It’s Parshas Zochor (Dvarim 25) this Shabbos. “There is a mitzvah in the Torah to remember Amalek and his descendants and to orally recall their iniquity. We are to tell our children in each generation what the people of Amalek did to us during our departure from Egypt. This mitzvah will be fulfilled completely only when we shall have caused Amalek's memory to perish, and their name to be erased from the world, together with the slightest remnant of anything that bears their name. (OU.org). Our attitude to Amalek is uncompromising.
On the other hand the Torah tells us, (Shmos 23(5)) If you see the ass of him that hates you lying under its burden, you shall forbear to pass by him; you shall surely release it with him. I must show a generous attitude to the one who hates me.
It occurred to me to resolve the problem like this: Zochor refers to a non-Jewish nation bent on our destruction; Shmos tells of a Jewish individual who had done something wrong to me short of destruction.
What better resolutions are possible?
Answer
The Baal HaTurim on Shemot 23:5 breaks the verse down into separate commandments for a Jewish enemy and a non-Jewish enemy:
- non-Jewish Enemy - "You shall refrain from helping him" (as a statement, not as a question, like Rashi interprets it)
- Jewish Enemy - "You shall surely help him"
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