Bris mila reveals the hidden inner light

במדרש התהלך לפני והי' תמים כו' א' אם חביבה המילה למה לא ניתנה לאדה"ר כו' א"ל הקב"ה אני שאמרתי לעולמי די כו' ע"ש

In the Midrash on "Walk before Me and be tamim (whole)" — it asks: if mila is so beloved, why was it not given to Adam HaRishon? The Holy One answered him: "I am the One who said to My world, 'Enough'…" (see there).

The Midrash wonders why bris mila, if it is precious, was not commanded already to Adam. Hashem's answer hinges on His being the One who set a limit to creation — "Dai" — and this sets up the Sefas Emes's whole explanation.

כי אברהם אע"ה תיקן כל קומתו וכשבא לאותו מקום לא הי' מוצא דרך לתקנו אשר ע"כ צוה השי"ת לבנ"י להסיר הערלה.

For Avraham Avinu rectified his entire "stature," and when he came to that place he could find no way to rectify it; therefore Hashem commanded Bnei Yisrael to remove the orlah (foreskin).

Avraham refined every limb and aspect of himself, but at the place of the orlah there was a covering he could not fix through his own avodah alone — so Hashem gave the mitzvah of mila to remove it.

ובאמת קודם החטא הי' נתקן כל הקומה רק אח"כ כתיב ויעש כתנות עור ממשכא דחויא כידוע

In truth, before the cheit (sin) the entire "stature" was rectified, but afterward it is written, "And He made garments of skin" — from the skin of the serpent, as is known.

Before Adam's sin the whole person was pure; the sin clothed man in "garments of skin," a coarse covering associated with the nachash, which conceals the inner light.

ומ"מ יש ג"כ כתנות אור רק שנכסה בעור הזה וביכולת האדם לתקן זה המכסה.

Nevertheless, there are also "garments of light," only that they are covered by this skin, and it is within a person's power to rectify this covering.

Beneath the coarse covering the original "garments of light" (kosnos ohr) still exist; through avodah a person can refine and lift away that concealing layer to reveal the light.

רק במקום המילה מוכרחין להסיר הערלה ואז נתגלה האור וזהו פריעה שהוא התגלות הפנימיות כמ"ש במד' וירא ואחר עורי נקפו זאת כו'.

Only at the place of mila must one actually remove the orlah, and then the light is revealed; this is periah, which is the revelation of the penimiyus (inner dimension), as the Midrash says on "Behold," "and after my skin is destroyed, this…"

At this one place the covering cannot merely be refined — it must be cut away. Periah, uncovering the flesh, symbolizes laying bare the inner point so that the hidden light shines forth.

ואאע"ה חפץ לתקן כל המכסה כמו שהי' קודם החטא אך לא הי' עוד העת לעבור כל הסט"א עד לעתיד בלע המות לנצח.

And Avraham Avinu wished to rectify the entire covering, as it was before the cheit, but the time had not yet come to pass beyond all the sitra achra (the "other side"), until the future when "He will swallow up death forever."

Avraham aspired to restore the complete pre-sin state, removing every trace of concealment — but the era for utterly nullifying the forces of impurity is reserved for the future geulah, when death itself will be abolished.

לכן אמר אני א"ש שאמרתי לעולמי די כמו שפירשנו במ"א כי הבריאה הי' בהרבה צמצומים והי' מתרחב והולך האור עד כי אמר השי"ת די

Therefore He said, "I am Kel Shakkai, who said to My world 'Enough,'" as we explained elsewhere — that the creation came about through many tzimtzumim (contractions), and the light kept expanding outward until Hashem said "Enough."

The Name Shakkai is read as "she-amar dai" — He who said "enough." Creation unfolds through contractions, and the spreading light must be checked at a set boundary so the world can exist; that same principle of a Divinely-set limit underlies mila.

וכמו כן הצדיקים הולכים בכח גבורתם עד כי מן השמים מעכבין אותם.

And likewise the tzaddikim advance with the full force of their strength until Heaven holds them back.

Tzaddikim push their avodah as far as they can; the boundary is not their own lack of desire but a limit imposed from Above, mirroring the "Dai" of creation.

וכן הי' עתה שאמר לו כי יעבור הערלה ולא יתאמץ לתקן עד כי יבוא עתו והבן:

And so it was now — that He told him to remove the orlah, but not to strain to rectify everything until its time arrives. Understand this.

Hashem instructed Avraham to do the mitzvah of mila as far as is possible now, yet not to force the complete final tikkun, which must wait for its appointed time in the future.

Summary: Avraham refined his entire being but reached a "place" — the orlah — whose coarse covering, the legacy of Adam's sin, could not be removed by avodah alone, so Hashem commanded mila, and periah reveals the inner light. The Name Shakkai, "He who said Enough," teaches that creation, the tzaddik's avodah, and Avraham's quest for complete tikkun are all bounded by a Divinely-set limit; the final removal of all concealment awaits the future geulah.