(32) His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, Esau, your first-born!” (33) Isaac was seized with very violent trembling. “Who was it then,” he demanded, “that hunted game and brought it to me? Moreover, I ate of it before you came, and I blessed him; now he must remain blessed!” (34) When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst into wild and bitter sobbing, and said to his father, “Bless me too, Father!” (35) But he answered, “Your brother came with guile and took away your blessing.” (36) [Esau] said, “Was he, then, named Jacob that he might supplant me these two times? First he took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing!” And he added, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (37) Isaac answered, saying to Esau, “But I have made him master over you: I have given him all his brothers for servants, and sustained him with grain and wine. What, then, can I still do for you, my son?” (38) And Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!” And Esau wept aloud.
(ו) וַיִּקַּ֣ח עֵשָׂ֡ו אֶת־נָ֠שָׁיו וְאֶת־בָּנָ֣יו וְאֶת־בְּנֹתָיו֮ וְאֶת־כָּל־נַפְשׁ֣וֹת בֵּיתוֹ֒ וְאֶת־מִקְנֵ֣הוּ וְאֶת־כָּל־בְּהֶמְתּ֗וֹ וְאֵת֙ כָּל־קִנְיָנ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר רָכַ֖שׁ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אֶל־אֶ֔רֶץ מִפְּנֵ֖י יַעֲקֹ֥ב אָחִֽיו׃
(6) Esau took his wives, his sons and daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle and all his livestock, and all the property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land because of his brother Jacob.
(12) Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. Those were the descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.
(א) ותמנע היתה פילגש לאליפז. למאי נ"מ תמנע בת מלכים היתה, דכתיב אלוף לוטן תמנע, וכל אלוף מלכותא... בעית להתגייר, באת אצל אברהם יצחק ויעקב ולא קבלוה, הלכה והיתה פילגש לאליפז בן עשו, אמרה, מוטב להיות שפחה לאומה זו ולא גבירה לאומה אחרת, לסוף נפיק ממנה עמלק, מאי טעמא, דלא בעי להו לרחקה בהנה מה שלא קבלוה האבות בודאי לא משום דקשים גרים לישראל, שהרי מצינו באברהם שהכניס כמה וכמה נפשות תחת כנפי השכינה (ר"פ לך) וקרא בשם ה' (פ' וירא), אלא נראה טעם הדבר שלא קבלוה – ע"פ מ"ש הרמב"ם בפי"ג הי"ד מאס"ב שאם בא להתגייר משום שררה אין מקבלין אותו, ומקורו מיבמות כ"ד ב', והיא היתה רוצה להתייחס בדבוק למשפחת אברהם, וחשבו שאין זו גירות אמתית, ובכ"ז נענשו שלא הי' להם לרחקה ביותר וכמ"ש ברות, ותרא כי מתאמצת היא ללכת ותחדל מדבר אליה, ומצינו בעובד כוכבים שבא לפני הלל ואמר לו גיירני על מנת שיעשוני לכהן גדול, וזה ג"כ מטעם כבוד וגדולה, ובכ"ז גיירי' ואח"כ נעשה גר אמת בלב שלם.
(שבת ל"א א'], והוא כענין שאמרו מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה. [כל דיני ועניני גירות איירי בזמנים ומקומות שהותר ע"פ המלכות] .
(סנהדרין צ"ט ב')
What is the significance of this? Timna was the daughter of kings, as it is written: "A aluf/chieftain of Lotan was Timna" - Every aluf/chieftan is about kingship...She came to convert. She came to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they did not accept her. She went and became a concubine to Eliphaz son of Esav, saying, "Better to be a handmaiden to this people than a matron in another people." In the end, Amalek comes from her. What was the reason? They did not try to keep her away. (Sanhedrin 99b)
(7) The place was named Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and because they tried the Eternal, saying, “Is the Eternal present among us or not?”
(8) Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. (9) Moses said to Joshua, “Pick some men for us, and go out and do battle with Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in my hand.” (10) Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. (11) Then, whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. (12) But Moses’ hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur, one on each side, supported his hands; thus his hands remained steady until the sun set. (13) And Joshua overwhelmed the people of Amalek with the sword.
(14) Then the Eternal said to Moses, “Inscribe this in a document as a reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: "I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven!” (15) And Moses built an altar and named it Adonai-nissi. (16) He said, “It means, ‘Hand upon the throne of the Eternal!’ The Eternal will be at war with Amalek throughout the ages.”
