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The Gra asks why those p’sukim were unique; many p’sukim foretell Hashem’s saving of Bnei Yisrael. He answers that each hinted at a different episode of Amalek’s aggression. The first (Mishlei 3) refers to sudden fear, corresponding to Amalek’s first, surprise attack against our forefathers. The second (Yeshaya 8) hints at the story in our parasha, which included a tricky plot. The third (Yeshaya 46) says that Hashem will be with us even in His "old age," k’v’yachol. This corresponds to the time of Haman, where some enemies reasoned that Hashem was too old to protect us, as He was unable to prevent Nevuchadnetzar from destroying the Beit Hamikdash.
The above is in regard to identifying elements of each appearance of Amalek. However, there also is a unifying factor in regard to the reason that Amalek was able to threaten us at each time. The gemara (Sanhedrin 99b) points out that Amalek was a descendant of Timna, Elifaz’s concubine. She was a princess who sought to convert to Judaism but whom all the forefathers rejected. (Tosafot, Yevamot 109b derives from here that it is wrong to reject persistent candidates for conversion.) Conversion is a sign of a person’s awakening to recognize Hashem and desire to cling to Him by joining Bnei Yisrael. When Bnei Yisrael needed self-awakening, Timna’s descendant, Amalek, came as a corresponding punishment.
Amalek’s first appeared at Refidim, where Bnei Yisrael were compared to a child riding on his father’s shoulders. The father helped him in many ways, only to hear his son tell a stranger that he does not know where his father is. That lack of awareness beckons Amalek. In our parasha, Aharon had died and the special clouds lifted. They should have found new energy to meet the new challenges, but Amalek appeared instead. In Esther’s time, the "hidden Divine face," challenged Bnei Yisrael to reaffirm their commitment to the Torah without sounds and lightning. Again, the rejection of Timna served as a Satan to reflect the absence of necessary energy.
In our generations, on the verge of Bnei Yisrael’s liberation and renewal in its land, we have suffered Amalek-like attacks. May we respond with a strong ingathering of exiles that will ensure that we deserve full liberation.
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
