Page "Agag" Paragraph 9

Harsh as it seems the command to blot out Amalek's memory, its justification was seen in the leniency shown by King Saul, the son of Kish, to Agag, the king of the Amalekites ( I Sam.

xv.

9 ), which made it possible for Haman the Agagite to appear ( Esth.

iii.

1 ); his cruel plot against the Jews could only be counteracted by another descendant of Kish, Mordecai ( Pesiḳ.

R.

xiii .).

Every year, therefore, the chapter, " Remember what Amalek did unto thee " ( Deut.

xxv.

17-19 ), is read in the synagogue on the Sabbath preceding Purim, and the story of Saul and Agag in chapter 15 of I Samuel is read as the Haftarah.