Blotting out Amalek through Torah and Shabbos

תמחה כו' זכר עמלק וכ' אמחה כו'.

"You shall blot out... the memory of Amalek" (Devarim 25:19), and it is also written "I will blot out... [the memory of Amalek]" (Shemos 17:14).

There are two erasures of Amalek: one that Bnei Yisrael must accomplish ("you shall blot out") and one that Hashem promises to do ("I will blot out").

כי בכח שנאת בנ"י יכולין למחות זכרו.

For through the power of Bnei Yisrael's hatred [of evil] they are able to blot out his memory.

The Jews' wholehearted revulsion toward Amalek is itself the force that uproots his memory from the world.

דכתיב בראשית ברא בשביל התורה שנק' ראשית ובשביל ישראל שנק' ראשית.

For it is written "In the beginning (bereishis) He created" (Bereishis 1:1) — for the sake of the Torah which is called "reishis," and for the sake of Yisrael who are called "reishis" (Rashi, Bereishis 1:1).

The world was created for the sake of two things called "first" — the Torah and Bnei Yisrael — and these are the world's true foundation.

נמצא כל דבר שבעולם אין לו קיום רק באיזה אחיזה רחוקה וקרובה שיש לו בתורה ובישראל.

It emerges that nothing in the world has any existence except through some grip — near or far — that it has in the Torah and in Yisrael.

Every created thing endures only insofar as it is somehow connected to Torah and Bnei Yisrael, the purpose of creation.

וכ' וכתוב זאת זכרון בספר הוא תורה שבכתב.

And it is written: "Write this as a remembrance in a book" (Shemos 17:14) — this refers to Torah She-bichsav (the Written Torah).

The command to "write" the war against Amalek in a book corresponds to the Written Torah.

ושים באזני יהושע הוא בחי' תורה שבע"פ שהיא כח כנס"י.

"And place it in the ears of Yehoshua" (Shemos 17:14) is the aspect of Torah She-be'al Peh (the Oral Torah), which is the power of Knesses Yisrael.

Speaking the words into Yehoshua's ears corresponds to the Oral Torah, the living force carried by the collective soul of Bnei Yisrael.

ומתורה שבכתב ה' ימחה עמלק כמ"ש אמחה.

And from the Written Torah, Hashem will blot out Amalek, as it says "I will blot out."

The "I will blot out" — Hashem's own erasure — flows from the Written Torah.

ובנ"י צריכין למחותו שלא יהי' לו שום אחיזה בהם מתוך רוב השנאה שיש להם עליו.

And Bnei Yisrael must blot him out so that he has no grip on them whatsoever, through the great hatred they bear toward him.

The human task ("you shall blot out") is to feel such complete revulsion for Amalek that he loses any foothold within them.

וממילא לא יהי' לו שום תקומה.

And as a result he will have no standing at all.

Once Amalek finds no grip in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael, he is left with no ability to rise.

לכן בשאול כשהיה להם קצת רחמנות עליו נשאר ממנו.

Therefore in the case of Shaul, when they had a bit of mercy upon him, a remnant of him survived.

Shaul's misplaced compassion toward Agag left Amalek a foothold — proof that incomplete revulsion lets evil endure.

ובאמת כל הכח למחות שם עמלק ע"י התורה לכן מקדימין זכור לעשי' דפורים.

And in truth all the power to blot out the name of Amalek comes through the Torah; therefore we read Parshas Zachor before the doing (the mitzvos) of Purim.

Since Torah is the true weapon against Amalek, the remembering of Zachor must precede the active deeds of Purim.

דכתיב בית יעקב אש ובית יוסף להבה.

For it is written: "The house of Yaakov shall be fire, and the house of Yosef a flame" (Ovadiah 1:18).

The prophet describes Bnei Yisrael as fire and flame that will consume Esav.

אש הוא התורה כדכ' כה דברי כאש.

"Fire" is the Torah, as it is written: "Is not My word like fire?" (Yirmiyahu 23:29).

The "fire" of the house of Yaakov is the burning power of the Torah itself.

וכפטיש יפוצץ סלע הוא בחי' בית יוסף להבה שהוא התפשטות כח האש ברוב ניצוצות.

And "like a hammer that shatters rock" (Yirmiyahu 23:29) is the aspect of "the house of Yosef a flame," which is the spreading of the power of fire into many sparks.

Just as a hammer striking rock scatters sparks, the house of Yosef represents the Torah's fire spreading out into countless nitzotzos (sparks) within the soul.

ולכן עמלק עומד לקרר זה האש והתלהבות שנמצאו בנפשות בנ"י.

