Bris milah and Shabbos as boundless freedom

בפסוק התהלך לפני והיה תמים.

On the verse "Walk before Me and be whole [tamim]" (Bereishis 17:1).

Hashem's charge to Avraham just before commanding the bris milah is to walk before Him and become "tamim" — complete or unblemished. The Sefas Emes will explain what this wholeness means.

פרש"י שנמסר לו ה' איברים שאינם ברשותו של אדם והוא בגמ' דנדרים.

Rashi explains that there were handed over to him five limbs that are not under a person's control, and this is found in the Gemara in Nedarim.

Rashi (citing the Gemara in Nedarim) teaches that through the bris Avraham was given mastery over five organs that a person normally cannot govern. The mitzvah of milah brings these into his control.

משמע שע"י המילה נעשין בני חורין להיות האיברים ברשותו ובמדרש איתא תמים הוא הסרת הערלה שהוא מום ע"ש.

This implies that through the milah a person becomes free, so that the limbs come under his own control; and in the Midrash it is brought that "tamim" refers to the removal of the orlah (foreskin), which is a blemish.

The bris milah grants a kind of freedom: the limbs that once ruled over a person now fall under his sovereignty. The Midrash adds that becoming "tamim," whole, means removing the orlah, which until then constituted a blemish on the body.

והענין הוא כי ע"י החטא שנתערב טו"ר לכן יש כתנות עור על האדם אבל בברית מילה מסתלק התערובות וע"י הסרת הערלה והמום מאבר אחד הוא ללמד על הכלל כולו כל גוף איש הישראלי.

The idea is that because of the sin, through which good and evil became mixed together, there are "garments of skin" upon a person; but through the bris milah the admixture is removed. And the removal of the orlah and the blemish from one limb comes to teach about the whole — the entire body of the Jewish person.

After the sin of Adam HaRishon, good and evil became intermingled in man, and this is the "kasnos ohr," the garments of skin, that clothe the human being. The bris milah strips away that mixture. Removing the blemish from one organ stands for the refinement of the entire body of a Yid — one limb represents the whole.

וזה הענין ג"כ בשבת שנק' נחלה בלי מצרים.

This same idea applies also to Shabbos, which is called "an inheritance without boundaries" (nachalah bli metzarim).

The Sefas Emes now draws a parallel between bris milah and Shabbos. Shabbos is described as a boundless inheritance — a gift unrestricted by the limits and concealments of the natural world.

כי כל הארה הבאה לעולם באה עמה הסתר וקליפה מטעם תערובות טו"ר שנעשה בכל העולמות אבל בשבת הוא נחלה בלי מצרים דסט"א ערקית ויכולין לקבל הקדושה בלי הסתר ולכן נקראת מתנה טובה בלי תערובות רע הואיל והיא מבית גנזיי שאין שם שליטת סט"א וזה שהוא מעין עוה"ב עלמא דחירות לכן בכל יום כתיב ויהי ערב ובוקר שלכל הארה יש הסתר כנ"ל ובשבת לא כתיב ערב.

For every illumination that comes into the world comes together with concealment and a klipah (husk), on account of the admixture of good and evil that took place in all the worlds. But on Shabbos it is "an inheritance without boundaries," for the Sitra Achra (the other side) flees, and one can receive the kedushah without concealment. Therefore it is called "a good gift" without any admixture of evil, since it comes from His treasure house, where the Sitra Achra has no dominion. And this is why it is a foretaste of Olam Haba, the world of freedom (alma d'cheirus). Therefore on every weekday it is written "and it was evening and it was morning" — for every illumination has its concealment, as above — but on Shabbos "evening" is not written.

Ordinarily, whenever divine light enters the world it arrives wrapped in concealment and a shell of impurity, because of the post-sin mixture of good and evil throughout creation. Shabbos is the exception: the forces of impurity flee, and the holiness can be received in pure form, with no hiddenness. That is why Shabbos is called a "good gift" drawn from Hashem's own treasury, where the Sitra Achra holds no sway, and why it is a taste of the World to Come — the realm of true freedom. The Torah marks each weekday of creation with "evening and morning," signaling the concealment that accompanies every light; but for Shabbos no "evening" is recorded, because its light is undimmed.

וכמו כן בברית מילה היא נחלה בלי מצרים בהסרת הערלה ולכן כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעוה"ב שנאמר ועמך כולם צדיקים פי' שע"י ברית מילה זוכין לחירות כנ"ל.

Likewise, the bris milah is "an inheritance without boundaries" through the removal of the orlah. Therefore all of Yisrael have a portion in Olam Haba, as it is said, "And your people are all tzaddikim" (Yeshayahu 60:21) — meaning that through the bris milah they merit freedom, as above.

Just as Shabbos is a boundless inheritance, so too the bris milah, by removing the orlah, gives every Yid an unbounded portion. This is why the navi declares that all of Yisrael are tzaddikim with a share in the World to Come: the bris itself grants them the freedom and wholeness that Olam Haba represents.

ואמרו כל ישראל יש להם חלק כי כפי שמירת הברית כל כך חלק יש להם בעוה"ב ובודאי כל איש ישראל נקרא שומר הברית אבל אין יד כולם שוה בשמירה זו:

And they said "all of Yisrael have a portion" — for according to one's guarding of the bris, so is one's portion in Olam Haba. And certainly every Jew is called a "guardian of the bris," but not everyone's hand is equal in this guarding.

The Mishnah's statement that "all of Yisrael have a portion in Olam Haba" is measured: the size of one's share corresponds to how well one guards the bris. Every Jew, by virtue of the milah, is fundamentally a "shomer habris," yet people differ greatly in the degree to which they actually guard and live up to it.

Summary: The command to Avraham to "be tamim" through bris milah means stripping away the post-sin admixture of good and evil that clothes a person, freeing the limbs from the body's control and rendering one whole. This parallels Shabbos, a "boundless inheritance" and foretaste of Olam Haba, whose light comes without concealment because the Sitra Achra flees. Both the bris and Shabbos grant Bnei Yisrael a portion in the world of freedom — though each person's share in Olam Haba corresponds to how faithfully he guards the bris.