Milah uncovers the hidden light

איתא במדרש אמר אברהם להקב"ה אם חביב היא המילה למה לא ניתנה לאדם הראשון.

It is brought in the Midrash: Avraham said to Hashem, "If milah (circumcision) is so beloved, why was it not given to Adam HaRishon?"

The Sefas Emes opens with a Midrash in which Avraham Avinu questions why the precious mitzvah of milah was not commanded already to the first man.

והשיב לו דייך אני ואתה בעולם כו'.

And He answered him: "It is enough for you that I and you are in the world."

Hashem replied that it suffices that "I and you" — Hashem and Avraham together — are in the world to accomplish this. The Sefas Emes will unpack the depth of this cryptic answer.

והענין הוא כי באמת אדה"ר נולד מהול.

The matter is that in truth Adam HaRishon was born already circumcised (mahul).

Adam was created without an orlah (foreskin) at all — there was nothing for him to "remove."

אך ענין המילה להיות הוסר הערלה בכח האדם ואח"כ יתגלה אות ברית קודש זה ניתן לאאע"ה כי באמת קודם חטא האדם לא הי' ערלה.

But the concept of milah — that the orlah be removed through the power of man, and afterward the holy os bris (sign of the covenant) be revealed — this was given to Avraham Avinu, for in truth, before the sin of Adam there was no orlah.

The essence of milah is human effort: a person actively removes the orlah and thereby uncovers the holy sign of the covenant. This avodah of removal could only begin with Avraham, because before Adam's sin there was no concealing orlah to remove in the first place.

כי האדם יש בו ציור כל העולם שנקרא עולם קטן.

For man contains within him the image of the entire world, and is therefore called a "small world" (olam katan, microcosm).

The human being mirrors all of creation — he is a microcosm — so changes in him reflect, and are reflected by, changes in the world at large.

ואחר החטא שכתיב וישלחהו כו' וישכן מקדם לג"ע הכרובים כו'.

And after the sin, of which it is written, "And He sent him out… and He placed at the east of Gan Eden the Keruvim…"

After the cheit, Adam was expelled from Gan Eden, and Keruvim with a flaming sword were stationed to guard the way back.

כמו כן נעשה שינוי בציור האדם עצמו.

so too a change came about in the very image of man himself.

Because man is a microcosm, the barrier placed at Gan Eden produced a parallel change within man — a new layer of concealment, the orlah.

ואיתא להט החרב המתהפכת רמז לערלה החופף על אות ברית שנקרא חרב.

And it is brought that "the flaming, ever-turning sword" alludes to the orlah that covers over the sign of the covenant, which is called a "sword."

The "ever-turning sword" guarding Eden corresponds, within man the microcosm, to the orlah that conceals the os bris — the sign that is itself called a "sword."

כי כיון שהכין האדם להיות בג"ע כמ"ש וישם שם האדם א"כ יש חלק באדם בכח נשמתו להדבק בעץ החיים.

For since He prepared man to be in Gan Eden, as it is written, "and He placed the man there," it follows that there is a part within man, by the power of his soul, capable of cleaving to the Eitz HaChaim (Tree of Life).

Man was originally fashioned to dwell in Gan Eden, which means his neshamah inherently has the capacity to attach itself to the Tree of Life — to the source of eternal vitality.

אך נסתלקה הנשמה בחטא האדם וכמ"ש וירא האור כי טוב וגנזו לצדיקים פירוש הגניזה ע"י ערלה החופף ועל ידי הצדיקים שזוכין להסיר הערלה אור זרוע לצדיק.

But this soul-light was withdrawn through Adam's sin, as it is written, "And He saw the light, that it was good," and He hid it away for the tzaddikim. The "hiding" is by means of the orlah that covers it, and through the tzaddikim who merit to remove the orlah — "light is sown for the tzaddik."

The original light (the same "good" light of creation that Hashem concealed for the righteous) was withdrawn after the sin. Its hiddenness is precisely the orlah's covering; and it is the tzaddikim, who labor to remove the orlah, for whom this light is "sown" and ultimately revealed.

