Amalek severs the union of the two Torahs

ואיתא בגמ' אלו שמרו ישראל שבת ראשונה לא שלטה בהם אומה ולשון דכתיב יצאו מן העם ויבוא עמלק ע"ש.

And it is said in the Gemara: had Bnei Yisrael kept the first Shabbos, no nation or tongue would have ruled over them — as it is written, "[some of the people] went out [to gather on Shabbos]," and [immediately after], "and Amalek came" (Shemos 17); see there.

The Gemara (Shabbos 118b) connects the violation of the first Shabbos (people going out to gather the mann) with the very next event in the Torah — the attack of Amalek. Had they guarded that first Shabbos, no enemy could have prevailed over them.

ותוס' הקשו למה נק' שבת ראשונה.

And Tosafos asked: why is it called the "first Shabbos"?

Tosafos questions the phrase "first Shabbos" — what is the significance of calling it the first, and what point of Shabbos was at stake?

אבל נראה כי השבת ניתן להם קודם קבלת התורה.

But it appears that Shabbos was given to them before the receiving of the Torah.

The Sefas Emes answers that this Shabbos came before Matan Torah — Bnei Yisrael were given Shabbos already at Marah, prior to standing at Har Sinai.

כדכתיב אשר צוך במרה וכתיב שם שם לו חוק ומשפט.

As it is written, "as Hashem your God commanded you" (Devarim 5:12 — referring, per Chazal, to Marah), and it is written there, "there He placed for him (sam lo) a statute and an ordinance" (Shemos 15:25).

Chazal connect "ka'asher tzivcha" in the Aseres HaDibros to the laws given earlier at Marah, where "He placed for them a chok u'mishpat" — including Shabbos — before the Torah was formally received.

ונראה כי זה עצמו ענין קדימת נעשה לנשמע.

And it appears that this itself is the matter of "naaseh" preceding "nishma."

Receiving Shabbos before Torah is the very essence of placing "naaseh" (doing) before "nishma" (understanding) — observing before fully comprehending.

שאין הכוונה הקדימה בדיבור רק שקיימו באמת השבת מצד עצמותם.

For the intent is not the precedence in speech alone, but that they truly kept Shabbos out of their very essence (atzmusam).

"Naaseh before nishma" was not merely a verbal formula. It means Bnei Yisrael kept Shabbos from their very essence — the mitzvah resonated within their souls even before it was commanded and explained.

שהרגישו בחי' השבת.

For they felt the aspect of Shabbos.

They actually sensed the holiness of Shabbos within themselves — an inner recognition, not an externally imposed law.

ז"ש שם לו שהוא בעצם נפשותם.

This is the meaning of "He placed for him (sam lo)" — that it is within the essence of their souls.

"Sam lo" — "He placed it for him" — implies Hashem set Shabbos into the very essence of their nefashos, as an intrinsic part of who they are.

כמ"ש ראו כי ה' נתן לכם השבת.

As it is written, "See, for Hashem has given you the Shabbos" (Shemos 16:29).

The word "re'u" — "see" — indicates a tangible, perceptible gift. Shabbos was given as something Bnei Yisrael could actually perceive and feel within themselves.

וכמ"ש לעיל פי' משרתיו עושי רצונו.

And as was explained above, the meaning of "His servants who do His will" (Tehillim 103:21).

This recalls the earlier explanation of the malachim described as "those who do His will" — beings whose very nature is aligned with ratzon Hashem.

שכן הי' דרך אבות הראשונים שקיימו התורה קודם שניתנה.

For so was the way of the early Avos, who kept the Torah before it was given.

The Avos — Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given at Sinai, because it flowed from their essence, just as Shabbos did for the generation in the midbar.

וע"ז כתיב למען אנסנו במן.

And concerning this it is written, "in order that I may test him with the mann" (Shemos 16:4).

The test of the mann was precisely about this level: whether Bnei Yisrael would live the way of the Avos — keeping Shabbos and following Hashem's will from within, beyond the framework of nature.

הילך בתורתי הוא בחי' הנ"ל כלשון שנאמר באבות התהלכו לפניו.

"Will he walk in My Torah" (Shemos 16:4) is the above aspect, like the expression said regarding the Avos, "they walked before Him."

"Will he walk in My Torah" echoes the description of the Avos who "walked before Hashem" (hishalech lefanai) — living entirely within ratzon Hashem, the Torah woven into their essence.

