The text of Parshat Amalek tells us to "Remember" what Amalek did, and to "Delete the Memory of Amalek". It seems that we end up remembering Amalek more than anyone else. We mention it every year in Parshat Zachor (as well as reading the actual story of what Amalek did, and reading the text of Parshat Zachor at the end of Parshat Ki Tetse.

We see from this that the mitzvah of destroying Amalek is not just in the form of a war against the nation, since Hashem gives us this Mitzvah, "when Hashem gives you rest from all the nations around you in the land".

In fact, we have another Mitzvah to wipe out the seven nations that inhabited Eretz Yisrael when the Bnai Yisrael arrived, "Lo techayeh kol neshama". But in that case, it is because those nations were here, in Eretz Yisrael, and could negatively influence the Bnai Yisrael to do Avodah Zarah.

This is not the case with Amalek, where the Mitzvah is to destroy every presence of them "from under the heavens" - in every place. Why this difference?

We read in the Haftarah for Parshat Zachor the story of Shaul and his failure to destroy all of Amalek when he had the opportunity. But the Gemara in Bava Batra relates the story of Yoav Ben Tzeruyah, the general of David Hamelech's army. Yoav also had the opportunity to kill off all of Amalek, but he only killed the males. When David Hamelech inquired as to why, Yoav told him he had fulfilled the exact Mitzvah in the Torah - Timche et Zachar Amalek. David asked him why he read the word that way, and he told him that is how he was taught. David Hamelech asked Yoav's teacher, who also misread the word, at which point David Hamelech cursed him "Arur Oseh Melechet Hashem Remiya" - "Cursed is the one who cheats on Hashem's work".

The Vilna Gaon says that there are two mitzvot at the end of Parshat Beshalach - Write this as a reminder in a book, and place it in the ears of Yehoshua that I will erase Amalek. Why do we need the second part of this mitzvah after the first? The Gaon answers that this is in order to help us avoid Yoav's mistake.

To be sure, Yoav's mistake was easy to make. After all the words "Zachor", "Zecher" and "Zachar" all come from the same root. But what is the reason that Yoav could have come up with for eliminating only the males?

The Maharal (Gur Aryeh, Devarim: 25:18) relates that all of creation is built in two complementary systems - Tzurah and Chomer. Tzurah is the influential force, providing a general direction and a general outline, or form. Chomer is the force that takes this influence and uses it to give form to matter, to put things in the proper place and composition.

For instance, Bereishit Bara Elokim Et Hashamayim Ve'et Ha'aretz. This is the first pair of complementary forces. Shamayim is the influential - the Tzurah. It provides a general form and direction. It provides the rain, and it envelopes all of creation. Aretz is the receiver of the influence. It receives the rain and uses it to bring forth vegetation, crops and minerals - the Chomer of the world.

In the same way, Zachar and Nekevah are complementary forces. The Zachar, the male, represents the "Tzurah" - the influential force that provides a general form and direction, while the Nekevah, the female, receives that influence and uses it to provide substance through birth, raising children, and providing the family with its needs. The woman takes the influence of the man and brings it into practice and fruition.

In the same way, the Bnai Yisrael and the rest of the nations of the world can also be understood to be complementary forces. The Bnai Yisrael represents the Tzurah - the form. It provides the outline of the way the world is supposed to operate, the way people are meant to relate to each other, and it describes the proper relationship between Mankind and Hashem. The other nations represent the Chomer - the more materialistic part of the world that is meant to accept the influence of the Bnai Yisrael and work to improve the world and its relationship with Hashem under our guidance.

Amalek, however, did not fit within this role. Chazal comment on the phrase "Asher Karcha Baderech" that the word "Karcha" has three roots: - Mikre - happenstance; Kor - Cold; and Keri - impure flow.

Amalek was another nation that would not accept the influence of the Bnai Yisrael but must rather exert influence. It is compared to a situation where there is a pool that is filled with boiling water, and everyone is waiting for the water to cool, but one wicked person jumps into the water regardless of the temperature. That person would not accept the influence of the boiling water or the influence of all those waiting for the water to cool. Yet in his act of jumping into the water, he cooled (Kor - cold) the water off.

