Many Nations (Parshas Ki Teitzei 5775)

Are Ammonite and Moabite Converts Accepted?

The Torah writes (Deuteronomy 23:4, 23:8-9):

An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever ... Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children of the third generation that are born unto them may enter into the assembly of the LORD.

Sefer HaChinukh (561) writes that this no longer applies:

And this prohibition was applicable before Sennacherib the king of Assyria went up against Jerusalem and exiled the Jews, and also confused all the nations and mixed them, for he ruled over the whole world. After Sennacherib mixed up the world, and the Ammonites and Moabites got mixed with other nations, all are permitted to marry after they convert. [We assume] that they came from the majority that is other nations as opposed to the Ammonites and Moabites. The same principle applies to Egyptians and Edomites.

When Did Amalek Attack the Jews?

The Torah writes (Deuteronomy 25:17-19):

Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget.

The Torah mentions one instance in Rephidim (Exodus 17:8):

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim

According to Rashi, they were attacked by Amalek a second time after Aaron died:

"And the Canaanite, king of Arad, who lived in the south, heard that the Jews came through Atharim, and he fought them, and captured some captive" (Numbers 21:1)

Rashi (ibid):

This was Amalek, as it says "Amalek lived in the land of the south" (Numbers 13:29)

Rashi's source appears to be a Midrash (Bereishit Rabba 19:20 and Tanchuma 4:6, see also my previous post here)

The Baal HaTurim (Deuteronomy 26:1) adds:

Amalek told the King of Egypt that the Jews have fled and he also told Laban that Jacob fled, and this is why the passage of the first fruits is placed here [after the commandment to destroy Amalek], for it mentions that "the Aramean wanted to destroy me"

Midrash Rabbah (Exodus Rabbah 27:6) mentions that Amalek was an advisor to Pharoh:

Amalek and Jethro plotted together with Pharaoh [to kill the Jewish boys]. When Jethro saw that G-d destroyed Amalek from This World and the World to come, he went and repented

[Published at parshapeople.blogspot.com]