Two letters, two Toros, two worlds

ואיתא כי הקדוש ברוך הוא נתן לאברהם אבינו ע"ה אות יו"ד במילה.

It is brought that the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, the letter yud through milah.

When Avram became Avraham, a "hei" was added to his name; the Sefas Emes draws on a teaching that milah is bound up with the letter yud as well, each letter carrying its own dimension of the bris.

ואות ה' בשמו.

And the letter hei in his name.

The "hei" that was added to "Avram" to make "Avraham" is the second of these two letters.

והוא כמ"ש כי בי"ה ה' צור כו' ב' עולמות עוה"ז בה' ועוה"ב ביו"ד.

This corresponds to what is written, "For with yud-hei Hashem fashioned worlds" (Yeshayahu 26:4) — two worlds: this world (olam hazeh) with the hei, and the World to Come (olam haba) with the yud.

Chazal teach that Hashem created two worlds with the two letters of His Name: olam hazeh with the "hei" and olam haba with the "yud." Avraham thus received a share in both worlds through his bris.

ויש לו לאברהם ברית בעוה"ז ובעוה"ב.

So Avraham has a bris both in this world and in the World to Come.

His covenant is not confined to one realm; through the yud and the hei he is bound to Hashem in both olam hazeh and olam haba.

והנה ב' אלו הם בחי' תורה שבכתב ושבע"פ כי הרשימה בגוף במילה הוא בחי' שבכתב שהוא חקוק ואין בו שום השתנות וכן הוא תורה שבכתב והוא עדות שבנ"י הם בני עוה"ב כדכתיב ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ.

Now these two correspond to the aspects of Torah Shebichsav (the Written Torah) and Torah Sheba'al Peh (the Oral Torah): the mark engraved in the body through milah is the aspect of "written," for it is incised and admits no change — and so too is the Written Torah — and it is testimony that Bnei Yisrael are children of the World to Come, as it is written, "And your people are all tzaddikim; they shall inherit the land forever" (Yeshayahu 60:21).

The bris cut into the flesh is fixed and unchanging, like the letters of the Written Torah. It is a permanent "ksav" stamped on the body, eternal testimony that every Jew belongs to olam haba.

אכן תוספות הה"א בקריאה בחי' תורה שבע"פ והיא משתנה לפי חכמת האדם ולכן נקראת שבעל פה והוא הכח שבה' מוצאות הפה ברית הלשון וכפי השתדלות בתורה ביגיעת הפה ולשון כך זוכה לתורה בעוה"ז וכמ"ש ז"ל אוכלין בעוה"ז ונוחלין לעוה"ב:

However, the added "hei," which is sounded in the calling out (of the name), is the aspect of the Oral Torah, which changes according to a person's wisdom — and that is why it is called "Oral" — and it is the power within the five places of articulation of the mouth, the bris halashon (covenant of the tongue); and according to one's effort in Torah, in the toil of mouth and tongue, so does one merit Torah in this world, as Chazal said, "they eat (its fruits) in this world and inherit (the principal) in the World to Come" (cf. Mishnah Peah 1:1).

The "hei," pronounced aloud, parallels the Oral Torah, which is alive and grows with a person's own understanding and labor. The "five places of articulation" of the mouth form the bris halashon, and through toil in Torah by mouth and tongue one wins Torah's reward already in olam hazeh, while the lasting portion endures into olam haba.

Summary: Through milah Avraham received the letters yud and hei — and with them a bris in both olam hazeh (hei) and olam haba (yud). These two letters mirror the two Toros: the unchanging mark of milah engraved in the flesh is like the fixed Written Torah, eternal testimony that Bnei Yisrael are children of the World to Come; the spoken "hei" is like the Oral Torah, the bris halashon, which grows with a person's wisdom and toil and earns Torah's reward already in this world.