Blotting out Amalek to rectify scattered thoughts

ותוסף אסתר כו' ותבך כו' להעביר את רעת המן כו' ומחשבתו אשר חשב על היהודים כו' להשיב את הספרים מחשבת המן כו'.

"And Esther spoke again… and wept… to annul the evil of Haman… and his scheme which he had devised against the Jews… to revoke the letters, the scheme of Haman…" (Esther 8:3,5).

The Sefas Emes gathers the verses describing Esther's plea — to undo Haman's evil, his scheme against the Jews, and the letters he sent — and reads them as a single theme of reversal and restoration.

ביאור הענין כשיש קצת גאולה לאדם צריך לתקן כל המעשים אשר לא טוב עשה ואשר נתפזרו הרצונות והמחשבות להחזיר הכל לשורשן.

The explanation of the matter: when a person experiences some measure of geulah (redemption), he must rectify all the deeds he did not do well, and all the desires and thoughts that became scattered, restoring everything to its root.

A moment of geulah is also a moment of tikkun: with redemption comes the opportunity and the obligation to gather back all the scattered ratzonos and thoughts that had strayed and return them to their holy source.

וכפי מחיית עמלק. כך נחזרין כל ההארות לבני ישראל. כי הכל שלהם.

And to the degree that Amalek is blotted out, so are all the illuminations restored to Bnei Yisrael, for all of it is theirs.

The erasing of Amalek and the restoring of holy light are one act: every spark of illumination that had been seized truly belongs to Bnei Yisrael, and is returned to them as Amalek is wiped away.

כאשר שמעתי מפה קדוש אמ"ז ז"ל על מה שנאמר זכר בעמלק כי מאין יש לו שם זכירה.

As I heard from the holy mouth of my grandfather, of blessed memory, regarding what is said, "the remembrance of Amalek" — from where does Amalek have any "name" worthy of remembrance?

He cites his grandfather's question: Amalek is meant to be utterly blotted out, so how can the Torah speak of its "remembrance" at all — what enduring identity does it have?

רק מה שגונב מבנ"י ע"י המחשבות זרות שעולין במחשבות הישראלי.

Rather, it is only what it steals from Bnei Yisrael by way of the foreign thoughts that arise in the mind of the Jew.

Amalek has no independent substance; its only "name" is the holiness it has stolen from Bnei Yisrael, which it does through the machshavos zaros (alien, distracting thoughts) it plants in a Jew's mind.

וזהו להשיב כו' הספרים הם ההארות שגנב מבנ"י כאשר נאמר ורבים מעמי הארץ מתיהדים.

And this is the meaning of "to revoke… the letters" — they are the illuminations that Haman stole from Bnei Yisrael, as it is said, "and many of the peoples of the land became Jews" (Esther 8:17).

The "letters" being recalled symbolize the stolen sparks of light returning home; their restoration is mirrored in the verse that many gentiles joined the Jewish people, the holy sparks reclaimed.

מחשבתו כו' אשר חשב על היהודים הם המחשבות זרות שהוא גורם שיעלו על ראשן של ישראל.

"His scheme… which he devised against the Jews" — these are the foreign thoughts which he causes to rise up upon the heads of Yisrael.

Haman's "scheme against the Jews" is read on the inner plane as the machshavos zaros he stirs up to invade and rise over the minds of Bnei Yisrael.

וזהו שמתפללין והחושבים עלי רעה כו' וקלקל מחשבתם.

And this is what we pray: "and as for those who plot evil against me… frustrate their counsel and ruin their scheme."

The daily prayer against those who "plot evil" is aimed at exactly this — the spoiling of the enemy's machshavah, the foreign thoughts he tries to impose.

וזה אשר חשב על היהודים. על דייקא. כי הוא קופץ על ראשן של ישראל.

And this is "which he devised against [al] the Jews" — the word "al" (upon) is precise, for he leaps up upon the heads of Yisrael.

He notes the precision of the preposition "al" (upon, against): Amalek/Haman does not merely oppose Yisrael but pounces from above, leaping onto their very heads — their minds — to corrupt their thoughts.

ובעת הגאולה שיהי' מחיית עמלק לגמרי יהיו מתוקנים כל המחשבות במהרה בימינו אמן:

And at the time of the geulah, when Amalek will be utterly blotted out, all the thoughts will be rectified, speedily in our days, Amen.

The final and complete geulah will mean the total erasure of Amalek — and with it the full tikkun of every scattered and foreign thought, restored at last to its holy root.

Summary: Esther's plea to undo Haman's letters and scheme becomes, for the Sefas Emes, a teaching about thought. Amalek has no real substance; its only "name" is the holiness it steals from Bnei Yisrael through machshavos zaros that "leap upon their heads." A moment of geulah is a moment of tikkun, gathering scattered desires and thoughts back to their root — and the final blotting-out of Amalek will mean the complete rectification of all thought.