Yerachmiel Schwartz asks:
Did Mordechai have an obligation to kill Haman (or let him die) as Haman was the grandchild of Agag (i.e. the Tikkun for Hamelech Shaul's failure to fulfill Shmuel's instructions)? What do the Me'Forshim say?
Yerachmiel Schwartz, Long Island, U.S.
The Kollel replies:
Many Meforshim (Rambam in Sefer ha'Mitzvos, end of Mitzvos Asei, after #248; Ramban in Shemos 17:16) say that this obligation is only on the public, not on the individual. Even the Sefer ha'Chinuch (Mitzvah #425), who says that it is a Mitzvah on the individual as well, says that it applies only when a person can do so without putting himself in danger (and presumably without causing a Chilul Hash-m). Accordingly, Mordechai clearly had no obligation to kill Haman.
All the best,
Yaakov Montrose