Covenant Of Peace Guarded
הנני נותן כו' בריתי שלום
"Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12).
The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk in which Hashem grants Pinchas His covenant of peace, the verse he will unpack throughout the piece.
כי חתימת אות ברית קודש נק' שלום כמו שבת שנק' שלום כי השלמת הבריאה הי' בו כמ"ש מה הי' העולם חסר מנוחה באת שבת כו'
For the sealing of the sign of the holy covenant is called "peace," just as Shabbos is called "peace," since the completion of Creation took place through it, as Chazal said: What was the world lacking? Rest. When Shabbos came, rest came as well.
He explains that the bris milah is called "peace" because it completes a person, just as Shabbos is called "peace" because it completed Creation by bringing rest.
ואיתא במד' בראשית המשל טבעת שחסר בו חותם ע"ש
And it is brought in the Midrash regarding the account of Creation, comparing it to a signet ring that was lacking a seal — see there.
He cites a Midrash comparing the world before Shabbos to a signet ring missing its seal — something whole yet lacking its finishing stamp.
והכל ענין אחד כי כל ימי המעשה הם דברים פרטים
And it is all one matter, for all the days of the workweek are individual, particular things,
The weekdays are the scattered particulars of Creation, lacking unity on their own.
ושבת הוא הכלל וע"ז הכלל חתם השי"ת שמו כמ"ש יום הששי ויכולו השמים ר"ת שם הוי'
while Shabbos is the all-encompassing whole; and upon this all-inclusive whole the Holy One, Blessed is He, sealed His Name, as it is written, "the sixth day, and the heavens were completed" (Bereishis 1:31-2:1) — the initial letters spell the Name of Havayah.
Shabbos gathers all the particulars into one whole, and Hashem stamped His Name upon it, hinted in the initial letters of the words describing the sixth day and the completion of the heavens.
וכמו כן ממש סיום יצירת האדם הוא המילה שזה האבר כולל כל האדם ולכן חתם שמו ית' במצות המילה כדאיתא מי יעלה לנו כו' ר"ת מיל"ה ס"ת הוי'
And in precisely the same way, the conclusion of the formation of man is the milah, for this limb encompasses the whole of man; and therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, sealed His Name in the mitzvah of milah, as it is brought: "Who shall ascend for us to the heavens?" (Devarim 30:12) — the initial letters spell milah and the final letters spell Havayah.
In the same pattern, milah completes the formation of man because that limb represents the whole person, and Hashem stamped His Name into the mitzvah, hinted in the verse "Who shall ascend for us."
ובאמת שזה מקום הכלל צריך שמירה ביותר
And in truth, this place of the all-encompassing whole requires the greatest guarding,
Precisely because milah and Shabbos are the all-encompassing points of completion, they demand the most careful guarding.
ולכן זכור ושמור בדיבור א' נאמרו
and therefore "Remember" and "Guard" (Shemos 20:8, Devarim 5:12) were said in a single utterance.
This is why "Remember" and "Guard" the Shabbos were spoken in one utterance — remembrance and guarding belong together.
ואמרו כל שישנו בשמירה ישנו בזכירה
And Chazal said: Whoever is included in "guarding" is included in "remembering."
Chazal's rule that whoever guards Shabbos also remembers it teaches that guarding is the gateway to remembrance.
הרמז הוא דכל מקום שיש זכירה שהוא התגלות המעין פנימי צריך שמירה
The hint in this is that every place where there is remembrance — which is the revelation of the inner wellspring — requires guarding,
Wherever there is a revelation of the inner wellspring of holiness, that revelation must be guarded to be preserved.
וכפי השמירה כך זוכין להתדבק בפנימיות המעין
and according to the measure of one's guarding, so does one merit to cleave to the innermost part of that wellspring.
The degree to which one guards determines how deeply one merits to cleave to the inner source.
והנה הסט"א הולכת בסוף אחר סטרא דקדושה כדאיתא כקוף בתר ב"א
And behold, the sitra achra, the other side, follows at the end after the side of kedushah, as it is brought: like an ape after a man.
The sitra achra attaches itself at the very endpoint of holiness, imitating it like an ape mimics a man.
ולכן בסיום הגוף יש ערלה
And therefore at the conclusion of the body there is the orlah, the foreskin.
This is why the orlah, representing impurity, sits at the conclusion of the body.
