Amalek the Dog or the Snake

To reflect on what we've spoken about, we have a problem. We are bothered by the dog singing a song, and yet not by the snake singing a song. In truth, both the dog and the snake represent Amalek. So why is the dog a bigger question for Rav Yeshaya than the snake?

We see that the snake represents Amalek from a pasuk in Yeshaya that says,

מִשֹּׁ֤רֶשׁ נָחָשׁ֙ יֵ֣צֵא צֶ֔פַע/From the roots of the snake came out a viper.

The Mekubalim say that the /צפעviper, is has same numerical value as עמלק/Amalek, which means that Amalek is a continuation, or manifestation of the snake. Thus, Haman, who came from Amalek, is also rooted in the snake. And Hamanהמן / is Rasheh Tevot/ an acronym for הוא משרש נחש/He is from the root of the snake. So we have an Amalek/Haman source in the snake.

We also have a source that Amalek is represented by the dog, as we said, that God puts the Jewish people down, and the dog, who's Amalek, comes to bite.

Furthermore, when Esther Hamalka is praying to be saved, she says (Tehilim 22)

מִיַּד־כֶּ֝֗לֶב יְחִידָתִֽי׃/from the clutches of the dog. And we said, the dog is Haman, and the dog is Amalek.

So is the Amalek the dog, or is it the snake? And why are we okay with a song from the snake but we're not okay with the song of the dog?

And we have another question. As we said in our lesson on the snake, the snake says, Somech Hashem L'Kol Noflim/God will pick up those that fall down, which refers to the snake, whose legs were cut off. We were bothered by this. Isn't there no hope for the snake? The snake is Amalek, and it says that eventually he's going to be totally wiped out. The answer we said was that there were two punishments that happened to the snake.

One of them was that his legs were cut off, and he's now flat on his face, because he refused to bow to God, and recognize His Hashgacha Pratit, which is the opposite of Modim.

The other punishment was that he eats the dust of the earth, which was because of his sin of speaking Lashon Hara against God.

One of these sins will be fixed in the future, and he will no longer be bent over. The sin of not recognizing God's Hashgacha will be fixed, and he will stand up straight. He will bow and recognize God. That's the snake-like aspect of Amalek.

The dog-like aspect of Amalek is the fact that Amalek barks and speaks Lashon Hara. And that is where Rabi Yeshaya had the question.

We can understand that the aspect of Amalek, that he doesn't believe in Hashgacha Pratit was fixed. But the fact of his Lashon Hara, barking like the dog, the brazenness, the עזות דטומאה, Azut D'Tumah/the brazenness of contamination that Amalek had, שמעו עמים ירגזון, when the whole world was petrified, and Amalek just jumped into the boiling bath and cooled it off, that is called an Azut of Tumah/, brazenness of Tumah, that he doesn't bend and doesn't give in. That Azut can't be fixed. That ttrait of Azut is unfixable. That's why it says say, עז פנים לגיהנום. The Brazen- faced goes to Gehinom. So there was an aspect of Amalek that could be fixed. We could fix the fact that he denies God's presence. That's fixable. The kofer/the heretic, we can fix him. That is the snake-like aspect of Amalek.

But the dog-like, the barking, there's no hope for that. And that's what Rabi Yeshaya was questioning. How could it be that the brazenness was being fixed?

Interestingly, as we have said, the Germans represent Amalek, as it says in the Gemara, in Masechet Megillah, that Yaakov Avinu prayed, Hold back the desires of Esav, referring to a part of Esav called Garmamiah, which Rabbi Yaakov Emden says is is Germania,. The Germans were from Amalek. The Germans were that aspect that wanted out to wipe out the Jewish people. And part of the German sadism was using barking dogs. That brazenness will never be fixed.

It's interesting that Guard your tongue is the end of that Rav Yeshaya piece, where he says, Now that you asked, go back and don't ask about it again. Don't ask any more about the dogs or Amalek. As it says, One who guards his mouth and tongue, protects himself from any evil.

So we see that this final discussion of the dog connects back to Lashon Hara

That is the trait of the snake that can't be fixed. He spoke Lashon Hara against God. He told us that God doesn't want to do good for you. God doesn't want you to enjoy this world. God doesn't want you to eat from the tree, because He ate from the tree. That's the Lashon Hara of the snake. And we also have Lashon Hara from Haman. It says, in Masechet Megila, No one knew how to speak Lashon Hara better than Haman, He claimed, "The Jews are not worth keeping. Every day is a holiday by them..." That's the trait of Haman.

As we said, the dog's song is, בֹּאוּ

נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנִכְרָעָה נִבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי יְיָ עֹשֵׂנוּ: (תהילים צה ו)The dog song is all about bowing, which means Amalek says, OK, I'm bowing, I'm good. And we tell him, You're bowing? That's not enough. Yes, you fixed the fact that you realize God's in charge of the world. That's fine. But your brazenness, the עזות הטומאה, the brazenness that you don't want to change, that, we can't fix. That's why Yeshaya was so bothered.

And it's only due to once in their history, when the dogs didn't bark as Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim, that dogs have the zechut to do even a little bit of praising.

So what exactly is this concept of Azut D'Tumah/ brazenness that can't be fixed?

Rav Wolbe discusses the concept of Azut D'Kedusha- Jewish people are brazen in a positive way. We don't give up, we keep on doing the right thing.

But Amalek is Azut D'Tumah. They're brazen in the fact that they won't give up on Tumah/impurity

So even though there might be a momentary blip, where the dog doesn't bark, as happened at Yetziat Mitzrayim, they always come back to their regular trait of Azut/brazenness. That is the negativity of Amalek.

That's why it says when we come to fight against Amalek, it's מחר, Machar/ tomorrow. Why tomorrow? Because we know that maybe for a second they're going to be good, but by tomorrow it's gone. It says that similarly about Izevel, when she fought against Eliyahu, Eliyahu HaNavi had this great revelation and surge, but she said, let's wait until tomorrow and see what's going to happen tomorrow. Amalek has an Azut. They might be momentarily impacted, but they keep their Azut going, and that can't be fixed.