Two chapters in the Torah concerning war with Amalek will be read in most places this year one day after the other. On Shabbat, Parshat Zachor (Devarim 25:17-19) will be read as maftir and the next day, Purim, the Torah reading will be from Shmot17:8-16.

In the first of the above-mentioned chapters the Jewish nation is commanded to wipe out every trace of Amalek, the vicious enemy who attacked our faint and exhausted ancestors on their way out of Egypt. In the second one, the victory of the Jewish forces over the Amalekite attackers is followed by a declaration that "G-d maintains a war against Amalek from generation to generation."

Amalek represents the forces that deny G-d's mastery of the world and it is G-d's chosen people who are given the mandate to eliminate this cancer from mankind and secure the people of Israel forever.

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