The conflict between Amalek and the Bnai Yisrael is like an impure flow (keri) - it is the interaction between one male (Bnai Yisrael) and another (Amalek).

Yet when you have two forces that must exert influence, they cannot co-exist. So which would it be?

The Bnai Yisrael are charged with a mission of influencing all the other nations to recognize Hashem's singularity, unity and leadership of the world. The Bnai Yisrael represents connection and a relationship with Hashem. Amalek, on the other hand, represents the coldness (kor) of disconnection and the impurity (keri) of conflict. This was the foundation of the war between the two nations. But since the ultimate purpose of the influential nation in the world is "Bayom Hahu Yihye Hashem Echad Ushmo Echad", it is not appropriate that the ultimate influential nation should be Amalek, because Amalek represents the exact opposite.

Yoav Ben Tzeruyah understood the issue of influence and its relationship to the male-female dynamic. But he thought that the commandment was only to eliminate the males - the "Male" element of Amalek's personality. If the males were destroyed, Amalek would no longer be influential.

But David Hamalech wrote in Tehillim 104 - after describing the glory of Hashem in all His creation - in all the Chomer that had been brought to the world in the Tzurah that Hashem designed, he finished off his words with "Yitamu Chata'im Min Ha'aretz Ureshaim Od Enam," and only then, "Barchi Nafshi et Hashem, Hallelukah."

Shmuel understood this pasuk as well. He appointed Shaul as king over the Bnai Yisrael, and then commanded him to wage war against Amalek and wipe them out. The Rambam writes at the beginning of Hilchot Melachim that the Bnai Yisrael were given three mitzvot upon their entry into Eretz Yisrael - appointing a king, wiping out Amalek, and building a Beit Hamikdash. The source for the first two mitzvot is Shmuel commanding Shaul to wipe out Amalek soon after appointing him king.

The purpose of this fight against Amalek is in order to fulfill the pasuk "Yitamu Chataim Min Ha'aretz…" in order to create a situation where the building of the Beit Hamikdash could fulfill the last part of the pasuk - "Barchi Nafshi et Hashem" - in the fullest sense.

But in order for this to happen, Shaul had to destroy Amalek completely. The fact that he failed to do so was Shmuel's greatest disappointment. It was for this reason that Shmuel cried and yelled to Hashem the whole night (as written in the haftarah).

This was Shmuel's claim to Shaul - "Hashem sent you on a path and told you that you should destroy the sinners of Amalek until their complete destruction. Why didn't you listen to Hashem? Because of you, the pasuk of 'Yitamu Chataim min Ha'aretz' cannot be fulfilled, and neither can 'Barchi Nafshi et Hashem.'"

With all of the harmony of all Hashem's creation, with all of the proper dynamic between Tzurah and Chomer, there are still those who seek to damage that harmony and sow discord. There are still those who are "Karcha Baderech" so that they can "Vayezanev Becha Kol Hanecheshalim Acharecha" and cause us to be "Ayef Veyagea" and not to fear Hashem. It is only when those "Chataim" are destroyed and when those "Reshaim" no longer exist, that we will be able to have our neshamot bless Hashem.

It is for this reason that the war against Amalek is called a "Milchama Lashem Ba'Amalek". The completeness of Hashem and of His creation is not possible while Amalek is still around.

This is what we need to remember constantly. This is what our "influence", our "Zachar" must be geared towards always - to renew the experience and the influence of Hashem in this world. Since we are living in a system where happenstance is what is observed and understood, and where Hashem is hidden inside, we need to know that this is a mistake at its foundation. We need to know that it is Hashem that is the source of completion in this world, and we need to influence this world to accept that truth. When all of the culture of falseness, of happenstance, disappears from the world, only when Amalek is truly destroyed, at that point, "Vehaya Hashem LeMelech al Kol Ha'aretz, Bayom Hahu Yihye Hashem Echad Ushemo Echad."