Moshe said to Yehoshua, “Choose people for us and go do battle with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill”. (17:9)

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֤ה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ בְּחַר־לָ֣נוּ אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְצֵ֖א הִלָּחֵ֣ם בַּעֲמָלֵ֑ק מָחָ֗ר אָנֹכִ֤י נִצָּב֙ עַל־רֹ֣אשׁ הַגִּבְעָ֔ה וּמַטֵּ֥ה הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּיָדִֽי׃

בחר לנו אנשים. היה עמלק גדול בחכמת האצטגנינות ובחר אנשי מלחמתו אנשים שלא יוכלו למות בשנה ההיא כי הוא ידע זה בחכמת הכוכבים והמזלות ועל כן אמר משה ליהושע בחר לנו אנשים כיוצא בהם שלא יוכל להתחכם עלינו שיהרוג הוא מישראל וישראל לא יהרוג אחד מהם וזהו שכתוב ויחלש יהושע ולא אמר ויהרוג, ומה שאמר בחר לנו שהשוה אותו לעצמו ולא אמר בחר לי דרשו רז'ל מכאן יהי כבוד תלמידך חביב עליך כשלך.

בחר לנו אנשים, “choose men for us!” The Amalekites were expert astrologers (compare Rashi; our edition מכשפים, sorcerers). Moses meant that Joshua should select men who according to their horoscopes would not die during the current year, something Moses was aware of due to his own knowledge of astrology. The two armies facing each other would all consist of soldiers who according to their respective horoscopes would not die during that year. As a result of these considerations neither army inflicted fatal casualties on the other during this encounter. This is what is meant when the Torah reports the outcome of the battle as: “Joshua weakened Amalek and his people by the sword.” The Torah carefully refrained from mentioning that the Israelites actually killed any of the Amalekites. When Moses said to Joshua “choose for us,” he compared Joshua to himself and did not say: “choose for me!” Mechilta Amalek section 1 uses this phrase to teach: “the honor of your student should be as dear to you as your own honor.”

https://www.sefaria.org/Rabbeinu_Bahya,_Shemot_17.9.1

https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.17.9

In the Talmud Yoma 52b, Chazal say that the word machar, tomorrow, which is found in the above pasuk, can be interpreted as belonging to the previous phrase: “Choose people for us and go to do battle with

Amalek tomorrow.” Alternatively, it can refer to the second half of the pasuk: “Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill.” We wonder what is the significance of the word, “tomorrow”? What message regarding the war with Amalek is being taught to us via the word “tomorrow”?

Horav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, z.l., explains that the concept of “tomorrow” plays a crucial role in Amalek’s fight against Klal Yisrael. Amalek denotes evil. He represents the forces of evil within a human being – the yetzer hara, evil inclination, whose function it is to ensnare a person and lead him to sin. Outright incitement does not work. The yetzer hara has to use guile to convince a person that the sin is really not so bad; in fact, it might even be the right thing to do. It is very sinister in its methods to convince a person to renege against the Torah, to abrogate mitzvah observance and to perform outright transgressions.

In order for the yetzer hara to convince an observant Jew to act against the Torah, it must apply patience and discretion. One of its most potent tools is that of “tomorrow.” It assures its victim, “Yes, of course, you should act appropriately. Very definitely, you must perform this mitzvah. Do not do it today, however, start tomorrow. Study Torah – tomorrow. Give tzedakah – tomorrow. Do whatever good you plan on doing, but do it tomorrow. Thus, the yetzer hara grabs hold of a person and leads him to neglect the mitzvos and eventually to become a full-fledged baal aveirah, sinner.

This is the disease called “Amaleikism” that the Torah instructs us to expunge from our midst. When the opportunity to perform a mitzvah presents itself, one should not dawdle, but he should take immediate action and carry out his responsibility. One who slacks off in the area of positive mitzvah performance, will soon end up taking the initiative in a sinful manner.

This, says Rav Yosef Chaim, is the idea behind Moshe Rabbeinu’s “lifting his hands,” an action that catalyzed Klal Yisrael’s victory, as opposed to his lowering his hands, which gave strength to Amalek. Raising his hands symbolizes action, our way of defeating the yetzer hara and its personification in this world – Amalek. Allowing our hands to drop sustains the evil of Amalek, who takes his strength from our weakness.

