Honest measure, emunah, and erasing Amalek

ובמדרש הובא ברש"י תצא לא יהיה לך כו' אבן ואבן כו' זכור כו'.

In the Midrash, brought by Rashi [on Ki Seitzei]: "You shall not have… a weight and a weight (even va'aven)… Remember (zachor)…" (Devarim 25:13–17).

The Torah juxtaposes the prohibition of false weights with the command to remember Amalek, hinting at a deep connection between honest measure and the war against Amalek.

אם לא נזהרת במדות ומשקלות הוי ירא מגירוי האויב כו'.

"If you were not careful with measures and weights, fear the provocation of the enemy."

The Midrash warns that dishonesty in weights opens the door for the enemy — Amalek — to attack.

וזהו סמיכות שקלים לזכור.

And this is the juxtaposition of [Parashas] Shekalim to [Parashas] Zachor.

The Sefas Emes links this to the calendar: Parashas Shekalim is read just before Parashas Zachor, and the two are inwardly bound.

כי פי' שקל להיות נשקל כל מעשי האדם אחר החכמה והדעת שבאדם.

For the meaning of "shekel" (weighing) is that all of a person's deeds be weighed according to the chochmah (wisdom) and daas (understanding) within him.

"Shekel" implies weighing: every action should be measured against one's inner wisdom and divine awareness.

להיות כל מעשה נעשה בכח הפנימיות שהוא חיות השי"ת.

That every deed be done through the power of the penimiyus, which is the life-force of Hashem.

Each act should be driven by the inner divine vitality rather than by mere external impulse.

ועכ"פ מחצית השקל. כי עשרים גרה השקל. שבכל בחי' יש עשר מדות.

And in any case, [one gives] a machatzis ha-shekel (half-shekel), for the shekel is twenty gerah — since in every aspect there are ten middos (attributes).

The full shekel of twenty gerah corresponds to two sets of ten middos; the half-shekel reflects man's share within a larger whole.

וכן בחיות השי"ת שבכל אדם. וכן עשיות האדם מעצמו.

So too in the life-force of Hashem within every person, and so too in the person's own actions [done] from himself.

One set of ten corresponds to the divine vitality within a person, and the other to what he does by his own initiative.

כענין שכתב בתניא שיש ב' נפשות בכל איש ישראל ובחי' בינוני להיות שליטות שניהם בשוה ע"ש.

In the manner of what the Tanya writes — that there are two nefashos (souls) in every Jew, and the aspect of the "beinoni" (intermediate one) is that the dominion of the two is equal; see there.

The Baal HaTanya describes two souls, the divine and the animal; the beinoni holds them in equal balance — the "half" of the half-shekel.

הפי' כנ"ל כי באדם שעושה הכל בדביקות חיות השי"ת שבפנימיות המעשה זה נפש הטובה כנ"ל.

The explanation is as above: when a person does everything with deveikus (cleaving) to the life-force of Hashem within the penimiyus of the deed — this is the good soul.

Acting with deveikus to the inner divine vitality is the work of the nefesh ha-Elokis, the holy soul.

ועכ"פ מחצית השקל לה' שהוא בחי' בינוני כנ"ל.

And in any case, the machatzis ha-shekel is "to Hashem," which is the aspect of the beinoni, as above.

Giving the half-shekel "to Hashem" expresses the beinoni's balanced avodah, dedicating his divided self upward.

וזה ענין מדה ומשקל כי השי"ת אין סוף והי' הבריאה במדה שנמדד מחיותו ית' לכל נברא.

And this is the matter of measure and weight: for Hashem is Ein Sof (infinite), and the Creation was made with measure — that from His life-force a [precise] measure was apportioned to every creature.

Creation itself is an act of "measuring": the infinite Hashem allotted each creature a finite portion of His vitality.

ומדה זו צריך האדם לשמור. ואז אין לירא משום דבר.

And this measure a person must guard — and then he need fear nothing.

One must preserve the proper "measure" Hashem set; staying true to it removes all cause for fear of the enemy.

וז"ש במדרש רעך ורע אביך כו' זה הקב"ה כו' ואם עזבת תן דעתך ע"ש פרשת יתרו.

This is what the Midrash says: "Your friend and your father's friend… this is the Holy One, blessed be He… and if you have abandoned [Him], give heed [to the enemy]"; see Parashas Yisro.

The Midrash identifies the "friend" one must not forsake as Hashem Himself; abandoning that bond is what exposes a person to the enemy.

וקאי ג"כ על ויבוא עמלק שבסוף פ' הקודמת ע"ש.

And this also refers to "And Amalek came" at the end of the previous parashah; see there.

The same idea explains why Amalek attacked right after Bnei Yisrael questioned "Is Hashem among us?" — a loosening of their bond with Hashem.

והוא כשהאדם דבוק בכח השי"ת. פנימיות חיות שבכל דבר. אז אין שום הסתר לפניו.

And it is so: when a person is bound to the power of Hashem — the inner life-force within every thing — then there is no concealment (hester) before him.

So long as one clings to the inner divine vitality in all things, no veil of concealment can stand against him.

רק אם עזבת תן דעתך כו' ויבוא עמלק כו'.

Only "if you have abandoned [Him], give heed…" — [then] "and Amalek came."

It is only the abandonment of that bond that gives Amalek an opening to come and attack.

ולזאת אחר פרשת שקלים יכולין למחות שם עמלק.