כי יד על כס יה. יָדוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ"ה הוּרְמָה לִשָּׁבַע בְּכִסְאוֹ לִהְיוֹת לוֹ מִלְחָמָה וְאֵיבָה בַעֲמָלֵק עוֹלָמִית, וּמַהוּ כֵּס וְלֹא נֶאֱמַר כִּסֵּא? וְאַף הַשֵּׁם נֶחֱלַק לְחֶצְיוֹ? נִשְׁבַּע הַקָּבָּ"ה שֶׁאֵין שְׁמוֹ שָׁלֵם וְאֵין כִּסְאוֹ שָׁלֵם עַד שֶׁיִּמָּחֶה שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל עֲמָלֵק כֻּלּוֹ,
וּכְשֶׁיִּמָּחֶה שְׁמוֹ יִהְיֶה הַשֵּׁם שָׁלֵם וְהַכִּסֵּא שָׁלֵם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "הָאוֹיֵב תַּמּוּ חֳרָבוֹת לָנֶצַח" (תהלים ט'), זֶהוּ עֲמָלֵק שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ "וְעֶבְרָתוֹ שְׁמָרָה נֶצַח" (עמוס א'), "וְעָרִים נָתַשְׁתָּ אָבַד זִכְרָם הֵמָּה" (תהלים שם), מַהוּ אוֹמֵר אַחֲרָיו? "וַה' לְעוֹלָם יֵשֵׁב" — הֲרֵי הַשֵּׁם שָׁלֵם, "כּוֹנֵן לַמִּשְׁפָּט כִּסְאוֹ" — הֲרֵי כִּסְּאוֹ שָׁלֵם:
כי יד על כס יה BECAUSE THE HAND IS UPON THE THRONE OF J\YAH — the hand of the Holy Bountiful One is raised to God's throne that God will have war and enmity against Amalek to all eternity. And what is the force of כס — why does it not say as usual כסא? And the Divine Name, also, is divided into half (יה is only the half of the Tetragrammaton)! The Holy Bountiful One swears that God's Name will not be perfect nor God's throne perfect until the name of Amalek be entirely blotted out.
But when his name is blotted out then will (God’s) Name be perfect and God's throne perfect, as it is said, (Psalms 9:7) “The enemy is come to an end, the one whose swords were for ever” — and this refers to Amalek of whom it is written, (Amos 1:11; the paragraph is a prophecy against Edom — Esau — the father of Amalek) “he kept his wrath for ever”. The verse in the Psalm continues: “and you did uproot enemies, their very name (zekher) is perished”, What does it say immediately after this? (Psalms 9:8) “But the Eternal (YHVH, the Divine Name as given here is the Tetragrammaton) shall now remain for ever” — you see that the Name will be perfect (after Amalek is entirely rooted out as is mentioned in v. 7); “God establishes God's throne (כסאו not כס) in righteousness” — so you see that God's throne will then be perfect (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 11).
(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the road, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. (19) Therefore, when the Eternal your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Eternal your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
(1) Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Eternal sent to anoint you king over God's people Israel. Therefore, listen to the Eternal's command! (2) “Thus said the Eternal of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt.
(3) Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses!”
(1) Oxen and sheep. They were sorcerers, and they would change themselves to appear as animals.
(7) Saul destroyed Amalek from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is close to Egypt, (8) and he captured King Agag of Amalek alive. He proscribed all the people, putting them to the sword; (9) but Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the second-born, the lambs, and all else that was of value. They would not proscribe them; they proscribed only what was cheap and worthless.
(ז) רַבִּי לֵוִי פָּתַח (במדבר לג, נה): וְאִם לֹא תוֹרִישׁוּ אֶת ישְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפְּנֵיכֶם וְהָיָה אֲשֶׁר תּוֹתִירוּ מֵהֶם, מְדַבֵּר בְּשָׁאוּל, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ שְׁמוּאֵל (שמואל א טו, ג): עַתָּה לֵךְ וְהִכִּיתָ אֶת עֲמָלֵק, אֲמַר לֵיהּ אֲזַלְתְּ זַכָּאָה וַאֲתֵית חַיָּיבָא וְחַסְתְּ עֲלוֹי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א טו, ט): וַיַּחְמֹל שָׁאוּל וְהָעָם עַל אֲגָג, וְהָא צִמְחָא קַיָּימָא מִינֵּיהּ שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה לָכֶם דְּבָרִים קָשִׁים, לְשִׂכִּים בְּעֵינֵיכֶם וְלִצְנִינִם בְּצִדֵּיכֶם, וְאֵיזֶה זֶה, זֶה הָמָן, שֶׁאָמַר: לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרֹג וּלְאַבֵּד, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁרָאוּ הַכֹּל כֵּן, הִתְחִילוּ צוֹוְחִין וַוי, וַיְהִי בִּימֵי אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ.
Rabbi Levi began: (Numbers 33:55) "But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land, those whom you allow to remain shall be stings in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land in which you live;" This is speaking of Saul, when Samuel said to him (Samuel 16:3) "Now go and strike Amalek." He said to him: Go innocent and return guilty because you had compassion upon him, as it says, (Shmuel I 16:9) "And Saul and the people had compassion on Agag." Behold! From him sprouted the one who will do hard things to you...Who is this? This is Haman, as he said, "To destroy, to kill and to wipe out..."
