, which has created the world as we have it today. Hamas, in this conflict supports a random view of life – to do anything to make Israel look bad and ultimately destroy Israel. As well as their desire to sacrifice all their people knowingly.

Aside from these similarities between today's Hamas and Biblical Amalek, Jewish tradition does not permit labeling anyone as Amalek. That is because the Israelites effectively destroyed Amalek in the days of Prophet Samuel, and populations of the nations were mixed around 2,500 years ago. Since then, the term "Amalek" has been used as an adjective to describe a person who behaves like an "Agagite" – a king of Amalek. The absence of a Sanhedrin to declare religiously mandatory wars means Israel can only wage existential wars and not pure religiously commanded wars.

Finally, this war in Gaza is not a mandatory one-sided war being waged by Israel. It is a conditional war – and Hamas can end it by returning the hostages and surrendering the perpetrators of the massacres. Once this is done, the war will end. However, Hamas refuses, thereby justifying the fact that they are steeped in randomness and doubt in the face of justice and objective truths.

[1] Exodus 17:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

[2] Jane A. Hill, Philip Jones & Antonio J. Morales. Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia. (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013) p138

[3] Rabbi Shmuel Reichman. The Journey to Your Ultimate Self: An Inspiring Gateway into Deeper Jewish Thought Through the Lens of the Weekly Parashah. (Mosiaca Press, 2020) p250

[4] Laurie Zoloth. "7 Bad Guys: Amalek and the Production of Doubt" Ethics for the Coming Storm: Climate Change & Jewish Thought. 2023 pp149-177 New York: Oxford Academic.

[5] Deuteronomy 25:18

[6] Hannah White. "Jewish Bible Interpretation and the War on Amalek: A Discourse of the Evolution of the Interpretation of Deuteronomy 25:19" DOROT: The McGill Undergraduate Journal of Jewish Studies 9 2007 pp1-23

[7] Katell Berthelot, Joseph E. David & Marc Hirshman. The Gift of the Land and the Fate of the Canaanites in Jewish Thought. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) p157

[8] Shira Weiss. Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018) p39

[9] Esther 3:1

[10] I Samuel 15,