ואז היו נזונים כמלאכי השרת.

And then they were nourished like the ministering angels (malachei ha'shareis).

While living on this elevated plane — sustained by the mann from above — Bnei Yisrael were nourished like malachim, beings whose existence is bound entirely to Hashem.

ואז הי' נתקן כל העשי'.

And then all of "doing" (asiyah) was rectified.

In that state, the entire realm of action — the lowest world of asiyah — was set right and elevated, fully bound to its Source.

והוא חיבור תורה שבכתב עם תורה שבע"פ.

And this is the joining of the Written Torah (Torah she'bichsav) with the Oral Torah (Torah she'be'al peh).

This rectified state is the union of the two Torahs — the Written and the Oral — bound together as one whole, heaven and earth joined.

ועל בחי' זו נאמר אורייתא וקוב"ה וישראל כולהו חד.

And concerning this aspect it is said, "the Torah, the Holy One Blessed is He, and Yisrael are all one" (orayasa v'Kudsha Brich Hu v'Yisrael kulhu chad).

When the two Torahs are joined, the Zohar's teaching is realized: Torah, Hashem, and Bnei Yisrael are all completely one — a seamless unity.

אכן אחר החטא שהוצרכו לקיים כל המצות בדרך התלבשות הטבע.

However, after the sin, when they had to fulfill all the mitzvos by way of the garment of nature (hislavshus ha'teva).

After the cheit (the sin of the eigel, and the failure of the first Shabbos), this lofty unity was lost, and Bnei Yisrael now had to keep the mitzvos clothed within the natural order rather than from their pure essence.

אז ויבוא עמלק.

Then "and Amalek came."

Once that direct, essential bond was broken and avodah had to pass through the garment of nature, the door opened for Amalek to attack.

כי עמלק הרשע מפריד זה החיבור של ב' תורות.

For Amalek the wicked one severs this joining of the two Torahs.

The essence of Amalek's evil is to break the union of the Written and Oral Torahs — to introduce separation and doubt where there was seamless oneness.

ולכן כתיב כתוב זאת כו' בחי' תורה שבכתב.

Therefore it is written, "Write this (kesov zos)" (Shemos 17:14) — the aspect of the Written Torah.

The command to defeat Amalek is given in two parts. "Write this" corresponds to the Written Torah.

ושים באזני יהושע בחי' תורה שבע"פ וכ"כ אמחה כו' זכר עמלק.

And "place it in the ears of Yehoshua" (Shemos 17:14) — the aspect of the Oral Torah; and so too, "I will blot out the remembrance of Amalek."

"Place it in the ears of Yehoshua" — the spoken transmission — corresponds to the Oral Torah. The remedy against Amalek is precisely to reunite the two Torahs (written and spoken), thereby blotting out his memory.

וכתיב תמחה.

And it is written, "you shall blot out (timcheh)" (Devarim 25:19).

There is both a Divine "I will blot out" (emcheh) and a human command "you shall blot out" (timcheh) — a wiping out of Amalek both Above and below.

כי הוא רשע למעלה ולמטה.

For he is wicked both above and below.

Amalek's evil operates on two planes — in the upper worlds and in the lower world — so he must be erased on both, by Hashem above and by Bnei Yisrael below.

כדאיתא יורד ומסטין עולה ומקטרג.

As it is taught, "he descends and entices (mastin), he ascends and accuses (mekatreg)."

Like the yetzer hara of which Chazal speak, Amalek comes down to seduce people into sin, then rises up to prosecute them before the Heavenly court — working destruction on both ends.

ואינו מניח לישראל להתדבק בו ית'.

And he does not allow Yisrael to cleave to Him, may He be blessed.

Below, Amalek's work is to block Bnei Yisrael from achieving dveikus — to sever their cleaving to Hashem.

ומקטרג למעלה לעכב ירידת השפעת הקדושה לבני ישראל.

And he accuses Above, to hold back the descent of the flow of holiness (hashpa'as ha'kedushah) to Bnei Yisrael.

Above, he prosecutes in order to obstruct the downward flow of kedushah and blessing that Hashem wishes to give Bnei Yisrael — choking off the channel from both directions.

כי הרשע היפך הצדיק.

For the rasha (wicked one) is the opposite of the tzaddik.

