I know many people who love the Book of Esther ā and it’s not hard to understand why. The heroic story of Mordecai and Esther and the incredible reversal of the fortune of the Jews are uplifting. But many of these same people prefer not to read the last few chapters of the book, when Esther and Mordecai take clear steps to destroy Israel’s enemies ā particularly the family of Haman the Agagite, descendants of the biblical Amalekites.
Haman and his sons were descendants of King Agag, the king of the Amalekites ā Israel’s eternal enemies. The Bible describes these enemies and God’s command regarding them:
Esther’s harsh treatment of Haman’s sons now makes sense ā she was fulfilling this divine command to destroy Amalek. But the command itself is deeply troubling. We are told to completely destroy those who seek to destroy Israel ā but everyone? Even women and children? How could God command this?
To understand this troubling divine mandate for wholesale slaughter, Rabbi Avigdor Nevenzal points us to two biblical figures who approached it differently: King Saul and the prophet Samuel. Their contrasting responses reveal a crucial lesson about confronting evil in our time.
In Jewish tradition, the mitzvot (commandments) are divided into two categories: logical mishpatim (“laws” or “judgments”) and supra-rational chukkim (“decrees”). The mishpatim are commandments whose reasons are clear to human understanding, like giving charity or the prohibition of theft. The chukkim are divine decrees we accept despite their incomprehensibility.
God commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites, and he made an effort to comply. But as Rabbi Nevenzal explains, Saul never fully grasped the evil of Amalek. He would never have attacked them on his own ā he did so only because God commanded it, no questions asked. Saul treated the command to destroy Amalek as a chok ā “I don’t understand it, but I will do it.” Because he viewed it merely as an incomprehensible decree, his execution was half-hearted and incomplete.
Samuel, however, was different. When Saul failed by leaving King Agag alive, Samuel took decisive action:
Samuel fully understood Amalek’s evil and was filled with righteous fury towards this tribe that brought such destruction to the world. To Samuel, the command to destroy Amalek was a mishpat ā a completely logical command. Evil must be destroyed, or it will destroy us. Because Samuel “got it,” his approach to Agag was uncompromising. He was unafraid to look evil in the face, call it out, and do what was necessary.
This brings us back to Queen Esther. Her command to publicly hang Haman’s dead sons wasn’t an act of cruelty, but a necessary deterrent ā a clear message to future antisemites about the price of attempting to destroy the Jewish people.
I’m not saying we can or should wipe out whole nations today. This requires a clear divine decree like Saul received. But the lesson must be clear: We must not enter war against our adversaries without a clear understanding of their motives and goals and what must be done to defeat them. The biblical command to destroy even Amalek’s women and children teaches us a stark truth ā when a society becomes so thoroughly corrupted by evil, any remnant will allow that evil to rebound and return to threaten us again.
Samuel’s brutal killing and dismemberment of Agag is shocking. He was a prophet of God and a man of love and kindness. But he did what was absolutely necessary. He announced to Agag and to the entire world: you have committed war crimes, and this is what we will do to anyone who commits these crimes in the future.
Israel’s misjudgment of Hamas’ absolute evil led to the many miscalculations that enabled the horror of October 7. We must state clearly what our enemies’ intentions are and what they have done, and then do whatever is necessary to win.
Imagine if Israel had responded like Samuel and Esther after October 7 ā having fully internalized what Hamas had done and what was needed to prevent them from doing so in the future. The war would be over, our hostages home. But we have yet to internalize the lesson of Saul’s failure and the teachings of Samuel and Esther.
Too many Jewish leaders follow in the path of Saul, and cannot, or refuse to understand the dangers that we are facing. This moment demands new leadership aligned with biblical values. Israel365 Action, our party in the upcoming World Zionist Congress elections, represents a return to these biblical principles. We’re building a movement of proud, biblically-grounded leaders who understand that confronting evil isn’t just permissible ā it’s a divine imperative.
The World Zionist Congress elections offer a historic opportunity to transform Jewish institutional leadership. Your vote can help bring forth leaders who grasp the Bible’s clear teaching: evil must be destroyed! The time for action is now. Register to vote today and help us restore biblical wisdom to our community’s leadership.