ולכן אחר החטא די אני ואתה שאין האור יכול להתגלות בעוה"ז בלי מכסה.

Therefore, after the sin, "It is enough — I and you" — for the light cannot be revealed in Olam Hazeh without a covering.

Now Hashem's answer to Avraham is clear: after the sin, the holy light can only exist in this world beneath a covering. The avodah of milah — removing that covering through human effort ("I and you" together) — is exactly what Avraham was given to do, something not relevant to the unblemished Adam.

וכן הוא בעולם שנה נפש.

And so it is in the three dimensions: olam (space), shanah (time), and nefesh (soul).

The Sefas Emes now maps this pattern of "covering and uncovering" onto the classic three axes of creation — place, time, and person.

כדאיתא שער הפונה קדים.

As it is brought: "the gate that faces east."

He cites the gate of the future Mikdash that "faces east" (from Yechezkel), which parallels the eastern entrance to Gan Eden.

שהוא כמו ויטע גן בעדן מקדם.

which is like "And He planted a garden in Eden, to the east (mi-kedem)."

The eastward orientation links the Mikdash's gate to Gan Eden itself — the same "opening" toward holiness.

בששת ימי המעשה יהי' סגור ובשבת נפתח הפתח.

On the six weekdays it is closed, and on Shabbos the gate is opened.

In the dimension of time (shanah): during the workweek this gate of revelation is shut, but on Shabbos it opens. Shabbos is the "uncovering" in time.

וכמו כן בעולם בא"י וביהמ"ק נפתח הפתח ובנפש בכח אות ברית מילה וכל השלשה נמסרו לבני ישראל.

And likewise in the dimension of space (olam) — in Eretz Yisrael and the Bais Hamikdash the gate is opened — and in the dimension of soul (nefesh) — through the power of the os bris milah. And all three were handed over to Bnei Yisrael.

The "opening" recurs on all three axes: in space, through Eretz Yisrael and the Mikdash; in time, through Shabbos; and in the soul, through milah. Hashem entrusted all three of these gates of revelation to Bnei Yisrael.

וזה ענ"ג שבת שכתבו שהוא בחי' נהר יוצא מעדן להשקות הגן עד"ן נה"ר ג"ן שיש לכל איש ישראל בבחי' אלו בכח המילה.

And this is "Oneg (delight of) Shabbos," about which they wrote that it is the aspect of "a river goes out from Eden to water the garden" — the acronym Oneg (ע-נ-ג) standing for Eden, Nahar (river), Gan (garden) — which every Jew possesses in these dimensions through the power of milah.

The word "Oneg" (delight) is read as an acronym of Eden, Nahar, Gan — the flow of vitality from Eden through the river into the garden. Every Jew has access to this flow on these three planes, and it is the avodah of milah that unlocks it.

ואות שבת ותפילין רומז על ביהמ"ק כדאיתא בזוה"ק קכ"ט:

And the "sign" (os) of Shabbos and tefillin alludes to the Bais Hamikdash, as is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh, page 129.

Shabbos and tefillin are each called an "os" (sign), and the Sefas Emes notes that, per the Zohar, these signs allude to the Bais Hamikdash — tying together the three "signs" of space, time, and soul as expressions of revealed holiness.

Summary: The Sefas Emes explains Hashem's reply to Avraham — "It is enough that I and you are in the world" — by showing that the mitzvah of milah is the avodah of removing a covering through human effort. Adam was born without an orlah because before his sin there was no concealment; only after the sin, when man (a microcosm) was barred from Gan Eden, did the orlah arise as the inner counterpart of the flaming sword, hiding the original light reserved for tzaddikim. Since the holy light can now appear in this world only beneath a covering, the task of uncovering it was given to Avraham and Bnei Yisrael. This pattern of opening a closed gate recurs on all three axes of creation — Eretz Yisrael and the Mikdash (space), Shabbos (time), and milah (soul) — all entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, and all hinted at in "Oneg Shabbos" (Eden-Nahar-Gan), the flow of vitality unlocked through milah.