Avraham as a path to cleave to Hashem

בפסוק ברוך אברם כו' קונה שמים וארץ.

On the verse: "Blessed is Avram... [to God Most High,] Maker (koneh) of heaven and earth" (Bereishis 14:19).

The Sefas Emes builds on the word "koneh" (Maker/Acquirer) used by Malki-Tzedek in blessing Avram.

דאיתא חמשה קנינים קנה הקב"ה בעולמו אברהם קנין אחד פי' כי הקב"ה אין להשיגו ולדבוק בו מרוב עוצם קדושתו שהוא קדוש ונבדל ולכן הכין הקב"ה חמשה קנינים שעל ידיהם יכולין לדבוק בו ית' ע"י התורה וביהמ"ק כו'.

For it is taught: "Five 'acquisitions' (kinyanim) did Hashem acquire in His world" (Avos 6:10), Avraham being one acquisition. The explanation: Hashem cannot be grasped or cleaved to because of the overwhelming intensity of His holiness, for He is holy and utterly separate (kadosh ve-nivdal); therefore Hashem prepared five "acquisitions" through which one can cleave to Him — by way of the Torah, the Beis Hamikdash, and so on.

Hashem in His essence is wholly beyond reach. So He established five "kinyanim" — Torah, the Beis Hamikdash, and others — as accessible channels through which a person can attach himself (deveikus) to Him.

וגם על ידי בריאות שמים וארץ שהוא ג"כ דרך אחד על ידי התבוננות בבריאת מעשה בראשית כדכתיב ה' בחכמה יסד ארץ.

And also by way of the creation of heaven and earth, which is likewise one path — through contemplation (hisbonenus) of the creation of Maaseh Bereishis, as it is written "Hashem founded the earth with wisdom" (Mishlei 3:19).

Creation itself is one of these channels: by contemplating the wisdom embedded in the natural world, a person can come to recognize and cleave to its Maker.

וגם ע"י אברהם שהכין דרך והוא בריתו של אאע"ה ולכן נקרא קנין כמ"ש רז"ל שהקנה להקדוש ברוך הוא שמים וארץ.

And also by way of Avraham, who prepared a path — and that is the covenant (bris) of Avraham Avinu; therefore he is called an "acquisition," as Chazal said, that he "acquired [i.e., proclaimed Hashem as] the Maker of heaven and earth."

Avraham is himself one of the five kinyanim because he opened up a derech — the path of his bris — by which others can reach Hashem; he made the Creator "acquired," known, in the world.

זה שאמר במדרש אחות לנו שאיחה כל באי עולם שהכין דרך לדבוק בו יתברך כנ"ל:

This is what the Midrash said on "we have a sister (achos lanu)" (Shir HaShirim 8:8) — that he "stitched together (iychah)" all who come into the world, for he prepared a path to cleave to Him, as above.

Reading "achos" as related to "iychah" (to sew/join), the Midrash teaches that Avraham united all of humanity by opening the path of deveikus to Hashem — drawing the world together toward its Maker.

Summary: Malki-Tzedek blesses Avram by the "Maker (koneh) of heaven and earth," tied to the teaching that Hashem acquired five "kinyanim" in His world. Since Hashem is holy and utterly separate, beyond all grasp, He prepared these five channels — Torah, the Beis Hamikdash, the contemplation of creation, and others — through which one can cleave to Him. Avraham is himself such a kinyan, for through his bris he "prepared a path," proclaiming Hashem as Maker of heaven and earth and "stitching together" all of humanity toward deveikus with their Maker.