וכמו כן איתא בע"ש ביה"ש שלטו המזיקין וניתן השבת להשבית המזיקין
And likewise it is brought that on Erev Shabbos, at twilight, the destructive forces held sway, and Shabbos was given to silence and nullify those destroyers.
Just as at Shabbos's onset the destructive forces ruled and Shabbos was given to silence them, holiness comes precisely to subdue the impurity at the edge.
וכמו כן באדם במילה
And so too with man, through milah.
The same dynamic operates in man through milah, which removes the impurity clinging to him.
דאיתא זכור ממי שבא להשכיחו כי הקב"ה הכין עצות לבנ"י ובכ"מ שיש כח הסט"א נתן לנו חקים ומצות לסייע לנו כמ"ש אלמלא הקב"ה עוזרו לא יכול
For it is brought: "Remember" — from the one who comes to make you forget; for the Holy One, Blessed is He, prepared strategies for Bnei Yisrael, and in every place where there is the power of the sitra achra, He gave us chukim and mitzvos to assist us, as it is written, "Were it not that the Holy One, Blessed is He, helps him, he could not prevail" (Kiddushin 30b).
The command to "remember" is directed against the force that tries to make us forget; Hashem provided Bnei Yisrael with mitzvos as aids wherever the sitra achra has power, since without His help one could not prevail against it.
ולכן בסוף ימי המעשה נותן השבת וכמו כן באדם בגיד הנשה ששם מקום דשריא חילא דסט"א כדאיתא דמנשי פולחנא דמאריה
And therefore at the end of the days of the workweek He gives Shabbos; and so too with man, regarding the gid hanasheh, the displaced sinew, where the power of the sitra achra rests, as it is brought that it causes one to forget the service of his Master.
So Shabbos is given at the workweek's end, and milah counters the gid hanasheh — the place where the sitra achra rests and causes forgetfulness of avodas Hashem.
לכן ניתן לנו הזכירה ע"י מצות המילה
Therefore the remembrance was given to us through the mitzvah of milah.
Therefore remembrance itself was granted to us through the mitzvah of milah.
והנה כמו שהוא בפרט כן הוא בכלל
And behold, just as it is in the particular, so it is in the all-encompassing whole.
This same pattern that holds in the individual person holds in the collective whole of Bnei Yisrael.
ובנ"י בכל הדורות מתחלת אבותינו הקדושים הוצרכו לתקן כל הקומה
And Bnei Yisrael in all the generations, from the beginning with our holy forefathers, needed to repair the entire stature, the full spiritual structure.
Throughout the generations, beginning with the Avos, Bnei Yisrael had to repair the entire spiritual structure.
וכ' בית יעקב אש כו' יוסף להבה כו' עשו לקש ודרשו חז"ל אש בלא להבה אינו שולט מרחוק כו' [והנה בחי' יעקב ויוסף הם בחי' גוף וברית
And it is written, "The house of Yaakov shall be fire, and the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Esav for straw" (Ovadiah 1:18); and Chazal expounded: Fire without a flame does not rule from afar. [And behold, the aspects of Yaakov and Yosef are the aspects of the body and the bris.
He brings the pasuk in Ovadiah that Yaakov is fire and Yosef a flame against Esav as straw, with Chazal's teaching that fire needs a flame to reach from afar; Yaakov and Yosef correspond to the body and the bris.
ומול זה יש ערלה חיתוך ופריעה
And opposite this there is the orlah, the cutting (chituch) and the uncovering (pri'ah).
Opposed to them stands the orlah, which requires both the cutting and the uncovering to fully remove.
וכמו במוץ וקש דיש קש הנפרדת מן החטה לגמרי
And it is like chaff and straw, for there is straw that separates entirely from the wheat,
He draws an analogy: some straw separates completely from the wheat on its own,
ויש קליפה דקה הנטחנת עם הקמח
and there is a fine husk that is ground together with the flour,
while a fine husk gets ground together with the flour and stays mixed in,
אך שצריכין לברר הפסולת בנפה
yet one must sift out the refuse through a sieve.
so one must still sift out that fine refuse with a sieve.
