Erev Rav - Erasing Amalek

בלבבי ח"ה עמ' רכו (מאמר מח: אמונה)

“Open for Me an opening the size of a needle”

Chazal said, “Open for Me an opening the size of a needle, and I will open for you an opening the size of an opening to an entranceway”.[1] Our sefarim hakedoshimpoint out that the ‘opening’ has to be made on both sides – it does not suffice to make a mere hole. We will explain the meaning of this.

The Concept of Amalek

The root of all evil in Creation is Amalek. The depth of Amalek is that it is a force of evil which exists to induce doubts into creation. (The hint to this is because the gematria\numerical value in Hebrew for “Amalek” is the same as “safek”\doubt). The purpose of Creation is that all of Creation will come to recognize Hashem as King. First, there will be a judgment over Esav, as the possuk states: “And all the saviors will ascend to the Mount of Zion, to judge the Mount of Esav, and Hashem will become the Kingdom.” So before Hashem is recognized as King, first, “Esav” has to be judged; in other words, the kelipah (husk) of “Amalek” must become shattered. Meaning, the force of “doubt” must become erased. As long as Amalek is in the world, there is doubt, and the world cannot come to its desired purpose.

This concept has two implications: (1) Amalek must be erased from the world. This will happen with the coming of Moshiach, may he come speedily in our days (Amen). (2) There is also a personal “Amalek” in each Jew’s personal soul, and it is upon each individual Jew to erase the manifestation of “Amalek” that in himself.

Protecting Your Emunah

The Ramban famously wrote that each person must tell himself that if he will have any heretical thoughts on his deathbed, chas v’shalom, he is accepting himself that such thoughts are already nullified from the start. Let’s think about the depth of these words.

Why would a person suddenly have heretic thoughts on his deathbed, if he believed in Hashem his whole life? The answer is, of course a Jew can believe in Hashem his whole life, but that doesn’t mean has acquired that belief in the depths of his soul. It might be that in the depths of his heart, he does not even have emunah peshutah (simple faith in G-d), chas v’shalom. That means that even the most basic kind of belief in Hashem can be doubted, chas v’shalom. If the basis can be doubted – if the basic fact that there is a Creator can be questioned, chas v’shalom – then all of one’s Torah, mitzvos, righteousness, and holiness will all have no basis to support them [so they will all fall away].

These words of the Ramban can shudder any person’s soul. It appears to us, superficially, that we have facts we are clear about as well as facts that we are a bit doubtful about, and that it is merely upon us to clarify what we are doubtful about. But the Ramban revealed to us that it’s possible that our entire life was spent in one big doubt! If there is chas v’shalom any doubt in a person about the fact that there is a Creator, this surely means that all of one’s service to Hashem for his entire life is under question.

Thus, the “opening” which Chazal say for one to make in himself, is for one to have emunah peshutah that there is a Creator. However, in order for this emunah to really be active in one’s heart, one has to make sure that there are no doubts about it. This creates a solid “opening” in oneself. If a person does not make sure about this, his entire life is spent in doubt – he is found entirely in the kelipah of Amalek; Amalek will only be rectified when it is broken and destroyed.