Amalek as the orlah covering the covenant

איתא בזוה"ק כי עמלק עמד לעקור אות ברית קודש מבנ"י.

It is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh that Amalek stood to uproot the os bris kodesh (the sign of the holy covenant) from Bnei Yisrael.

The Zohar teaches that Amalek's true aim was to tear away the holy sign of the bris milah (covenant) from Bnei Yisrael — to sever their innermost bond of holiness.

כי מאחר שכ' אמחה כו' זכר עמלק מתחת השמים.

For since it is written, "I will utterly blot out… the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens." (Shemos 17:14)

Since the Torah decrees that Amalek's memory will be entirely erased from beneath the heavens.

א"כ אין לו מקום.

If so, he has no place.

Amalek, being destined for total erasure, possesses no real, enduring place in creation — no root in holiness.

והאדם הוא עולם קטן.

And the human being is a microcosm (a small world).

Every person is an "olam katan," a miniature of the entire created world, containing within himself everything that exists in the cosmos.

וכולל כל הבריאה.

And he comprises all of creation.

Because a person mirrors the whole of creation, whatever exists in the world has a corresponding element within him.

לכן כתב בס' קדושת לוי כי יש בכל אדם קצת מעמלק ע"ש.

Therefore it is written in the sefer Kedushas Levi that there is in every person a bit of Amalek — see there.

Since man contains all of creation, even Amalek has an inner counterpart — a small trace of "Amalek" within every person that must be confronted.

ויתכן לומר כי היא הערלה החופפת על הברית.

And it may be said that it is the orlah (foreskin) that overlays the bris.

This inner "Amalek" corresponds to the orlah — the covering that overlays and conceals the holy covenant, an excess that blocks the inner light.

וצוה השי"ת למול זה העודף שאין לו קיום ושורש בפנימיות כמ"ש בפ' לך מזה.

And Hashem commanded to circumcise this excess, which has no permanence or root in the penimiyus (inner dimension), as written in Parshas Lech Lecha concerning this.

Hashem commanded the removal of this excess covering through milah precisely because it has no genuine root in a person's inner self — it is a superfluous shell, just as discussed in Lech Lecha.

וכמו כן ימחה זכר עמלק במהרה בימינו.

And likewise the remembrance of Amalek will be blotted out, speedily in our days.

Just as the orlah is removed from the individual, so too Amalek as a whole will be erased from the world in the future redemption.

שהיא הערלה העומדת לחתוך ולהשמידו לנצח.

For it is the orlah that stands to be cut off and destroyed forever.

Amalek is like the foreskin destined to be cut away — an outer excess with no lasting reality that will ultimately be removed for all eternity.

ואז לא יכנף עוד ויתגלה הארת הברית קודש:

And then it will no longer be hidden away, and the illumination of the holy covenant will be revealed.

Once this concealing excess is removed, the light of the holy bris — the innermost point of kedushah within Bnei Yisrael — will shine forth fully revealed.

Summary: The Zohar teaches that Amalek sought to uproot the holy sign of the covenant from Bnei Yisrael. Since man is a microcosm containing all of creation, every person harbors a trace of "Amalek" — identified with the orlah, the superfluous covering that overlays the bris and has no root in one's inner self. Just as milah removes this excess from the individual, so too Amalek will ultimately be blotted out from the world, allowing the hidden light of the holy covenant to be fully revealed.