One of the most interesting phenomena in antiquity appears to us moderns as ludicrous, almost comical, and yet it is one of the great truths of all time – one which affects us as much as it did them. This is the custom of worshipping the gods of your enemies. Often, a victorious nation would urge the vanquished to worship its gods, since they were presumably stronger. But more often in history, the victor would end up worshipping the gods of the defeated. Thus, the legions of Israel under Joshua defeated the nations of Canaan, yet later worshipped Baal. The Philistines, too, worshipped the gods of their conquered foes. In other words, there is a tendency to fight so hard with the enemy that you adopt his techniques and his way of life. Tomorrow’s sidra tells of the war between Israel and the pagan, idol-worshipping Amalek. Amalek’s main quality was achzarius – mercilessness, cruelty, sadism – attacking a tired, weary, unoffensive Israel. We are commanded to “blot out the remembrance of Amalek” (timcheh et zecher Amalek) precisely because its zecher is mercilessness. We must eradicate it so that, in fighting it, we do not contract it. That is, we must not worship the “god” of Amalek – mercilessness itself. In fact, almost all pagans of old shared this quality as part of their idolatrous culture. Therefore, as the Maggid of Dubno explained, when we are commanded to destroy cities that persist in idol-worship, we are told: “Let your hand touch nothing of theirs” – hands off. It is a dread disease; don’t contract this contagion while trying to cure it. That cry of “hands off,” of eradicating every vestige of the Amalekian quality, was a warning to Israel for all time: not to worship the gods of enemies. Anatole France, in Thaïs, tells of a monk who goes to convert the infamous courtesan Thaïs; she becomes pure and devout, while he becomes a rascal. This is not just fiction or ancient history. Dr. Landau, a researcher and scion of a distinguished family who survived the Warsaw Ghetto, was commissioned to research Julius Streicher for the Hebrew Encyclopedia. His work was brilliant, but he told me that immersing himself so deeply in Streicher’s writings led him to feel, subconsciously, infected by antisemitism. He had to spend a month with the Gerer Rebbe in intense study to purge himself of the “gods” of his enemy. It is a psychological fact: we must always remember “hands off” and eradicate even the memory of Amalek. The same is true for us today in the United States. Fighting communism and tyranny, we have not kept “hands off.” We have begun to adopt some of their “gods.” The threat of communism led to violations of civil liberties, the disrepute of the Fifth Amendment – akin to the Magna Carta, and rooted in Jewish law – and the use of questionable methods to achieve political ends. But there is a worse case: when Jews themselves worship the gods of their enemies. Eleven years ago, the German reparations debate presented two views; the majority accepted, with the clear condition that this was not expiation of Germany’s unforgivable sins, nor a sign of normal relations or friendship. But today, in 1955, we see a change: German ships in Israeli ports, German technicians teaching Israelis, receptions for Adenauer. The sin of Germany – and of much of the world – was not only cruelty but sheer opportunism and a double standard. Germany has not repented; neo-Nazism is reviving. It is one thing to make a criminal pay for what he spoiled; it is another to wine and dine him. Jewish morality, contempt for the unrepentant, and revulsion for desecrators of the divine image have been compromised in the name of expediency. We have not kept “hands off” Amalek; we have perpetuated, not erased, the memory of our enemies, and worshipped their gods. To leaders like Goldman, Eytan, and Shinnar, we say: thank you for your devotion, but we repeat the divine warning – hands off! Do not separate morality from politics or base diplomacy solely on expediency. If we heed this warning, and extirpate every last memory of Amalek from our hearts – as Americans, as Jews, as individuals – then the promise will come true: v’natan lecha rachamim v’richamecha – God will implant mercy in our souls and have mercy upon us. Amen.