by Rabbi Richard Borah
What is evil? For the purposes of this brief essay I will use the following working definition: Evil is the willful rejection of G..d’s authority over the actions of man.
Without an outside arbiter of what actions are permitted and restricted, a person can rightfully do whatever serves his purpose. People have many different interests and desires, depending on their individual make-up, society and unique circumstances. However, if one views him or herself as the only moral authority in the Universe, I would consider that person to be living an evil life.
The nature of the human personality creates inherent conflict with the rejection of G..d as the ruler of the world. Perhaps due to inherent qualities within the soul or the conclusions of the reasonable element of the mind, the rejection of G..d’s authority requires a state of active denial on the part of the evil person. The rejection of G..d is not a neutral state for a person. It is a very energetic, emotional stance, whether the person verbalizes it or not and even if the person is not clearly conscious of this rejection. A person can not simply and calmly walk away from G…. I don’t think we are put together that way.
This active rejection of G… is most profoundly expressed in the people of Amalek: the paradigm of evil and rejection of the authority of the Creator. As it states in the Torah: “ G..d will have war with Amalek from generation to generation ( Shemot, 17, 16) What requires explanation about the war between G… and Amalek, is the purpose of G… in allowing the continued existence of this enemy. Usually a war exists between two parties who desire to defeat one another and, in some cases, destroy the other party. War results from the fact that both parties have something of an equal level of power and must battle to decide the victor. This is not the case with G… and Amalek. G… has omnipotence and can annihilate the entire Universe if it is His will. How then can there be a war between G… and Amalek? Would we say there can be a war between a man and an ant? If it is man’s will to step on the ant he does. Kal v’chomer with G… and Amalek. The response to this question must be that it is G..d’s will to have this war and to allow it to continue as it must bring about some good. The question now becomes: What is the good brought about by the war of G… and Amalek?
The definition of Amalek, as explained by the Rav (Rav Yoseph Baer Soloveitchik, stated in the name of his father Rav Moshe Soloveitchik) includes any person or nation that is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish people. The Rav does explain one difference with the non-lineage Amalek is that the right and obligation to destroy them rests only the melech Yisrael and not with the individual Jew. Nonetheless, the battle between G..d and Amalek continues even though the genetic line of Agag and his people was dispersed among the nations by Sancherev and no longer exist as a nation. It seems that this extended Amalek category would certainly apply to the Nazi regime and others throughout our past and present history who seek the annihilation of the Jewish people. To return to the question of “what is the good of the continued existence of Amalek in the world?” , what possible good can come from the existence of such evil regimes as the Nazis and others who desire the Jewish people’s destruction?
I would like to pose the following approach. The purpose of the Jewish people is to be “ a light to the nations”. What is the “light” that we are charged with imparting to humanity? At the risk of being overly simplistic, the special clarification that the Jewish people bring to the world through the practicing of the Torah is to make understood the concept of justice. The other nations and people seem quite capable of the understanding of mathematics, the physical design of nature and the technological utilization of this knowledge to cure diseases, move mountains, build cities and land on the moon. But to understand how human beings can live together in justice and mercy- this is not discovered in the laboratory or in the universities. This is the insight that has been brought to the world through the prophets of Israel in the laws and concepts of the Torah.
The central concept of justice and mercy are the result of the Torah’s clarification of man’s relationship to his Creator and to his fellow creations. The concepts of the holiness, the value of human life and the rights of the individual have no other source than the prophetically revealed law and the systematic clarifications of it by the wise of Israel. But there is a powerful desire in both the individual and the nations of the world to consider the possibility that man can create his own just and merciful world without need for any special insight from the Creator. Communism, Fascism and Modern Liberalism are all manifestations of this motivation. Perhaps, many a progressive thinker concludes, the same powerful intellectual tools that conquers the environment and render it under man’s greater control, can fully plum the depths in the areas of justice and mercy as well. Perhaps, they conjecture, man can discern, on his own, the boundaries of human rights, justice, mercy and the precise manner to live with good will among one‘s neighbors.
When reasonably logical people live together, it sometimes seems that man, on his own, can live in peace and harmony with one another. However, this is an illusion and never seems to work. Although technology has increased production to the point where prosperous people are less likely to outwardly attack one another for scarce goods, the inner demons remain fully intact. A human-centered, secular personality is one plagued with a tremendous need to compete successfully with his neighbors and even within his own family for prestige, recognition and personal greatness as the core value. This leads to a existence charged by jealously, bad will and a thinly and inconsistently concealed rage and frustration. But on the surface, it sometimes seems to those who want to believe, that the task has been accomplished. People seem to “get along”, sipping fine coffee in Starbucks, working on their laptops and messaging on their Iphones. The fact that the motivation beneath these civilized acts is one of the same basic ill will that has plagued mankind from the beginning is easy to deny. Mankind has made it! But “then came Amalek”. It is often the observation of Amalek that shatters the illusion.
Germany was , perhaps the most sophisticated and accomplished country on Earth in the beginning of the twentieth century. The philosophers, scientists, writers, composers and artists were unrivaled in the western world. Many thinkers surmised that the Germany and the west had entered a golden age and that civilization had achieved the dream of a human-centered utopia. But “then came Amalek”. Of course the rise of the Nazi regime and the resultant war changed the world in many ways. But one dramatic impact of the Nazi regime was the clarification that the mastery of science, art and culture does not bring man any closer to justice and mercy. The Nazi Amalek made clear to even the most dedicated secularist that the advancements in these technological areas of thought were found side by side with perhaps the cruelest most unjust society that has ever existed.
The Amalek Nazis (as well as the Stalinist Communists) have taught the world that science, technology and philosophy do not bring about justice and mercy or the peaceful harmonious living of man together. All the sophistication of the Nazi’s and communists accomplishments were used to empowerment the willful, cruel and primitive drives that have destroyed human happiness from the beginning. Although it is not for this discussion, perhaps the establishment of the State of Israel and the western world’s growing recognition of the “Jewish” value of compassion for the weak and unfortunate that came in the aftermath of the second world war, is the result of this growing recognition that justice and mercy will not come out of a test tube or through the dissertation of a Harvard professor, but instead from the nation of Israel.
Contrast is one of the most powerful teaching tools. When we see two objects, two people or two
systems side by side and compare them, it becomes much easier to discern the superior one.
Perhaps one of the reason G..d allows Amalek to endure is in order to help shatter the illusion of the
technological, intellectual, godless utopia. At what point will this clarification reach its greatest
impact? Only when the nation of Israel achieves its purpose in creating a nation of justice and
mercy. At that time the side by side comparison of Amalek and Israel will be so stark, so
overwhelming that it will shatter the secular, sophisticated illusions of the world and it will be “on that
day that G..d shall be one and his name one.”
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