Parshas Beshalach

At the end of the Parsha we learn of the war Amalek waged with Klal Yisroel. The Posuk tells us that when Moshe raised his hands Klal Yisroel would win the war.
The Sefas Emes asks why then did Moshe ever cease from holding his hands raised?

The Mishna asks “Is it the hands of Moshe that wins wars?” To which the Mishna answers “When Klal Yisroel would look up to the heavens and devout their hearts to Hashem they would be victorious.”

Why is it so hard to fathom that it was Moshe’s hands that helped Klal Yisroel win? Klal Yisroel just came out of Mitzraim where Moshe’s hands brought devastation onto a country and split the Red Sea for them, why is the Mishna bothered about the powers of Moshe’s hands?
The kochos of a leader are only as powerful as the people he is representing. In Egypt the miracles were performed as the messenger of Hashem and thus Moshe and Aaron were quiet successful. At this stage of history Moshe acted as a messenger of Klal Yisroel and thus his powers came from the merits of the nation. The Mishna wants to know where did Moshe get the kochos to keep his hands raised high? To which the answer is, if Klal Yisroel keeps their eyes on Hahsem and their hearts and souls devoted to Him, then they can help Moshe and give him the strength to keep his hands up towards the heavens and in his merit be victorious.

Amalek held that we don’t have bechira and our actions are meaningless. (See last years Vaad on Parshas Zachor)To teach Klal Yisroel that our actions and deeds can- and do- affect and shake the entire world, they were given this very lesson as they were fighting their spiritual enemy- Amalek.