Unity defeats Amalek

איש יהודי יחידי כו' ע"ש במדרש.

"A Jewish man" — singular [yechidi] — see there in the Midrash.

The Midrash reads "ish Yehudi" (Esther 2:5) as hinting that Mordechai was a yachid, a singular unifying figure, and the Sefas Emes will build on this.

כי כשבני ישראל נעשין אגודה אחת אין לעמלק שליטה בהם.

For when Bnei Yisrael become a single united band, Amalek has no dominion over them.

Amalek's power depends on division; when Bnei Yisrael are bound together in achdus (unity), he cannot touch them.

רק ברפידים.

Only at Refidim [could he attack].

Amalek was able to strike only at Refidim, where the people had slackened and become divided.

ולכן הלשין המן עם אחד מפוזר ומפורד.

Therefore Haman slandered them as "one people, scattered and dispersed" (Esther 3:8).

Haman, of Amalek, deliberately pointed to the people's scattered, fragmented state as his opening to destroy them.

שכל כח שלהם האחדות.

For all their strength is their unity.

The entire power of Bnei Yisrael lies in their achdus.

ועתה הם מפורד.

And now they were dispersed.

At that moment the people were scattered and divided, leaving them vulnerable.

והאמת כן הי' על ידי החטאים נתעורר כח עמלק ואינו מניח להם להתאחד.

And in truth it was so: through the sins, the power of Amalek was aroused, and it does not allow them to unite.

Their aveiros gave strength to Amalek, whose very function is to keep Bnei Yisrael from coming together.

ולכן נאמר כנוס כו' כל היהודים.

Therefore it is said, "Gather together… all the Jews" (Esther 4:16).

Esther's response was precisely to gather all the Jews — to reverse the dispersion that Amalek had exploited.

להקהל ולעמוד על נפשם.

"To assemble and to stand up for their lives" (Esther 8:11).

By assembling as one, they could defend themselves — their unity itself was their protection.

הכל ע"י הכינוס והקהילה.

All of this was through gathering and assembling together.

Their entire salvation came about through the act of coming together as one community.

ומרדכי הצדיק איחה אותם ונתאחדו ע"י כי היה לו כח האחדות כנ"ל.

And Mordechai the tzaddik bound them together, and they became united through him, for he possessed the power of unity, as above.

Mordechai, embodying achdus, was the one who stitched the fragmented people back into a single whole.

לכן נק' יחידי.

Therefore he is called "singular" [yechidi].

Mordechai is called a yachid because he is the unifying point that makes the many into one.

כלל כל היהודים.

He encompasses all the Jews.

As the unifier, Mordechai contains and represents the whole of Klal Yisrael within himself.

וכן בכל פורים מתעורר כח האחדות וע"ש זה קבעו המצות קריאה בצבור משפחה ומשפחה כו'.

And so every Purim the power of unity is aroused, and on account of this they established the mitzvos: reading [the Megillah] in public, "family by family…" (Esther 9:28).

The power of achdus reawakens each Purim, which is why its mitzvos are communal — reading the Megillah together and joining family with family.

שבזמן הבית היו מתאחדים ממש במקום אחד.

For in the time of the Bais Hamikdash they would unite literally in one place.

When the Bais Hamikdash stood, the nation physically gathered as one at the Mikdash.

ועתה בגלות התאספות כל מקום ומקום בכח מצות אלו.

And now in galus, the gathering of each and every place is accomplished through the power of these mitzvos.

In exile, where we cannot all assemble in one place, the mitzvos of Purim recreate that unity in every local community.

משלוח מנות ומתנות לאביונים.

Mishloach manos (sending portions) and matanos la'evyonim (gifts to the poor).

The gifts of food to friends and charity to the poor are the very mitzvos that knit the people together.

הכל בעבור האחדות כנ"ל.

All of it is for the sake of unity, as above.

Every mitzvah of Purim serves the single goal of achdus among Bnei Yisrael.

וכן אומרים בראותם יחד תכלת מרדכי בכח האחדות כנ"ל:

And so we say, "when they saw together the techeiles [royal robe] of Mordechai" — through the power of unity, as above.

The joy of seeing Mordechai in royal blue was experienced "together" — a shared vision born of the achdus that Purim restores.

Summary: Amalek's power rests entirely on division, and he can strike Bnei Yisrael only when they are scattered. Mordechai the tzaddik, the singular "yachid," rebound the fragmented nation into one, and the communal mitzvos of Purim — public Megillah reading, mishloach manos, and matanos la'evyonim — reawaken that unifying power of achdus in every generation and place.