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 Shabbat Parashat Tetzaveh| 5763Don’t Push Off Till TomorrowHarav Moshe Ehrenreich In the story of Amalek, which we read this week, we find the phrase “Asher Korcha Bderech"- who chanced upon you on the way” (Devarim 25:18). Chazal understood that the word korcha hints at the two-pronged strategy of Amalek: to cool off Bnei Yisrael (kar) and to portray events as chance (mikreh). When Hashem took Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt with miracles, nations were full of awe and fear (Shemot 15:14). These fears were “cooled off” by Amalek, who also raised questions about whether the miracles Bnei Yisrael experienced could have been chance.
The code word, “mikreh,” is a prominent one in Megillat Esther, in the context of Haman, the Amaleki descendant. “Mordechai told him [Hatach] all which chanced upon him (karhu) (Esther 4:7). In other words, Mordechai related how the descendant of the “chance nation” had endangered Bnei Yisrael. As the story unfolded, Haman stuck to the ideology of chance even when Divine Providence turned against him, as it says: “Haman told… all that chanced upon him (karhu) (ibid. 6:13). Similarly, when Haman planned to annihilate the Jews, he picked the date through the chance of a lot.
Rav Charlop, quoting Rav Kook z.t.l., says that the idea of cooling off the “heat” of the Jews and the fire of their Torah is hinted at in the original narrative of the story of Amalek. “Tomorrow (machar) I [Moshe] shall stand at the top of the hill and the staff of Hashem will be in my hand” (Shemot 17:9). The cooling off process, which Amalek tried to force upon us, is created when one pushes off the excitement to act on a matter of holiness until machar “tomorrow.” Thus, the battle with Amalek was over. Rav Kook finds in the word “machar” an acronym to lowering the pressing nature of good deeds. “Mitzva” (commandment), “Chovah” (obligation), “R'shut” (optional). The commandments and obligations which we fulfill diligently are, in the eyes of Amalek and his followers, optional matters which can be pushed off. To counter the danger of machar, Moshe used the Divine staff to remind the people that everything relates to the Divine. When Pinchas displayed zealotry for Hashem, he held a romach (spear), which inverts the letters of machar to show that even optional (“reish”), good deeds can be seen as obligations (“chet”).
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.
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