Bris Milah Inheriting Eretz Yisrael

בענין המנין אחר מעשה פינחס שחתם עליהם השם שמעיד עליהם שהם בני אבותיהם כמ"ש רש"י ז"ל דהנה ירושת ארץ ישראל תלה הכתוב בברית מילה כמ"ש במד' על מנת ואתה את בריתי תשמור וכ"כ וכרות עמו הברית כו' לתת לזרעו כו'

Regarding the counting that took place after the deed of Pinchas, through which Hashem set His seal upon Bnei Yisrael, testifying that they are truly the children of their forefathers, as Rashi explains: for the Torah made the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael dependent upon the bris milah, as the Midrash teaches on the verse 'on the condition that you guard My covenant,' and similarly it is written, 'and He cut the covenant with him to give to his offspring.'

The census after Pinchas's act was Hashem's way of certifying that Bnei Yisrael are authentically descended from the Avos, and this matters because the right to inherit Eretz Yisrael hinges on keeping the bris milah.

דכ' כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו זה הכח ע"י ברית מילה להמשיך נשמות קדושות מן השורש

For it is written, 'He told the power of His deeds to His people' (Tehillim 111:6) — this power comes about through the bris milah, which draws holy neshamos down from their root above.

The verse 'He told the power of His deeds' refers to the bris milah, which serves as the channel for drawing holy neshamos down from their spiritual source.

וזהו כח מעשיו של הקב"ה הנשמות כדכ' ונשמות אני עשיתי

And this is 'the power of His deeds' of the Holy One, Blessed is He — namely, the neshamos, as it is written, 'and neshamos I have made' (Yeshayahu 57:16).

The 'power of His deeds' that Hashem accomplishes is the creation of neshamos themselves, as the navi states that Hashem made the souls.

וכ' וייצר ב' יצירות בזה ובבא

And it is written 'vayyitzer' with two letters yud, alluding to two formations — one for this world and one for Olam Haba.

The Torah's spelling of 'vayyitzer' with a doubled yud hints that man was formed for two existences — this world and the World to Come.

וצורה זו להיות כלול משני יצירות ניתן רק לבנ"י בכח ברית מילה

And this form, to be composed of both formations, was given only to Bnei Yisrael, through the power of the bris milah.

Only Bnei Yisrael were granted the capacity to contain both these formations, and this capacity comes through the bris milah.

וע"ז כתיב עם זו יצרתי לי כו'

And concerning this it is written, 'this people I formed for Myself' (Yeshayahu 43:21).

This dual-purpose formation is what the navi means when Hashem says He fashioned this people specifically for Himself.

וז"ש לתת לזרעו הנמשכים אחריו כי גם ארץ ישראל הוא דבוק בשורש העליון וכמ"ש כעיר שחוברה לה יחדיו לכן אין זוכין לא"י רק בנ"י כמ"ש ועמך כולם צדיקים כו' יירשו ארץ

And this is the meaning of 'to give to his offspring,' to those who are drawn after him — for Eretz Yisrael too is bound to the supernal root, as it is written, 'like a city that is joined together' (Tehillim 122:3); therefore none merit Eretz Yisrael except Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, 'and Your people are all tzaddikim... they shall inherit the land' (Yeshayahu 60:21).

Eretz Yisrael is itself rooted in the supernal source, so only Bnei Yisrael, who share that root, can inherit it — which is why the navi links the righteous people with inheriting the land.

וגם הרשעים הבינו זאת

And even the wicked understood this.

The wicked nations grasped that Bnei Yisrael's claim to the land rested on their connection to this holy root.

לכן יעץ בלעם הרשע העצה להחטיאם בזנות

Therefore Bilam the wicked one devised the counsel to cause them to sin through immorality.

Because of this understanding, Bilam advised enticing Bnei Yisrael into sexual immorality, aiming to sever that connection.

ובכח זה ואגרשנו מן הארץ

And by this means he hoped, 'and I shall drive them out from the land.'

Bilam's plan was that through such sin he would be able to drive Bnei Yisrael out of the land.

ופינחס תיקן זה החטא והחזיר רשימות הברית בבנ"י

And Pinchas repaired this sin and restored the imprints of the bris within Bnei Yisrael.

Pinchas's zealous act undid that sin and reinstated the imprint of the bris within Bnei Yisrael.

וזה העדות שהם בני אבותיהם פי' שנמשכים אחר האבות

And this is the testimony that they are the children of their forefathers — meaning that they are drawn after the Avos.

Hashem's seal certifying them as children of the Avos means that they remain truly drawn after and connected to the forefathers.

דבלא"ה אין מובן מה שהם בני אבותיהם

For otherwise, the statement that they are the children of their forefathers has no clear meaning.

Without this deeper reading, calling them 'children of their forefathers' would convey nothing meaningful.

פשיטא דהבן של אביו והחשש רק על האם שזינתה

It is obvious that a son belongs to his father, and the only concern was regarding the mother, lest she had been unfaithful.

After all, on a simple level a child obviously belongs to his father, and the only question would ever be about the mother's faithfulness.

רק הפי' שהם זרע אברהם יצחק ויעקב שהנשמות נמשכו ממקור ישראל

Rather, the meaning is that they are the seed of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — that their neshamos were drawn from the wellspring of Yisrael.

The true intent is that they are spiritual seed of the Avos, their neshamos flowing from the holy wellspring of Yisrael.

וזה תלוי בשמירת ברית מילה כמ"ש כח מעשיו הגיד

And this depends upon the guarding of the bris milah, as it is written, 'He told the power of His deeds.'

This spiritual descent depends on guarding the bris milah, which is the deeper meaning of 'He told the power of His deeds.'

רמז לדבר הגיד הוא גיד המיוחד בחי' נהר דנגיד ונפיק

There is an allusion to this matter: 'higgid' (He told) hints at the gid, the particular sinew, which is the aspect of the river that flows forth and issues out.

The Sfas Emes finds a hint in the word 'higgid,' which shares a root with 'gid,' the sinew tied to the flow of holy life, likened to a river that issues forth.

הגי"ד גי' כ"ב

The word 'higgid' has the numerical value of twenty-two.

He notes further that the gematria of 'higgid' equals twenty-two.

כ"ב אותיות התורה שנרשמו בנפשות בנ"י בכח ברית מילה

These are the twenty-two letters of the Torah, which are imprinted in the souls of Bnei Yisrael through the power of the bris milah.

This corresponds to the twenty-two letters of the Torah, which become engraved in the souls of Bnei Yisrael by means of the bris milah.

ובכח זה לתת להם נחלת גוים:

And through this power, 'to give to them the inheritance of nations' (Tehillim 111:6).

It is by virtue of this engraved Torah power that Bnei Yisrael are given the inheritance of the nations, namely Eretz Yisrael.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the census following the act of Pinchas served as Hashem's seal, testifying that Bnei Yisrael are genuinely the spiritual offspring of the Avos, with neshamos drawn from the holy wellspring of Yisrael. This connection to the supernal root is forged through the bris milah, upon which the Torah makes the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael depend, since the land too is bound to that same root. Recognizing this, Bilam counseled enticing Bnei Yisrael into immorality in order to sever their bond and drive them from the land, but Pinchas repaired the breach and restored the imprint of the bris. Drawing on the verse 'He told the power of His deeds,' the Sfas Emes shows through the word 'higgid' — linked to the gid and equal in gematria to the twenty-two letters of the Torah — that those letters are engraved in the souls of Bnei Yisrael through the bris milah. It is by virtue of this engraved Torah power that they merit the inheritance of the nations.