Erasing Amalek through revealing Hashem's Name

תמחה את זכר עמלק.

"You shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek."

The Sefas Emes opens with the mitzvah to erase the memory of Amalek, which he will show is also a promise.

הוא הבטחה ג"כ שבנ"י ימחו את שמו בלי ספק.

It is also a promise (havtachah) that Bnei Yisrael will blot out his name without a doubt.

Beyond a command, the verse is an assurance that Bnei Yisrael will certainly succeed in wiping out Amalek's name.

אבל כפי מה שנתקיים והיה בהניח כו'.

But it is according to the degree to which "and it shall be, when He gives you rest..." is fulfilled.

The blotting out of Amalek is contingent on the fulfillment of "when Hashem gives you rest from all your enemies" — it unfolds in proportion to that rest.

כך מתקיים מחיית עמלק.

So too is the eradication of Amalek fulfilled.

The erasure of Amalek is realized to the same measure that this state of "rest" is achieved.

וכתיב כי יד על כס יה.

And it is written, "for there is a hand upon the throne of Kah."

He cites the verse describing Hashem's oath against Amalek, sworn with a hand raised upon His throne.

פרש"י נשבע הקב"ה שאין שמו שלם וכסאו שלם עד שימחה זכר עמלק.

Rashi explains: the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that neither His Name is complete nor His throne complete until the remembrance of Amalek is blotted out.

As Rashi teaches, Hashem's Name (Yud-Kei rather than the full Name) and His throne (kisei rather than kissei) remain "incomplete" so long as Amalek's memory endures.

פי' כי עמלק מסר נפשו לרעה.

The explanation: for Amalek gave over his soul to evil.

Amalek committed total mesirus nefesh — but in the service of evil, devoting himself entirely to wickedness.

אף כי ידע שסופו לאיבוד.

Even though he knew that his end was to be destruction.

Amalek attacked Bnei Yisrael even knowing he was doomed to perish for it.

אבל רצה לערבב את בני ישראל.

But he wished to confuse and cool off Bnei Yisrael.

His goal was to "cool down" Bnei Yisrael's ardor — to throw the nations' awe of them into confusion, as the pasuk says "asher karcha," he cooled you off.

ולכן זה שכרו שלא יהי' לו חלק בקדושה.

Therefore this is his recompense: that he should have no portion in kedushah.

Because he gave himself wholly to evil, his measure-for-measure consequence is to be utterly cut off from any share in holiness.

דהנה כל האומות יש להם קצת שורש בקדושה.

For behold, all the nations have some root in kedushah.

Every other nation possesses at least a small root in holiness, a spark that ties it to the Divine.

וכ' אז אהפוך אל העמים שפה ברורה כו'.

And it is written, "then I will turn to the nations a clear speech..."

The navi foretells that in the future Hashem will give all the nations "a clear language" so that they may call upon His Name together.

דלעתיד יתגדל שמו ית' וידעו כל העמים כי לה' המלוכה כמ"ש ישמחו וירננו לאומים כו'.

For in the future Hashem's Name will be magnified and all the nations will know that the kingship belongs to Hashem, as it says, "the nations will rejoice and sing for joy..."

At the geulah, Hashem's Name will be exalted and every nation will recognize His sovereignty, joining in joy and song before Him.

אבל עמלק ימ"ש לא יהי' לו חלק בזה.

But Amalek, may his name be blotted out, will have no portion in this.

Amalek alone is excluded from this future ingathering of the nations toward Hashem.

כמ"ש ראשית גוים עמלק ואחריתו עדי אובד.

As it is written, "Amalek was the first of nations, but his end is everlasting destruction."

The pasuk seals Amalek's fate: first among nations to attack Yisrael, his ultimate end is total and permanent ruin.

לכן נשבע הקב"ה שלא יהי' תיקון השלם שיכירו כל האומות את כבודו ושמו הגדול ב"ה עד שימחה זכר עמלק.

Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that there will not be the complete rectification, in which all the nations recognize His glory and His great Name, may He be blessed, until the remembrance of Amalek is blotted out.

This is why Hashem's "Name and throne" are incomplete: the final tikkun, in which all nations acknowledge His glory, cannot come about while Amalek's memory persists, for Amalek would otherwise be included.

כדי שלא יהי' עמלק בכלל ולא יזכה לראות האמת.

So that Amalek should not be included and should not merit to behold the truth.

The eradication must precede the final revelation precisely so that Amalek, who chose evil, will not share in the recognition of Hashem's truth.