Hashem’s name is hidden throughout Megillat Esther. Yet, the Rabbis of Kabbalah found the acronym of His name in the pasuk “yavo hamelech v'haman hayom- the king and Haman shall come today” (ibid. 5:4). Through the last word of the phrase, hayom (today), Esther stressed the proper use of the antidote to Haman’s machar (ibid.:12). Indeed, the battle against Amalek starts with the desire to serve Hashem with enthusiasm and without delay.

Parashat Zachor, the section that appears at the conclusion of our parasha, and which presents the obligation to remember Amalek’s attack against Benei Yisrael, is among the most important sections in the entire Torah. It is of such importance that there rests upon each and every one of us an obligation to hear the reading of this parasha once a year, thereby fulfilling the obligation to eradicate the nation of Amalek.

The question arises in this context, why did the Torah view Amalek as the eternal enemy of the Jewish people? After all, we find throughout the Torah many other nations that also waged war against Am Yisrael, peoples who sought to destroy us and deny us our existence.

In order to answer this question, we must, in my humble opinion, carefully examine two terms that appear in virtually every instance in Tanach where we find mention of Amalek. I refer to the term “mikreh” (happenstance, coincidence), which comes up repeatedly in the context of Amalek, and the word “machar” (tomorrow), which we often find in reference to the Jewish people.

Let us survey these instances and then assess their significance:

1. In the first battle against Amalek, Moshe asks Yehoshua, “Moshe said to Yehoshua… go fight against Amalek tomorrow…“ (Shemot 16:9).

2. At the end of our parasha, Hashem commands us never to forget what Amalek did: “… that they chanced upon you along the way” (Rashi explains the word “karcha” as a derivative of the word “mikreh”).

3. King David battled against the Amalekites who plundered his city of Tziklag: “David smote them from morning until evening on the following day“ (Shemuel I 30:17).

4. A young Amalekite informs David that he killed Shaul on MountGilboa: “The youngster who informed him said to him: ‘Ihappened to have been on MountGilboa…”(Shemuel II 1:6).

5. In Megillat Ester we meet the descendant of the Amalekite king, Aggag – Haman. Ester invites Haman to her feast and says: “If it pleases the king… the king and Haman shall come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king requests.”

6. Mordechai, dressed in sackcloth, sends the royal messenger Hatach to tell Ester of the edict against the Jews: “Mordechai told him all that happened to him… “

We thus find numerous sources related to Amalek, and they all make reference to one of these concepts – “machar” or “mikreh.” I believe that these two concepts can help us answer the question with which we began.

The Torah affords great importance to the perpetuation of the memory of Amalek’s attack because Amalek, by its very essence, expresses the notion of “mikreh” – happenstance. “Mikreh” in effect means the absence of Hashem’s providence in the world. Amalek represents coincidence – the lack of faith in hashgacha peratit – divine providence, the belief that no being oversees world affairs, everything happens here purely by coincidence. Of this the Torah wishes to remind us every year; it is forbidden for us to allow “Amalekism,” the theology of “mikreh,” to take hold.

In contradistinction to the Amalekite “mikreh” is the Jewish “machar.” 

“Tomorrow” expresses the hope, the hashgacha, the idea that there is Someone in the heavens who looks after each and every one of His creatures on earth. “Machar” is the notion that there is something for which to wake up in the morning, the world does not progress at random, without a guiding hand. Everything is foreseen from the outset, and we are granted the power to act as we wish. “Machar” is about our free will to decide what to achieve, what to make of our lives.

In Hebrew, the letters of the word “Machar,” tomorrow, are the same as the letters for Rechem, or womb. The word for mercy, Rachamim, is also from the same word. The womb is always about mercy, about nurturing hope for another day, about pushing further toward continuation and reaching a goal. Amalek cannot abide that.

Rav Hutner writes that Machar refers to the ultimate Tomorrow, that off Olam HaBa. We Klal Yisroel do not exist for the today of Olam HaZeh. We delay our gratification for the tomorrow of Olam HaBa. Amalek exists in in this world only of today. They exist for the simple today, the immediate gratification, and they deny the ultimate tomorrow. Their existence in the world obscures the ability to see the next world. So long as Amalek exists, we cannot see the tomorrow. So long as there are people in the world who claim there is not Olam HaBa and live like that and seem to exist with no problems, they obscure Olam HaBa for the rest of the world.
We can overcome them on the day of Tomorrow. When we live our lives with an eye on Tomorrow then we are victorious.

we read Zachor on Shabbat. 

r Rave Rudman 


Shabbos is a day of tomorrow, of Olam HaBa. This world is, “Today to work”. Olam HaBa is the tomorrow to receive the reward.” Shabbos is one-sixtieth of Olam HaBa . Erev Shabbos is the ‘today’ to work. Shabbos is the ‘tomorrow’ to receive the reward. 

