Killing the Amalekites or True Torah

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asked 3 years ago

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvZTFkOGNjMWUtYzc5NS00ODlhLTkyNDQtYWRiZDAwYThlNDMzL2E2MjQxMGQzLWY2MTMtNDA3Yy04N2E0LWFkYmQwMGU5OTQxZC9mOWVkMjkxMy1lNDIwLTQxMjItYTY5YS1hZTBhMDEwNjlhMzMvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M/episode/YmMzNDgwZmUtNTI0Yi00ZGQ2LWE5ZGQtYWYwYTAwODExNjEz?ep=14

I listened to the podcast with you (I really enjoyed it!!) and I had a hard time with what you said. You said that you are not 100 percent sure that the Torah is true (let’s say only 80 percent right now), and therefore if you have an Amalekite baby in your hands you will not kill it because it is immoral.
I understand from your words that you are more certain that it is immoral to kill an Amalekite than that the Torah is true (let’s say 90 percent certain versus 80 percent). Therefore, I don’t understand why you keep the commandments, after all, if it is not right to kill an Amalekite, then the Torah is false, right? And therefore, even now (even without an Amalekite baby) you are more certain that the Torah is false than that it is true.
And if you only fulfill the commandments about the 10 percent that it is indeed moral to kill an Amalekite, then you are leading your life based on distant concerns. Maybe we should also pray to Jesus and Muhammad on the side that maybe it is true.
Thank you very much!!

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מיכי Staff answered 3 years ago

I may not kill him. Until I am in that situation I cannot answer. I claimed that I was afraid that the Torah was not true, but that does not mean that I concluded that it was not true. I may not do extreme things that require complete certainty, but I will do less extreme things. The fear that the Torah was not true stems from the necessity of carrying out the killing and not from the teaching itself. As in the case of a rebellious son and a teacher, in practice this does not occur. Beyond that, the concern that the Torah is not true does not necessarily mean that the Torah was not given or that it is not from God. The concern is that the Torah itself does not mean that I should kill all Amalekites, and not necessarily that it is not true, as the poskim themselves have actually stated. Either that this commandment is a later addition, or that it has been interpreted in the wrong way.

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מיכי Staff replied 3 years ago

And another point. The command to kill Amalekites is a halakhic command. It is not supposed to meet the criteria of morality, and may even contradict them. Therefore, even if the Torah commands to kill Amalekites, it does not mean that it is moral, but that it should be done that way. As mentioned, my concern is that perhaps it should not be done that way.

י.ד. replied 3 years ago

According to the Maimonides, an Amalekite who has received the 7 commandments of the sons of Noah does not have the Amalekite boundary and is forbidden to kill him (he made a repulsive animal, he made a demigod). It can be said that an Amalekite infant is considered to be an Amalekite, since it is possible that he will grow up and then decide to receive the 7 commandments of the sons of Noah. He can be likened to a small immigrant who was converted in a court of law, whose conversion does not apply until he reaches adulthood, when he decides to accept the 7 commandments of the sons of Noah or not. Here too, the Amalekite law does not apply to the Amalekite infant until he is an adult and decides not to receive the 7 commandments of the sons of Noah.

baykim replied 3 years ago

“I may not kill him. Until I am in that situation I cannot answer” – Sorry for pushing my head between high mountains, but the explanation of the rabbi's words is that the rabbi needs to feel the situation and consider the emotions that are occurring and is not enough for him to make a rational a priori decision?