Today’s class has been sponsored In loving memory of our father and grandfather Eliyahu Ben Chava - Elliot Maleh.
This Shabbat is Parashat Zachor, the Mitzvah of eradicating Amalek. The pasuk in Mishleh ( perek או, pasuk כה) says,
בית גאים יסח ה' וְ֝יַצֵּ֗ב גְּב֣וּל אַלְמָנָֽה
Hashem will remove the house of the arrogant, And He will establish the boundary of the widow.
What does this refer to? Simply speaking. it means that G-d will eradicate the house of the wicked or arrogant,
and the Jewish people, who are like a widow after the destruction of the Bet HaMikdash, G-d will re-establish our boundaries.
But the Gaon of Vilna says something very interesting. If you take the word גאים arrogant ones, and add up the numeric value of the letters, it comes to 54. And the name Haman המן shows up 54 times in Megilat Esther (I checked it out).
He says that Amalek, and Haman, are the גאים- the arrogant ones. Haman’s house was eradicated. And one day, Amalek will be totally destroyed. That is what happens to arrogant people. If you take the last letters of the phrase בֵּ֣ית גֵּ֭אִים יִסַּ֥ח ה
Hashem will remove the house of the arrogant,
It spells תמחה, which means erase.
Amalek will be erased.
The numerical value of Amalek is 240, which is equivalent to רם, which means high or arrogant.
Amalek is eradicated because he is arrogant. What makes a person arrogant like Amalek? It goes hand-in-hand with his other attitude, which is mikreh/happenstance. He doesn’t think anything is controlled by God. He thinks that if he is successful it’s because he himself was successful and he takes credit for it. And that is how he becomes arrogant. And when times are bad, Amalek falls apart, because he has no one to turn to and no one to hope to. That is why, eventually, Amalek will be completely eradicated.
There are many lessons about humility in Mishleh.
A few pesukim later, it says (pasuk כח)
לֵ֣ב צַ֭דִּיק יֶהְגֶּ֣ה לַעֲנ֑וֹת
The heart of the righteous is always thinking about how to become humble.
And that’s why the next pasuk says,
וּתְפִלַּ֖ת צַדִּיקִ֣ים יִשְׁמָֽע
G-d listens to the prayers of the righteous.
Why?
Rabbenu Yonah says that this is because they’re humble.
And the final words of this perek are:
וְלִפְנֵ֖י כָב֣וֹד עֲנָוָֽה
Humility precedes honor.
Shlomo HaMelech always contrasts the positive with the negative. Amalek will be eradicated because he is arrogant. He thinks he’s in control; he thinks he’s in charge. But the humble man, the one who realizes that Hashem is in charge, will eventually get kavod/honor.
The beginning of perek טז says something beautiful:
לְאָדָ֥ם מַֽעַרְכֵי־לֵ֑ב וּ֝מה מַעֲנֵ֥ה לָשֽׁוֹן
Man can set up his heart, but the words that come out of our hearts come from G-d.
All we can do is prepare our speech.
Rabbenu Yonah says that this concept should be a strong impetus to bitachon.
He says that if we are not in control of what comes out of our mouths, then surely we are not in control of our actions, or anything that will happen.
So arrogance and humility go hand in hand with emunah. And that’s why it says in perek אז,pasuk ה
תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת ה' כָּל־גְּבַהּ־לֵ֑ב
An arrogant heart is an abomination to G-d.
The commentaries say that this is because arrogance means he feels that he did it, and he’s taking the credit.
We can’t take credit for anything- except our decisions and choices. We can’t take credit for any accomplishments. Accomplishments are from G-d. That is the polar opposite of Amalek. Amalek comes when we are dishonest in our weights and measures. Being dishonest with weights and measures means that a person thinks that if he doesn’t cheat, then there will be no way that he will be able to put food on his table. He thinks that he’s the one making the money, and therefore he has to cut corners. That is the Amalek attitude. Everything about Amalek is mikreh/coincidence. That is the theme of Haman, and the theme of Amalek. In order for us to do our job and combat that attitude, we have to realize that there are no coincidences. Everything is run by Hashem, and therefore, I am a humble servant. I realize that Hashem is in charge. I don’t boast, I don’t take credit, and
what am I proud of? I am proud of my knowledge of G-d, and of my religious accomplishments.
הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים
Everything is in the hands of G-d, except fear of G-d.
That is the one thing that a person is in charge of. And that is what brings the ultimate honor, and the ultimate reward.
So as we get to Parashat Zachor,
Let us remember this lesson: Stay far away from the Amalek attitude. We are not from the בית גאים team : the house of the arrogant. We are from the ones that Hashem will reestablish our boundaries, because we are humble people. Because we realize that He is in charge.
B’ezrat Hashem. We should see the eradication of Amalek in our days and the coming of Mashiach, amen.