And therefore Amalek stands to cool down this fire and enthusiasm found in the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

Amalek's entire mission, hinted in "asher karcha" (who chilled you), is to cool the burning hislahavus (fervor) of the Jewish soul.

כמ"ש אשר קרך.

As it is written: "who happened upon you (asher karcha)" (Devarim 25:18).

The word "karcha" shares a root with "kor" (cold) — Amalek "cooled" Bnei Yisrael's ardor for Hashem.

וכשבנ"י מתדבקין בכח התורה נעשה בית עשו לקש.

And when Bnei Yisrael cling to the power of the Torah, the house of Esav becomes stubble.

The fire of Torah-devotion turns Esav (Amalek's root) into dry straw that the flame easily consumes.

וכ' בזהר שפת אמת תכון הוא ישראל שמעידין בכל יום ה' אחד.

And it is written in the Zohar: "The lip of truth (sfas emes) shall be established" (Mishlei 12:19) — this is Yisrael, who testify each day "Hashem is One."

Bnei Yisrael are the "lip of truth" because twice daily they bear witness to Hashem's oneness through Krias Shema.

והוא שפת אמת.

And this is "the lip of truth."

Their testimony to Hashem's unity is the very embodiment of truth.

כמ"ש אתם עדי כו'.

As it is written: "You are My witnesses" (Yeshayahu 43:10).

Hashem calls Bnei Yisrael His witnesses — they testify to His reality in the world.

ועמלק כל מגמתו לבטל עדות זה.

And Amalek's entire aim is to nullify this testimony.

Amalek seeks to undermine Bnei Yisrael's witness to Hashem's oneness, for he is the root of denial.

כי הוא שורש השקר כמ"ש הא שוא שבראתי בעולמי.

For he is the root of falsehood, as is said: "this is the falsehood (shav) that I created in My world."

Amalek is the embodiment of sheker (falsehood), the principle of emptiness and lie that Hashem placed in the world as a test.

ועתה בגלות שיקרא שלטא כמ"ש בזוה"ק פ' תשא ועד ארגיעה כו'.

And now in galus falsehood holds sway, as is written in the Zohar Hakadosh, Parshas Tisa, on "but for a moment (ad arga)" (Mishlei 12:19).

The same verse from Mishlei continues that the "lying tongue" lasts only "for a moment" — falsehood rules only temporarily, during exile.

דאין לשקר שליטה רק בגלות.

For falsehood has dominion only in galus.

Sheker can rule only within the conditions of exile; it has no true permanence.

וכשיהי' יום מנוחה אז יתבטל השקר.

And when the day of rest comes, then falsehood will be nullified.

On the ultimate "day of rest" — the world that is entirely Shabbos — all falsehood, and Amalek with it, will vanish.

וז"ש והי' בהניח כו' תמחה כו' זכר עמלק.

And this is the meaning of "And it shall be, when [Hashem] gives you rest... you shall blot out the memory of Amalek" (Devarim 25:19).

The Torah ties the blotting out of Amalek to "rest" — for it is precisely menuchah (rest) that dissolves the falsehood Amalek represents.

ומעין זה בכל שבת.

And something of this is present in every Shabbos.

Each weekly Shabbos is a foretaste of that final rest and thus a weekly opportunity to weaken Amalek.

יום מנוחה.

A day of rest.

Shabbos is the day of menuchah.

מעין עוה"ב.

A foretaste of Olam Haba (the World to Come).

Shabbos is a sixtieth of the World to Come, a taste of the redeemed world.

יום שכולו שבת.

"A day that is entirely Shabbos" (cf. Mishnah Tamid 7:4).

It mirrors the future era described as "wholly Shabbos and rest for eternal life."

ושבת סהדותא אקרי לכן הוא זמן מחיית עמלק:

And Shabbos is called "testimony" (sahadusa); therefore it is the time for blotting out Amalek.

Since Shabbos itself is a testimony to Hashem as Creator — the very witness Amalek seeks to silence — it is the fitting time to erase Amalek and his falsehood.

Summary: Amalek can be blotted out only through the power of Torah and Bnei Yisrael, the "reishis" for which the world was created. Bnei Yisrael's wholehearted revulsion denies Amalek any foothold (Shaul's mercy left a remnant). The Torah is "fire," and Amalek's whole aim is to "cool" that fervor and to nullify Israel's testimony to Hashem's oneness, for he is the root of falsehood — which rules only in galus. Therefore the erasure of Amalek is bound to "rest": every Shabbos, itself a testimony to Hashem, is a time to undo Amalek's lie.