ולכן כפי מה שמתקרבת הגאולה ומתברר כבודו ית' בעולם.

Therefore, in accordance with how the geulah draws near and Hashem's glory becomes clarified in the world —

As the redemption approaches and Hashem's honor becomes ever more revealed in the world,

כפי זה השיעור נמחה שמו של עמלק.

— according to this measure, the name of Amalek is blotted out.

To that very same degree, the name of Amalek is correspondingly erased; the two move in inverse proportion.

וז"ש והי' בהניח כו' מכל אויביך מסביב.

And this is the meaning of "and it shall be, when He gives you rest... from all your enemies round about."

This explains the verse: the "rest from all enemies round about" is itself the revelation of Hashem's glory that brings about Amalek's erasure.

אז תמחה בוודאי זכר עמלק.

Then you shall surely blot out the remembrance of Amalek.

Once that state of rest and revelation is reached, the eradication of Amalek follows with certainty.

ולכן מי שמצפה לפרסום שמו הגדול ב"ה.

Therefore, one who awaits the publicizing of His great Name, may He be blessed —

A person who yearns for Hashem's great Name to be made known throughout the world,

הוא מצפה למחיית עמלק.

— is awaiting the eradication of Amalek.

By that very longing he is also longing for Amalek's destruction, since the two are one and the same.

כי הא בהא תליא.

For this is dependent upon that.

The revelation of Hashem's Name and the blotting out of Amalek are inseparably bound to one another.

ושבת הוא מעין עוה"ב ויש בו קצת התגלות כבודו ית'.

And Shabbos is a semblance of Olam Haba, and within it there is some revelation of His glory, may He be blessed.

Shabbos is a taste of the World to Come and therefore contains a partial revelation of Hashem's glory already in this world.

אך הוא בהסתר בינו ובין בני ישראל.

But it is in a concealed manner, between Him and Bnei Yisrael.

This Shabbos revelation is hidden — an intimate disclosure shared privately between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael, not yet open to the world.

לכן אז נמחה שמו בהסתר ג"כ.

Therefore at that time his name is blotted out in a concealed manner as well.

Correspondingly, on Shabbos Amalek's name is erased in a hidden way, matching the hidden nature of the Shabbos revelation.

והוא בכלל והיה בהניח.

And this is included in "and it shall be, when He gives you rest."

The "rest" of Shabbos is a form of the "rest" promised in the verse, and so it too brings about a measure of Amalek's eradication.

לכן קורין זכור בשבת.

Therefore we read Parshas Zachor on Shabbos.

This is why the remembrance to blot out Amalek is read specifically on Shabbos — for Shabbos is itself a time of his concealed eradication.

וגם כי בשבת מתיחדין בנ"י להיות אחד ואז אין לו שליטה דכתיב כל הנחשלים אחריך.

And also because on Shabbos Bnei Yisrael become unified to be as one, and then he has no dominion, as it is written, "all the stragglers (nechesholim) behind you."

On Shabbos Bnei Yisrael unite into a single whole, leaving Amalek no foothold; for Amalek can only seize the "stragglers" who fall behind and become detached from the klal.

אבל לכלל ישראל א"י ליגע.

But the collective whole of Yisrael he cannot touch.

Amalek has no power against the unified klal of Yisrael; only isolated individuals are vulnerable to him.

והטעם כי שמו יתברך הוא בתוך כלל בנ"י ושם נמחה שמו של עמלק וכ"כ ביעקב כינוסו וכינוס בניו הצילו כו':

And the reason is that His Name, may He be blessed, is within the collective whole of Bnei Yisrael, and there the name of Amalek is blotted out; and so too it is written regarding Yaakov that his gathering and the gathering of his sons saved him.

Because Hashem's Name dwells within the united klal of Bnei Yisrael, that is precisely where Amalek's name is erased — for the revelation of His Name and Amalek's eradication are one. So too Yaakov was saved through the ingathering and unity of himself and his sons.

Summary: "Blot out Amalek" is also a promise, fulfilled in measure with the "rest" and the revelation of Hashem's glory in the world; since Hashem's Name and throne remain incomplete while Amalek endures, the redemption's unveiling of His Name and the erasure of Amalek are one inseparable process. Shabbos, a hidden taste of Olam Haba, brings a concealed measure of this erasure and unifies Bnei Yisrael into one klal where Hashem's Name dwells — and against that united whole Amalek, who preys only on stragglers, has no power.