וכמו כן עור החיתוך הוסר לגמרי בכח יעקב והתורה
And so too the skin of the milah was removed entirely through the power of Yaakov and the Torah,
The coarse outer skin of milah is removed entirely by the power of Yaakov and the Torah,
וקליפה הדקה ניתקן ע"י כחו של יוסף שהוא בירור אוכל מתוך פסולת]. וכמו כן קודם שנכנסו לכבוש הארץ הוצרכו לעמוד בנסיון
while the fine husk is rectified through the power of Yosef, which is the separating of the food from amid the refuse.] And so too, before they entered to conquer the Land, they needed to stand firm in a trial.
while the fine husk is refined by Yosef's power of separating good from amid the refuse; this pattern explains why a trial had to precede entering the Land.
ובכח שמירת הברית כבשו ארץ כנען
And through the power of guarding the bris, they conquered the land of Canaan.
It was specifically through guarding the bris that Bnei Yisrael were able to conquer Canaan.
ולא לחנם נזדמן כאן הנסיון בבנות מואב ופעור
And it was not for nothing that the trial of the daughters of Moav and Pe'or presented itself here.
The trial of the daughters of Moav and Pe'or was no accident — it tested precisely this guarding of the bris before entry into the Land.
והוצרך פינחס להיות במקום יוסף
And it was necessary for Pinchas to be in the place of Yosef,
Pinchas had to step into the role of Yosef, the guardian of the bris.
שהגם שכחו של משה רבינו ע"ה הוא אש התורה
for although the power of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is the fire of the Torah,
Although Moshe Rabbeinu embodies the fire of the Torah,
מ"מ הוצרך עתה כח הברית אש
nevertheless, at that moment the power of the bris — fire — was needed.
at that moment a different fire was needed — the fire of the bris, which Pinchas provided.
וכתיב אשר כרת את אברהם כו' ויעמידה כו' לישראל ברית עולם לאמר לך אתן כו'
And it is written, "that He made with Avraham" (Tehillim 105:9), "and He established it... as an everlasting covenant for Yisrael, saying: To you I shall give..." (Tehillim 105:10-11).
He cites the pesukim recalling the covenant made with Avraham, established as an everlasting covenant with the promise "To you I shall give the Land."
מה לאמר
What is the meaning of "saying" (leimor)?
He pauses on the seemingly extra word "saying" (leimor) to ask what it adds.
הוא כמ"ש ז"ל לאמר זו גילוי עריות ובכח תיקון הברית כבשו הארץ כמ"ש ועמך כולם צדיקים כו' יירשו ארץ כו'
It is as Chazal said: "saying" — this refers to forbidden relations; and through the power of rectifying the bris they conquered the Land, as it is written, "And your people, all of them tzaddikim, shall inherit the land forever" (Yeshayahu 60:21).
Chazal read "saying" as a reference to forbidden relations, teaching that it was through rectifying the bris that Bnei Yisrael, "all of them tzaddikim," merited to inherit the Land.
ובמשנה איתא כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעוה"ב דכ' ועמך כולם צדיקים כו'
And in the Mishnah it is brought: All of Yisrael have a portion in Olam Haba, as it is written, "And your people, all of them tzaddikim..." (Sanhedrin 90a).
The Mishnah derives from this same pasuk that all of Yisrael have a share in Olam Haba.
וכניסתם לא"י הי' הסימן שהם בני עוה"ב
And their entry into Eretz Yisrael was the sign that they are bnei Olam Haba, children of the World to Come.
Entering Eretz Yisrael served as the sign that Bnei Yisrael are children of the World to Come.
וזה הי' חתימת שמו ית' החנוכי הפלואי כמ"ש רש"י ז"ל
And this was the sealing of His Name — "the Chanochi, the Palu'i" (Bamidbar 26:5) — as Rashi explained.
This was Hashem's Name sealed within the family names of the tribes — "the Chanochi, the Palu'i" — as Rashi explains the letters yud and hei framing those names.
דאיתא י' באיש וה' באשה כו' דאיתא בי' נברא עוה"ב ובה' עוה"ז
For it is brought: a yud in the man and a hei in the woman; and it is brought that with a yud the World to Come was created and with a hei this world was created.
The yud belongs to the man and the hei to the woman, corresponding to the teaching that Olam Haba was created with a yud and this world with a hei.
וכיון שחתם השי"ת י' במילה
And since the Holy One, Blessed is He, sealed a yud in the milah,
Since Hashem sealed a yud specifically into the milah,
זה עדות שבנ"י הם בני עוה"ב
this is testimony that Bnei Yisrael are bnei Olam Haba, children of the World to Come.
this serves as testimony that Bnei Yisrael are children of the World to Come, which was created with a yud.