Therefore, after Parashas Shekalim one is able to blot out the name of Amalek [in Parashas Zachor].

Shekalim re-establishes the proper "measure" and bond with Hashem, which is precisely what empowers the erasure of Amalek that follows.

וכן כתיב ויהי ידיו אמונה שעיקר כח מחיית עמלק ע"י אמונה להיות בטל חיות האדם לכח השי"ת כנ"ל.

So too it is written, "and his hands were emunah (faithfulness)" (Shemos 17:12) — for the main power of blotting out Amalek is through emunah, that a person's vitality be nullified to the power of Hashem.

Moshe's steady hands of emunah won the war: faith is the weapon against Amalek, because it nullifies one's own self to Hashem's power.

וגם מה שחמל שאול על אגג. בודאי הי' נראה לו בעליל שאין אופן למחקו לגמרי אז. שהרי באמת נשאר.

And as for Shaul's having pity on Agag — surely it appeared to him plainly that there was no way to blot him out completely at that time, for indeed [a remnant] remained.

The Sefas Emes considers Shaul's failure: it genuinely looked impossible to him to wipe out Amalek entirely, and history seemed to bear this out.

ואך אם הי' מתחזק באמונה לידע כי בודאי השי"ת יעזור שיוכל למחות שמו לגמרי כמ"ש לו שמואל. זה עצמו הי' הסיוע שיוכל למחקו לגמרי.

But had he strengthened himself in emunah, to know that Hashem would surely help him to blot out [Amalek's] name entirely, as Shmuel had told him — that very [faith] would itself have been the help enabling him to blot him out completely.

Had Shaul held firm in faith that Hashem would empower him, that emunah itself would have become the means of total victory.

[ז"ש דברי לא הקים כו'. כי ע"י מעשה האדם נותן כח וקימה לדבר ה' כמ"ש בפרשה הקודמת פי' ורעה אמונה ע"ש].

[This is the meaning of "He did not establish My words" (Shmuel I 15:11) — for through a person's deed he gives power and establishment to the word of Hashem, as explained in the previous parashah on "and cultivate faithfulness (u're'eh emunah)" (Tehillim 37:3); see there.]

Human action "establishes" the divine word: by acting in faith, a person lends strength to Hashem's decree, and Shaul's lapse left that word unfulfilled.

ואיתא אם הי' נותן בה קורטוב של דבש אין אדם יכול לעמוד כו' רק שהתורה אמרה כו'.

It is taught that had one placed in it [the ketores] a drop of honey, no person could withstand [its fragrance] — only that the Torah forbade it.

The Gemara notes that honey would have made the ketores irresistibly fragrant, yet the Torah barred it — obedience overrides even spiritual enhancement.

ובודאי כי אין כוונת הקטורת לריח הנדמה לאדם.

And surely the purpose of the ketores is not the fragrance perceptible to man.

The true aim of the incense is not the scent humans enjoy, but something far higher.

ורק שחז"ל ידעו שהי' ממנו ריח המרוצה לפני השי"ת כריח הקטורת.

Rather, Chazal knew that from it there arose a fragrance pleasing before Hashem, like the scent of the ketores.

The Sages understood that the ketores produced a "fragrance" of ratzon — pleasingness before Hashem — beyond physical aroma.

ואעפ"כ ע"י אמונה שמבטלין רצון עצמו למאמר ה'. נותן אמונה זו ריח יותר.

And even so, through emunah — by which one nullifies his own will to the word of Hashem — this faith gives a greater fragrance [still].

Withholding the honey out of pure obedience produces an even higher "fragrance" before Hashem than the honey itself would have.

וז"ש שמואל הנה כו' טוב. להקשיב כו'.

This is what Shmuel said: "Behold… to obey (lishmoa) is better… than [the choicest sacrifices]; to hearken [is better than the fat of rams]" (Shmuel I 15:22).

Shmuel's rebuke to Shaul embodies the same principle: obedience to Hashem's word surpasses even the most precious offerings.

אבל בוודאי בדעת שאול הי' לרצון השי"ת ומסר נפשו ע"ז לשנות מציווי שמואל.

But surely in Shaul's mind it was for the sake of Hashem's will, and he gave himself over [in self-sacrifice] for this — to deviate from Shmuel's command.

Shaul's intention was sincere; he sincerely believed sparing Agag and the cattle served Hashem, even sacrificing himself for that conviction.

וזה חסרון אמונה לאיש כמוהו.

And this [itself] was a deficiency of emunah for a man of his stature.

Yet for someone of Shaul's greatness, even substituting his own reasoning for the clear command was a lapse in pure faith.

וכן יש מזה בכל אדם להשגיח שיהי' בטל דעתו ורצונו למאמר ה':

And so there is [a lesson] from this for every person — to take care that his understanding and his will be nullified to the word of Hashem.

Each of us must learn to subordinate even our well-meaning reasoning and desires to the plain command of Hashem.

Summary: "Shekel" means weighing every deed against one's inner divine wisdom, guarding the precise measure Hashem apportioned in Creation. This bond — like the beinoni's balance of the two souls — removes all concealment and empowers the blotting out of Amalek, which depends on the emunah that nullifies one's own will to Hashem's. Shaul's failure with Agag, and the lesson of "obedience is better than sacrifice," teach that even sincere reasoning must yield to the plain word of Hashem.