Bris milah joins body to soul

בפסוק אני א"ש התהלך לפני והיה תמים.

On the verse, "I am Kel Shakkai; walk before Me and be tamim (whole)" (Bereishis 17:1).

The Sefas Emes opens on Hashem's command to Avraham, at the bris milah, to walk before Him and attain wholeness.

כתיב אחור וקדם צרתני והוא בחי' הגוף והנשמה שמקודם צריכין לתקן הגוף להיות כלי לקבל אור הנשמה.

It is written, "Back and front You have formed me" (Tehillim 139:5) — and this is the aspect of the body and the neshamah; for first one must rectify the body to be a vessel to receive the light of the neshamah.

"Achor v'kedem" hints at man's two dimensions, body and soul. The order of avodah is to first prepare the body — refining it into a fit kli (vessel) before it can receive the soul's light.

ואיתא בזוה"ק בפסוק וירק חניכיו שמונה עשר ושלש מאות שהם רמ"ח איברים דגופא וע' רזא דנשמתא.

And it is taught in the Zohar HaKadosh on the verse "and he armed his trained men, eighteen and three hundred" (Bereishis 14:14) — that they are the 248 limbs of the body and the 70, the secret of the neshamah.

The Zohar reads Avraham's 318 men as a hint: 248 corresponding to the body's limbs and the remaining 70 to the mystery of the soul — the whole human composite of guf and neshamah.

והוא עיקר עבודת האדם שהנשמה תאיר בהגוף.

And this is the essential avodah of a person — that the neshamah should illuminate within the body.

The core task of life is to bring the soul's light to shine through and within the body, uniting the two.

וע"ז כתיב נר מצוה הכנת הרמ"ח איברים ותורה אור גי' רז והוא הסוד שכתוב סוד ה' ליריאיו הע' נהורין שיש לכל נשמה אבל בריתו להודיעם שיתקשר הגוף בהנשמה וזה ע"י ברית מילה ונק' ברית ע"ש התקשרות הנשמה בגוף שע"י הסרת הערלה מתגלה ע' נהורין דנשמתא ואז נקרא תמים.

And concerning this it is written, "for a mitzvah is a lamp" — the preparation of the 248 limbs — "and Torah is light" (Mishlei 6:23), "ohr" being the numerical value of "raz" (secret); and this is the secret written in "the secret of Hashem is to those who fear Him... and His covenant, to make them know it" (Tehillim 25:14) — the 70 lights that every neshamah possesses; but "His covenant, to make them know it" is that the body should be bound to the neshamah, and this is through bris milah; and it is called "bris" (covenant) on account of the binding of the neshamah to the body, for through the removal of the orlah the 70 lights of the soul are revealed, and then one is called tamim.

"Ner mitzvah" — the mitzvos — prepares the 248 limbs of the body, while "Torah ohr" (ohr equaling raz, secret) is the inner light of the soul. The pasuk "sod Hashem li'reiav" alludes to the soul's 70 hidden lights, and its continuation "u'vriso le'hodi'am" teaches that the body must be bonded to the soul. This bond is achieved through bris milah: removing the orlah reveals the soul's hidden lights and makes a person tamim — whole, with body and soul joined.

וזה הי' כל עבודת אברהם אבינו להאיר אור הנשמה וע"ז כתיב אחות לנו קטנה שאיחה הגוף אל הנשמה.

And this was the entire avodah of Avraham Avinu — to illuminate the light of the neshamah; and concerning this it is written, "we have a little sister" (Shir HaShirim 8:8) — that he "stitched together" (icheh) the body to the neshamah.

Avraham's whole life-work was to make the soul's light shine in the body. The Sefas Emes reads "achos lanu" (sister) as a play on "icheh" (he joined/stitched) — Avraham sewed the body and soul into one whole.

אך עוד קודם שניתן לו ברית מילה הי' דבר גדול מאוד למצוא הדביקות כמ"ש ושדים אין לה רמז על ברית הלשון והמעור שבשניהם נרמז שם שדי.

But even before bris milah was given to him, it was a very great thing to find dveikus, as it is written, "and she has no breasts" (Shir HaShirim 8:8) — a hint to the bris of the tongue and the bris of the flesh, in both of which the Name Shakkai is alluded.

Even before milah, attaining dveikus was a tremendous achievement. "Shadayim ein lah" hints at two covenants not yet revealed — the bris of the tongue (speech/Torah) and the bris of the flesh (milah) — both of which carry within them the Name "Shakkai," the Name in our opening verse.

ועוד קודם שניתן לו הבריתות נתיגע בעצמו עד שהוציא מכח אל הפועל שנגלה עליו הקב"ה וחתם וכרת לו ברית כמ"ש בספר יצירה ואיתא בזוה"ק פ' שלח אעא דלא סלקי בי' נהורא מבטשין לי' ואנהיר אף הכי גופא דלא סלקא בי' נהורא דנשמתא מבטשין לי' ואנהיר ע"ש מכש"כ עתה שיש לנו ב' הבריתות שצריכין לעסוק בתורה ולשמור ברית קודש כדי לזכות להתגלות אור הנשמה בגוף:

And even before the covenants were given to him, he labored on his own until he brought [the latent] from potential into actuality, so that Hakadosh Baruch Hu revealed Himself to him and sealed and cut a covenant with him, as it is written in Sefer Yetzirah; and it is taught in the Zohar HaKadosh, Parshas Shelach: "Wood in which the fire-light does not catch — one strikes it and it gives light; so too a body in which the light of the neshamah does not catch — one strikes it and it gives light"; see there. All the more so now, when we have the two covenants, that we must engage in Torah and guard the bris kodesh in order to merit the revelation of the soul's light within the body.

Before any covenant was given, Avraham toiled by his own efforts until he actualized his potential and drew Hashem to reveal Himself and cut a bris with him. The Zohar's image: just as damp wood that will not light is beaten until it catches flame, so a body that does not yet "catch" the soul's light must be "struck" — broken through avodah — until it ignites. The kal va'chomer: now that we possess both covenants (Torah/speech and milah), we must labor in Torah and guard the bris kodesh to merit that the soul's light shine within the body.

Summary: Man is "back and front" — body and soul — and the central avodah is to make the soul's light shine within the body, which must first be refined into a fit vessel. The Zohar's 248 limbs and 70 lights, and the pesukim "ner mitzvah... Torah ohr" and "sod Hashem li'reiav," all point to bonding body to soul, accomplished through bris milah, which reveals the soul's hidden lights and renders a person tamim. Avraham achieved this through his own toil even before the covenants were given; like damp wood beaten until it catches fire, the body must be "struck" through avodah — and now, possessing both the bris of Torah/speech and milah, we must labor in Torah and guard the bris to reveal the soul's light within.