(1) Some time afterward, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedata the Agagite; he advanced him and seated him higher than any of his fellow officials. (2) All the king’s courtiers in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king’s order concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low. (3) Then the king’s courtiers who were in the palace gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s order?” (4) When they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s resolve would prevail; for he had explained to them that he was a Jew. (5) When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel or bow low to him, Haman was filled with rage. (6) But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone; having been told who Mordecai’s people were, Haman plotted to do away with all the Jews, Mordecai’s people, throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus.
(1) When Mordecai learned all that had happened, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went through the city, crying out loudly and bitterly,
ויבז בעיניו. בזוי בן בזוי, להלן כתיב ויבז עשו את הבכורה וכאן כתיב ויבז בעיניו...
The one who spurns is the son of the one who spurns. Earlier it was written: Esav spurned the birthright, and here it is written: He spurned [the people] in his eyes.
(15) Mordecai left the king’s presence in royal robes of blue and white, with a magnificent crown of gold and a mantle of fine linen and purple wool. And the city of Shushan rang with joyous cries. (16) The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honor. (17) And in every province and in every city, when the king’s command and decree arrived, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many of the people of the land professed to be Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
(41) those recorded by name came in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, and attacked their encampments and the Meunim who were found there, and wiped them out forever, and settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. (42) And some of them, five hundred of the Simeonites, went to Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, sons of Ishi, at their head, (43) and they destroyed the last surviving Amalekites, and they live there to this day.
Similarly, it is a positive commandment to destroy the memory of Amalek, as Deuteronomy 25:19 states: 'Obliterate the memory of Amalek. It is also a positive commandment to constantly remember their evil deeds and their ambush of Israel to arouse our hatred of them, as ibid.:17 states: 'Remember what Amalek did to you.' The Oral Tradition teaches: ...Remember' - with your mouths; ...Do not forget' - in your hearts.' For it is forbidden to forget our hatred and enmity for them.
(ט) וַיִּקְרָ֛א ה' אֱלֹקִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה׃ (י) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֶת־קֹלְךָ֥ שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי בַּגָּ֑ן וָאִירָ֛א כִּֽי־עֵירֹ֥ם אָנֹ֖כִי וָאֵחָבֵֽא׃ (יא) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מִ֚י הִגִּ֣יד לְךָ֔ כִּ֥י עֵירֹ֖ם אָ֑תָּה הֲמִן־הָעֵ֗ץ אֲשֶׁ֧ר צִוִּיתִ֛יךָ לְבִלְתִּ֥י אֲכׇל־מִמֶּ֖נּוּ אָכָֽלְתָּ׃ (יב) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הָֽאָדָ֑ם הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָתַ֣תָּה עִמָּדִ֔י הִ֛וא נָֽתְנָה־לִּ֥י מִן־הָעֵ֖ץ וָאֹכֵֽל׃
(9) God ה' called out to the Human and said to him, “Where are you?” (10) He replied, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” (11) “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the tree from which I had forbidden you to eat?” (12) The Human said, “The woman You put at my side—she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
Remember what...you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear: he did not fear God. (Deut. 25:17-18) It seems that it is not only for this that the seed of Israel is being commanded regarding the erasing of Amalek, which is from the seed of Esav. Rather, every person in Israel needs to erase the evil part that is concealed in one's heart, that is known by the name Amalek. This is because whenever the seed of Amalek is found in the world it is found in the human being, since the human is a small world, and therefore there is a reality for "Amalek", to the force of evil inside every human being, which arises every time to make a human being sin, and is regarding this that the remembrance comes in the Torah.
And behold, the strength of the seed of Israel is only found in the mouth, since "the voice, is the voice of Yaakov," [found] in the Torah [study] and in prayer, when a person has this force always burning within towards the Holy Bountiful One, then no evil can control them.
But, when a person allows this force to rest then immediately [s/he is under the verse] "and they left Refidim," meaning "their hands became weak [rafah]," and instantly "and Amalek came," instantly evil takes over. But when a person seizes in any instance the character trait of "yirah/awe", meaning, one is in awe of the Holy Bountiful One and will not transgress God's commandments, in any instance they won't come to sin. And this is why "you were famished and weary" is written, that you did not have inside you the force of the seed of Israel, that their hands were weakened and did not serve God. "And did not fear God" - and from this you need to remember strongly, so that the force of Amalek will not make you stumble. And this is why it is written "And it was, when Moses raised his hand" (Exodus 17:11) this means the force that is known by the name "hand" - when a person raises that force, then "and Israel prevailed." But when he allowed that force to rest, then - God forbid - "and [the other side] prevailed, etc.