Amalek is the exact inversion of the tzaddik — wherever the tzaddik unites and connects, the rasha divides and obstructs.

כמו דאיתא צדיק אחיד בשמיא וארעא.

As it is taught, "the tzaddik grasps heaven and earth" (tzaddik achid bi'shmaya v'ar'a).

The Zohar teaches that the tzaddik holds onto both heaven and earth, binding the upper and lower worlds together — he is the channel through which kedushah flows down and avodah rises up.

כמו כן לעומת זה הרשע מעכב זה החיבור.

So too, correspondingly, the rasha obstructs this joining.

As a mirror image of the tzaddik, Amalek the rasha works to block that very joining of heaven and earth, of the two Torahs, of Yisrael and Hashem.

וכתיב בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים אשר קרך בדרך.

And it is written, "on the way, when you came out of Mitzrayim... who happened upon you (asher karcha) on the way" (Devarim 25:17-18).

The Torah stresses that Amalek struck "on the way" out of Mitzrayim — precisely at the transition, the journey that was meant to lead Bnei Yisrael to their bond with Hashem.

כי יצ"מ היה להיות לכם לאלקים כמ"ש בהוציאך כו' תעבדון את האלקים.

For Yetzias Mitzrayim was "to be a God to you," as it is written, "when you bring the people out... you shall serve God [at this mountain]" (Shemos 3:12).

The whole purpose of leaving Mitzrayim was to arrive at avodas Hashem — the redemption was a means toward serving Hashem and cleaving to Him at Har Sinai.

והוא סמיכת גאולה לתפלה.

And this is the joining of geulah (redemption) to tefillah (prayer) — semichas geulah li'tefillah.

The link between the Exodus and the goal of serving Hashem is mirrored in the halachah of placing geulah (the brachah of redemption) immediately next to the Shemoneh Esrei — redemption flowing directly into avodah.

ואותו הרשע ביטל והפסיק בין גאולה לתפלה.

And that wicked one nullified and interrupted between geulah and tefillah.

Amalek's attack "on the way" was precisely an interruption between geulah and its purpose — wedging himself between the redemption and the avodah it was meant to lead to.

ולכן כמו שצריכין לזכור בכל יום יציאת מצרים וקבלת התורה.

Therefore, just as we must remember every day Yetzias Mitzrayim and the receiving of the Torah.

Because these bonds are so central, there is a daily obligation to recall both the Exodus and the receiving of the Torah — the foundations of our connection to Hashem.

כן צריכין לזכור מחיית עמלק.

So too we must remember the blotting out of Amalek.

Correspondingly, there is a daily obligation to remember the mitzvah of erasing Amalek — for guarding against Amalek is the flip side of preserving our bond with Hashem.

כמ"ש ז"ל לכוין בברכת אהבה בלשמך הגדול לזכור עמלק שאין השם שלם עד שימחה שמו כי הוא עומד בין זכירת השירה ויצ"מ.

As Chazal said, to have in mind during Birkas Ahavah, at the words "to Your great Name (l'Shimcha ha'gadol)," to remember Amalek — for the Name is not complete until his name is blotted out, since he stands between the remembrance of the Shirah and Yetzias Mitzrayim.

Chazal direct us, in the brachah of Ahavah Rabbah before Shema, at "l'Shimcha ha'gadol," to recall Amalek — because Hashem's Name and Throne remain incomplete until Amalek is erased (the pasuk after his attack: "ki yad al keis Kah"). He literally interposes himself between our remembrance of the Shirah and Yetzias Mitzrayim and our coming to Shema and tefillah.

לק"ש ותפלה:

...to Krias Shema and tefillah.

Amalek positions himself in the gap leading into Krias Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei — the very threshold of our cleaving to Hashem. Wiping out his memory clears the way so that geulah flows uninterrupted into avodah.

Summary: Shabbos was given before Matan Torah — the embodiment of "naaseh before nishma" — because Bnei Yisrael felt Shabbos in the very essence of their souls, like the Avos who kept the Torah before it was given. In that state the two Torahs (Written and Oral) were joined, and "Torah, Hashem, and Yisrael are one." After the sin, mitzvos had to be kept within the garment of nature, and Amalek — the inverse of the tzaddik who binds heaven and earth — came to sever that union and interpose himself between geulah and tefillah. Hence we must daily remember to blot him out, for Hashem's Name is incomplete until Amalek's is erased.