דאיתא י' ע"ש המחשבה נאמר כי סוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה ולכן הברית תליא במחשבה וחתם באיש שבכחו להמשיך נשמה עליונה
For it is brought that the yud refers to thought (machshavah), as it is said, "the end of an act is in thought from the very beginning"; and therefore the bris is dependent upon thought, and He sealed it in the man, for it is within his power to draw down a supernal neshamah,
The yud represents thought, the beginning that already contains the end; thus the bris depends on thought and was sealed in the man, who has the power to draw down a lofty neshamah.
וה' באשה שמביאה לידי מעשה
and the hei in the woman, for she brings it to actual deed.
The hei belongs to the woman, who brings that potential into actual deed in this world.
וזהו גן נעול היוד באיש
And this is "a locked garden" (Shir HaShirim 4:12) — the yud in the man,
"A locked garden" corresponds to the yud in the man,
גל נעול ה' באשה
"a locked spring" — the hei in the woman.
and "a locked spring" corresponds to the hei in the woman.
וכן דרשו בגמ' על השמינית זו מילה דתפילין ציצית מזוזה שבע ביום הללתיך ע"ש
And likewise Chazal expounded in the Gemara on "the eighth" (al hasheminis) — this is milah; for tefillin, tzitzis, and mezuzah, "seven times a day I praise You" (Tehillim 119:164) — see there.
Chazal expound "the eighth" as milah, set apart from tefillin, tzitzis, and mezuzah, which align with the seven daily praises.
והיא קדושה המתפשטת בז' מדות
And it is a kedushah that spreads out through the seven middos,
Those other mitzvos are a holiness that spreads through the seven middos of this world.
ומילה היא למעלה מזה מעין עוה"ב
while milah is above this, a foretaste of Olam Haba.
Milah stands above the seven, a foretaste of Olam Haba itself.
לכן היא בשמינית כמ"ש מי יעלה לנו כו'
Therefore it is in the eighth, as it is written, "Who shall ascend for us to the heavens?" (Devarim 30:12).
Therefore it is associated with the eighth, beyond the seven, as hinted in "Who shall ascend for us to the heavens."
והיא היו"ד שניתן לפנחס
And it is the yud that was given to Pinchas.
This very yud, the foretaste of the World to Come, is what was given to Pinchas.
ולפי שפינחס קינא על הזנות הוא אליהו שנאמר בו ויעל כו' בסערה השמים כמ"ש מי יעלה כו' השמימה
And because Pinchas was zealous over the immorality of zenus, he is Eliyahu, of whom it is said, "And he ascended... in a storm to the heavens" (Melachim II 2:11), as it is written, "Who shall ascend... heavenward?" (Devarim 30:12).
Because Pinchas was zealous against immorality, he became Eliyahu, who ascended heavenward in a storm — the ascent hinted in "Who shall ascend heavenward."
והוא עדות על כל הצדיקים שאפילו במיתתן קרויים חיים כמ"ש בן איש חי בשני עולמים:
And he is the testimony upon all the tzaddikim, that even in their death they are called living, as it is written, "the son of a living man" (Shmuel II 23:20) — living in both worlds.
Pinchas-Eliyahu testifies about all tzaddikim that even in death they are called living, alive in both this world and Olam Haba.
Summary: The Sfas Emes reveals that the bris milah is called a "covenant of peace" because it completes a person, paralleling Shabbos, which completed Creation and earned Hashem's sealed Name. He explains that the all-encompassing point of completion — Shabbos in time, milah in the body — is precisely where the sitra achra attaches itself, so it demands the greatest guarding, which is why Hashem gave us these mitzvos to remember Him against the forces of forgetfulness. Applying this to Bnei Yisrael as a whole, he shows that conquering Eretz Yisrael depended on guarding the bris, which is why the trial of Moav and Pe'or arose and why Pinchas had to assume the role of Yosef, supplying the fire of the bris alongside Moshe Rabbeinu's fire of Torah. The yud sealed into the milah testifies that Bnei Yisrael, "all of them tzaddikim," are children of Olam Haba, since the World to Come was created with a yud. Finally, because Pinchas was zealous for the bris, he is Eliyahu, who ascended heavenward and testifies that the tzaddikim are called living in both worlds.