Erasing Amalek through remembrance

אא"ז מו"ר זצלה"ה אמר מ"ש תמחה כו' זכר עמלק.

My grandfather, my teacher and master (of blessed memory for the life of the World to Come), said on what is written: "You shall blot out… the remembrance (zecher) of Amalek" (Devarim 25:19).

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather, the Chiddushei HaRim, on the command to erase the "zecher" of Amalek, and raises a question about that very word.

ומאין יש לעמלק זכר.

And from where does Amalek have a "zecher" (remembrance)?

The word zecher denotes something elevated and inner. How could Amalek, the embodiment of evil and forgetting, possess such a thing?

כי ענין זכר הוא ענין גבוה ופנימי ורק שגונב מישראל ע"כ.

For the matter of "zecher" is something lofty and inner, and only that he steals it from Bnei Yisrael.

Zikaron (remembrance) is a high, inner power. Amalek has none of his own; whatever "remembrance" he possesses is stolen from the holiness of Bnei Yisrael.

והיינו כפי מה שחסר זכרון השי"ת במעשה בני ישראל נק' שיש לו זכר.

That is to say: to the extent that remembrance of Hashem is lacking in the deeds of Bnei Yisrael, it is called that he [Amalek] has a "zecher."

Amalek's foothold is exactly the gap left when Bnei Yisrael forget Hashem in their actions. Wherever the zikaron of Hashem is missing, that missing piece becomes Amalek's "remembrance."

וביותר ביאור כי החסרון שיש במעשה ישראל נוגע במקום שנוגע עשיית בנ"י.

And in fuller explanation: the deficiency in the deeds of Bnei Yisrael touches upon the place where the actions of Bnei Yisrael reach.

The flaw in a Jew's deeds is not random; it attaches precisely to the lofty place where the holy action should have reached, leaving an opening there.

ונמצא שיש לו ממילא זכר.

It follows that he [Amalek] consequently has a "zecher."

Thus Amalek's remembrance exists only parasitically, as the shadow of what was missing in the holiness of Bnei Yisrael.

וז"ש זכור כו' וממילא יהי' נמחה שמו.

This is the meaning of "Remember…" (Devarim 25:17) — and consequently his name will be blotted out.

The command "Remember" is the very antidote: when Bnei Yisrael restore their zikaron of Hashem, the stolen remembrance of Amalek is automatically erased.

ובודאי יש בכל אדם מישראל התערבות כח עמלק.

And certainly there is in every Jew an admixture of the power of Amalek.

Each person carries within some trace of Amalek's force — the pull toward forgetting Hashem. The battle with Amalek is thus also internal.

ופי' זכור. למי שכבר נקי.

And the meaning of "Remember" is for one who is already clean.

For a person who has already purified himself, the simple command "Remember" suffices to root out the remaining trace of Amalek.

וע"י הזכירה יכול לנקום בו ולמחות שמו.

And through remembering he can take vengeance upon it and blot out its name.

By holding the remembrance of Hashem firmly, the purified person can defeat and erase the inner Amalek.

אבל גם מי שעדיין אין מעשיו רצויין.

But even one whose deeds are not yet desirable —

The Sefas Emes turns to the person who has not yet purified himself: does he have a path as well?

אעפ"כ אשר עשה לך כתיב.

even so, it is written "what he did to you" (asher asah lecha).

The verse says Amalek attacked "you" personally. For one not yet clean, the avodah is to remember the harm the yetzer hara has done to him.

שאם האדם זוכר תמיד אשר הרע לו היצה"ר בכל דבר חטא.

That if a person always remembers the harm the yetzer hara has done to him in every matter of sin —

Even before he is pure, a person can keep alive the memory of how badly the yetzer hara has treated him through every sin it lured him into.

אם יזכור תמיד שוב לא יחטא כמ"ש אין אדם חוטא אא"כ נכנס בו רוח שטות.

If he always remembers, he will no longer sin — as it is said, "A person does not sin unless a spirit of folly enters him" (Sotah 3a).

Constant remembrance keeps him alert, and sin only takes hold when one is overcome by a "spirit of folly," a momentary blackout of awareness.

והוא ענין השכחה שהוא הפסקות חיות הפנימיות.

And this is the matter of forgetting, which is an interruption of the inner life-force.

That "spirit of folly" is essentially forgetting — a cutting-off from the penimiyus, the inner life-force that keeps a person bound to Hashem.

אבל כשאדם דבוק במקור החיות ושונא הרע. ממילא לא ישנה לחטוא.

But when a person is attached to the source of life and hates evil, he will not repeat his sinning.

So long as one stays bound to the source of chiyus and genuinely despises the evil, the connection itself prevents him from falling again.

וזה עצה פשוטה ע"י שזוכר אדם תמיד רעת עמלק. ממילא והיה בהניח.

And this is a simple counsel: through a person's constantly remembering the evil of Amalek, "and it shall be, when [Hashem] gives you rest" (Devarim 25:19) comes about of itself.

The practical advice: keep Amalek's evil ever in mind. From this constant vigilance one eventually reaches "rest" — the calm in which the inner enemy can finally be uprooted.

כשיש עת רצון. כי אין לך אדם שאין לו שעה כו'. יכול לגבור אז ולמחקו.

When there is an eis ratzon (a moment of [Divine] favor) — for "there is no person who does not have his hour" (Avos 4:3) — he can then prevail and erase it.

Every person is granted moments of special favor and clarity. In such a moment of strength he can overpower the inner Amalek and blot it out entirely.

רק שע"י הזכירה יזכור גם בעת הטובה שנאתו:

Only that through the [constant] remembering, he will recall his hatred of it even in the good time as well.

The key is that the ongoing remembrance ensures that when the favorable moment arrives, he still holds firm to his hatred of evil and seizes the chance to destroy it, rather than letting the moment of rest lull him into forgetting.

Summary: Amalek possesses no "remembrance" of his own; his zecher is merely the gap left wherever Bnei Yisrael forget Hashem. The command "Remember" is the cure — for the pure, simply holding the zikaron of Hashem erases the inner Amalek, while for one not yet clean, constantly recalling the harm of the yetzer hara guards him from sin until a moment of Divine favor lets him uproot the inner enemy entirely.