One has to read the Parsha of Amalek on Shabbos. Only on Shabbos can one truly eradicate Amalek. It is the antithesis of Amalek. It is the day of Tomorrow.


But you can only see that if you realize that the entire world is directed and guided by HaShem. If in this world you can see the hidden hand of HKB”H.


Only on Shabbos, and only in Olam HaBa can we see that all of this world is truly one. Only on Shabbos can we see that HaShem is the King. Therefore, on Shabbos, we read Parshas Zachor.


This is to prepare for Purim when we read the Megillah where all of this came true. Purim also has within it a day of Machar. When Esther asks the king for one more day for the Jews of Shushan, she asks that let tomorrow be like today. 

The king is the King, as is well known in the Megilah. And the tomorrow is the Tomorrow of Olam HaBa.


Maybe that is the connection between the walled cities specifically from the time of Yehoshua. We want to mention his merit in the connection to the Machar. Yehoshua was the one who had the first battle of Machar against Amalek. We ask that in his merit let us be able to have another Machar, and be able to complete his battle.
And we daven for all of this to once again be seen speedily in our times!

'ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך למחר יהיה האות הזה' (שמות ח, יט), נראה לי בסיעתא דשמיא 'מחר' אותיות רמ'ח ואותיות 'רחם', והענין הוא כי ישראל כל אחד מהם צריך לקיים רמ'ח מצות, וזה אי אפשר שיעשה כל אחד רמ'ח מצוות עשה אך ע'י אהבה שיש בישראל בין זה לזה כל אחד יהיה נשלם ברמ'ח ממעשה חבירו, ולכן רמ'ח הם אותיות 'רחם' כי 'רחם' הוא תרגום של אהבה לרמוז רמ'ח מצות נשלמין אצל כל אחד ואחד על ידי 'רחם' שהוא אהבה שיש בין זה לזה, וידוע כי שלימות קיום רמ'ח עשה מסוגלים לגאולה כי רמ'ח עשה הם בסוד החסדים, והם בסוד ו'ה שבשם, ושס'ה לא תעשה הם סוד הגבורות והם בסוד י'ה שבשם, והגאולה תהיה מתגבורת החסדים ועל ידי שלימות תיקון ו'ה שבשם, גם ידוע על ידי מדת האהבה שתהיה שלימה בישראל תהיה הגאולה, לזה אמר 'ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך למחר' אותיות 'לרמ'ח' ואותיות 'לרחם' רוצה לומר על ידי זכות רמ'ח עשה שעתידין לקבל בסיני ועל ידי זכות רחם שיש בינהם יהיה האות הזה של הפדות: או יובן בסיעתא דשמיא ידוע דקריאת שמע יש בה רמ'ח תיבות מפני כי כוחה גדול להכרית את אויבי ישראל הקליפות והתחתונים שברשותם והיא תהיה להם כמו רומח לדקור וכמו חרב להרוג כמו שכתוב' רוממות אל בגרונם' (תהלים קמט, ו) זו קראית שמע ועל ידי כן יהיה 'חרב פיפיות בידם' להרוג את אויביהם, ולכן גבי פנחס כתיב 'ויקח רמ'ח בידו' ואמרו רבותינו ז'ל זכות רמ'ח תיבות דקריאת שמע וגבר בזה על הסטרא אחרא, וזהו דשאמר 'ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך למחר יהיה האות הזה' לרמ'ח הלמד משמש במקום בעבור כלומר בעבור זכות רמ'ח תיבין דקריאת שמע יהיה האות הזה של פדות עמי מיד אויביהם וגבר ישראל, ולכן אנחנו אומרים בסוף הברכה של הקריאת שמע 'הבוחר בעמו ישראל באהבה' דתרגום 'אהבה' 'רחם' ואז אנחנו מתחילין לומר רמ'ח תיבות דקריאת שמע דזכינו לרמ'ח תיבות דקריאת שמע שתהיה רומ'ח וחרב בידינו נגד אויבינו על ידי 'רחם' שהוא אהבה שיש לנו זה על זה:

https://www.sefaria.org/Ben_Ish_Hai,_Halachot_1st_Year,_Vaera,_Introduction.1