Amalek's downfall and the joy of Purim

חביב שמחת פורים כמו השבת.

The joy of Purim is as beloved as the Shabbos.

The Sefas Emes opens by equating the simcha of Purim with the sanctity of Shabbos — both are precious before Hashem.

דכתיב הכא לעשות אותם כו'.

For it is written here, "to make them [days of feasting and joy]…" (Esther 9:22)

The phrase "to make them" in Megillas Esther becomes the textual link to Shabbos.

וכתיב בשבת אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם.

And it is written regarding Shabbos, "These are the things that Hashem commanded, to make them." (Shemos 35:1)

The identical wording "to make them" appears by Shabbos, forging the connection between Purim's joy and Shabbos.

כי שמחה לפני הקב"ה במרום במחיית עמלק.

For there is joy before Hashem on high in the blotting out of Amalek.

The wiping out of Amalek brings about a joy "above," in the heavenly realm — the root of Purim's gladness.

כמ"ש והי' בהניח כו' תמחה.

As it is written, "And it shall be, when [Hashem] gives you rest… you shall blot out [the memory of Amalek]." (Devarim 25:19)

The Torah ties the mitzvah of erasing Amalek to "rest" (hanachah) — pointing to the menuchah and joy that result above.

והי' לשון שמחה.

And "vehayah" (and it shall be) is an expression of joy.

Chazal teach that the word vehayah connotes gladness; its presence in the Amalek verse signals the simcha bound up with Amalek's downfall.

ומאחר דכתיב מלחמה לה' בעמלק.

And since it is written, "Hashem has a war with Amalek." (Shemos 17:16)

Amalek is, as it were, Hashem's own adversary — there is a "war of Hashem" against him.

ממילא במפלת עמלת כביכול מנוחה לפניו.

It follows that in the downfall of Amalek there is, as it were, rest before Him.

Since the war is Hashem's, Amalek's defeat brings, so to speak, menuchah (rest) before Him — hence the joy above.

ואיתא במדרש בא ע"פ כובד אבן כו'.

And it is brought in the Midrash on the verse, "the weight of a stone…" (Mishlei 27:3)

The Sefas Emes now cites a Midrash on the heaviness of stone and sand to develop the idea of what truly "wearies" Hashem.

כסבורין בנ"א שיגיעה הוא לפני.

People imagine that it is a wearying labor before Me.

Men think that maintaining the world, or bearing with it, is toilsome to Hashem.

ואינו יגיעה.

But it is no labor.

In truth nothing in the running of the world wearies Hashem.

במה אני ייגע במי שמכעיס לפני בדברים בטלים.

With what am I "wearied"? By one who angers Me with empty, worthless things.

The only thing described as "wearying" Hashem is pointless provocation — sin that is sheer empty rebellion, devarim beteilim, vanity.

כעס אויל הוא עמלק.

"The anger of a fool" — this is Amalek.

Amalek embodies this "anger of a fool": senseless, empty provocation against Hashem.

א"כ במפלת עמלק המנוחה בשמים.

If so, in the downfall of Amalek there is rest in Heaven.

Since Amalek is the one "empty" thing that, as it were, burdens Hashem, his fall brings menuchah above — and thus joy.

עוד שם במדרש פי' כעס אויל כבד משניהם יותר מכחן של ישראל ע"ש.

Further there in the Midrash it explains: "the anger of a fool is heavier than both of them" (Mishlei 27:3) — heavier than the strength of Yisrael; see there.

The Midrash reads "heavier than both" (stone and sand) as meaning that Amalek's provocation outweighs even the merit-power of Yisrael — a force that, on its own, could overwhelm them.

דכ' אמרתי אפאיהם אשביתה מאנוש זכרם לולי כעס אויב כו'.

As it is written, "I said I would scatter them, I would cause their remembrance to cease from among men — were it not for the anger of the enemy…" (Devarim 32:26-27)

The pasuk teaches that a decree of utter destruction hung over Yisrael, held back only by consideration of "the anger of the enemy."

שבשביל כעס אויב נושעים כביכול בעת צרה.

That on account of "the anger of the enemy" they are saved, as it were, in a time of trouble.

Paradoxically, the enemy's arrogant fury becomes the very reason Hashem rescues Yisrael, lest the enemy claim credit — so the enemy's hubris triggers the salvation.

ובוודאי זה הפסוק אשביתה מאנוש זכרם הי' בגזירת המן לאבד כנ"ל.

And surely this verse, "I would cause their remembrance to cease from among men," was [enacted] in Haman's decree to destroy [the Jews], as above.

Haman's decree of annihilation was a concrete instance of this verse's threat — the attempt to blot out Yisrael's very remembrance.

אבל בשביל כעס אויב פן יאמרו ידנו כו' כי כו' אובד עצות כו' ואין" בהם" תבונה".

But on account of "the anger of the enemy" — "lest they say, 'Our hand [is high]…'" — "for [they are] a nation void of counsel… and there is no understanding in them." (Devarim 32:27-28)

The deliverance came so the enemy could not boast "our own hand prevailed." Haman was a "nation void of counsel" with no true binah — and the Sefas Emes hints at this in the words themselves.

ס"ת המ"ן.

The final letters [of "ein bahem tevunah"] spell HaMaN.

The closing letters of the phrase "there is no understanding in them" (ein bahem tevunah) form the name Haman — alluding that he is precisely this "fool void of understanding" whose empty arrogance becomes the cause of his own downfall.

כי בכוונה נסתבב משמים להיות הגזירה למטה ע"י המן שזה יהי' הישועה לבנ"י כמ"ש במ"א מזה.

For it was deliberately brought about from Heaven that the decree below should come through Haman, so that this itself would be the salvation for Bnei Yisrael, as I have written elsewhere about this.

Hashem orchestrated that the threat come specifically through an arrogant "fool" like Haman — because such a foe's overreaching is itself the mechanism of Yisrael's rescue.

כי כשהיו בנ"י בגלות בבל ושאר מלכים ידעו והבינו המלכים כי מאת ה' היתה זאת.

For when Bnei Yisrael were in the Babylonian exile and under other kings, those kings knew and understood that this [their dominion] was from Hashem.

Earlier oppressors recognized that their power over Yisrael was granted by Hashem, so there was no danger of them attributing the events to their own strength.

אבל בקום עלינו אדם ולא מלך ודימה בנפשו כי ידו רמה.

But "when a man rose up against us" (cf. Tehillim 124:2) — a mere man and not a king — and he imagined in himself that "his hand was high."

Haman was only "a man," not a divinely-recognized king; in his folly he credited his power to himself, "my hand is mighty."

בזה נעשה הישועה:

Through this the salvation came about.

Precisely because Haman attributed everything to himself rather than to Hashem, his fall became inevitable — and in it Yisrael's deliverance was accomplished.

Summary: Purim's joy equals Shabbos because the downfall of Amalek brings "rest" before Hashem — Amalek being the "anger of the fool," the one empty provocation that, as it were, wearies Him. Haman, hinted at in the final letters of "ein bahem tevunah," was deliberately set up from Heaven as such an arrogant fool: by crediting his power to himself rather than to Hashem, his very hubris became the instrument of Yisrael's salvation.