Superman's enemy Amalak and the Torah

[JulianPerez]

Amalak had a grudge against Kryptonians and vowed to kill every last one of them.

Amalak used such gadgetry as a "Star-Cannon" that could stun Kryptonians and a Kryptonite energized aura. His most memorable story was when Amalak teamed up with Nam-Ek, who was a mutated Kryptonian who looked like a hideous monster but who had a touch that could heal. Their master plan was to trick Superman into believing he had killed (intriguing fact: Nam-Ek was the last Kryptonian to be placed in the Phantom Zone, by Superman).

It should be noted that the name Amalak was not pulled from the ether. For those of you not up on your Torah, the Amalak were an evil people that were the first to attack the Hebrews when they went to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai - and thus kicked off a trend. Haman (from the Esther story in the Megillah) was, according to the Sages supposedly of the line of Amalak. Haman attempted to kill every last Jew, much like Amalak attempted to do so for the Kryptonians.

In fact, in Chasidic teaching, if any variety of enjoyment for a mitzvah or celebration is blotted, it is because of our "internal Amalak" doubting our joy, just as the attacks of the Amalak blotted enjoyment for receiving the Torah.

In Torah Gematria (the use of numbers in the Torah to grant meaning, with each letter in the Hebrew alphabet having a corresponding number and the numbers in a word added together) the name of Amalak totals 240. The word for doubt, or safek, is also a total of 240.

And what was Amalak's master plan back in SUPERMAN NO. 212? He was to make Superman doubt himself and his battle, by making it seem that Superman had taken a life!

Interestingly enough, it would make absolute perfect sense according to Torah Gematria that the first team to use Marvel Comics's approach (e.g. have heroes brought down to earth by making them idiosyncratic, fight among themselves, and so forth), the Fantastic Four, have FOUR members.

The number four is associated with the Hebrew letter Dalet, the fourth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Dalet signifies the physical world, and most importantly, the process of something being brought into the physical world - when Adam was kicked out of the Garden, for instance, four rivers exploded and rushed out - a metaphor for the sudden change from spiritual reality to solid reality. The Torah constantly refers to the Four Corners of the World...an odd word choice considering that the earth is round and thus has no corners. However, the reason there are FOUR is a metaphor: because the earth is physical, real and solid.

[MatterEaterLad]

As someone who just entered Amalak into Supermanica, its interesting that his first adventure was soley a shot at Superman...I had never read the 1974 story with Nam-Ek, odd that Nam-Ek aquired healing powers from killing a Rondor, bad dudes had killed them before without that happening...I'm straining my non-Super memory to remember the introduction of Gold Kryptonite, which had a Rondor slaying in it...

[Klar Ken T5477]

Gold K was first introduced in the ish when Superman first had to release a phantom zone prisoner who's sentence had expired. And of course, as it turned out he was innocent of slaying the rondors and prtending that his new healing machine worked better than a rondor's horn.

Of course our new parolee trys to kill Supes, but is freed from hypnotic control and saves Superman from Gold K, losing his powers and(conveniently his memory) and Perry gives him a job at the Planet (where he is never seen or heard from again)  

IIRC it's in the same ish that "Superman's Day of Doom" is in.

[MatterEaterLad]

Thanks, I had to use some other internet resources to refresh my memory as well...it was re-printed in the All Kryptonite 80 Page Giant Issue that I had, and for some reason, I mix part of it up with the Jewel Kryptonite story (another story where Phantom Zoners are featured)...

Feel free to add some stuff I might have forgot into my Rondor entry in Supermanica...

[Klar Ken T5477]

Great. Now I have to dig in the big box for it.

Sorry BUT new arrival of last Sally Selwyn story AND Biarro invasion of Earth (aka the Great DC contest) takes precedence in my reading!

[Uncle Mxy]

Was it Shooter (creator of Amalak) or Levitz who revealed Gim Allon to be Jewish?

[JulianPerez]

Was it Shooter (creator of Amalak) or Levitz who revealed Gim Allon to be Jewish?

It was Levitz that revealed Gim Allon to be Jewish, as it was after his wedding to Yera.

Levitz is also Jewish, I believe.

[Gangbuster]

Thanks, I enjoyed that.

I myself am of the evangelical Christians (a supposedly scary, right-wing lot of people in business suits!),  and the theology behind many Superman stories is very interesting to me.