The thesis that is the Jewish Nation has an antithesis: Amalek. And just as the Jewish People is defined by its Torah, so is its polar opposite associated with a particular system of thought and attitude. Amalek the nation is unknown to us today; the Biblical command to destroy it to avert the mortal threat it poses to all that is good and holy is thus moot. Amalek the notion, though, is very much present — in the broader world, the Jewish one and perhaps, to a degree, within each of us as well. And its undermining remains an obligation...