The Amalek Paradox  

We’ve all noticed the Amalek paradox. We’re commanded to obliterate Amalek’s memory from under the heavens — every single year, without forgetting. If the point of parshas Zachor were simply to eliminate Amalek’s memory, we wouldn’t reopen their story every year. Obviously, there must be a deeper purpose to this mitzvah.

Let’s add another question: Our history is chock-full of evildoers, attackers, and enemies. But there’s only one whose memory we’re commanded to wipe out. What made Amalek so uniquely terrible that we’ve been given a mitzvah to stamp out his memory?

The answer to this question starts with an incident that happened just before Amalek attacked. In parshas Beshalach, we read the story of “Massah U’Merivah,” where Klal Yisrael complained to Moshe about the lack of water. They challenged him saying, “Hayesh Hashem bekirbeinu im ayin? — Is Hashem in our midst or not?”

In the very next pasuk, Amalek strikes. Citing Chazal, Rashi explains that the two stories were juxtaposed because the first caused the second. Amalek’s attack was Hashem’s response to Klal Yisrael’s questioning.