Avraham as partner in ongoing creation

במדרש המכסה אני כו' אפילו הלכה שהקב"ה מחדש בכל יום נגלה לו.

In the Midrash: "Shall I conceal [from Avraham]..." (Bereishis 18:17) — even a halachah that the Holy One, blessed be He, renews each day was revealed to him.

The Midrash teaches that Hashem hid nothing from Avraham — even the new Torah insights He renews daily were disclosed to him.

נראה דדריש אשר אני עושה לשון הוה.

It appears that the Midrash expounds "which I am doing" (asher ani oseh) in the present tense.

The Midrash reads "which I do" not as a past act but as an ongoing, present-tense doing — Hashem is continually "doing."

וכתיב התם השמים החדשים הארץ החדשה אשר אני עושה.

And it is written elsewhere: "the new heavens and the new earth which I am making" (Yeshayahu 66:22).

The same present-tense phrase "which I am making" appears regarding the renewed heavens and earth, linking the two.

עיין בזוה"ק בהקדמה שהוא שמים חדשים הנעשים ע"י חידושי תורה.

See in the Zohar HaKadosh, in the introduction, that these are "new heavens" made through chiddushei Torah (novel Torah insights).

The Zohar teaches that fresh Torah insights actually create new spiritual heavens — Torah renewal literally renews creation.

ובאמת ע"ז נאמר מחדש בטובו בכל יום מעשה בראשית.

And in truth, regarding this it is said: "He renews in His goodness, each day, continually, the act of creation" (from the morning berachos).

This daily renewal of creation, which we praise in davening, is the same ongoing "doing" referred to above.

עושה לשון הוה וכ"ז נגלה לאאע"ה שנעשה כביכול שותף בהנהגת הבריאה וכן כל הצדיקים המקיימין העולם שנברא בעשרה מאמרות.

"Doing" in the present tense — and all this was revealed to Avraham Avinu, who became, as it were, a partner in the conduct of creation; and so too all the tzaddikim who sustain the world that was created with ten utterances.

Because creation is continually being "done," Avraham was let into that ongoing process and became, so to speak, Hashem's partner in running the world — as do all tzaddikim who uphold the creation founded on the ten utterances.

אאע"ה נעשה אחר המילה ברי' חדשה כענין גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד.

Avraham Avinu became, after the milah (circumcision), a new creation, like the matter of "a convert who converts is like a newborn child" (Yevamos 22a).

Through the bris milah Avraham was reborn as an entirely new being, paralleling the spiritual rebirth of a ger.

והרמז הי' יהי' ואמחז"ל כל מקום שנאמר הי' ראה עולם חדש.

And the hint is "was" / "will be" (hayah / yihyeh), and Chazal said: wherever it says "and it was" (vayehi), he beheld a new world.

The interplay of "was" and "will be" signals renewal; Chazal's teaching that "vayehi" marks the sight of a new world reinforces that Avraham was perceiving creation made fresh.

לכן כתיב פתח האהל שידע שמתחיל עתה דרך חדש:

Therefore it is written "the entrance of the tent" (pesach ha-ohel) (Bereishis 18:1) — for he knew that he was now beginning a new path.

Sitting at the "opening" of his tent after the bris signals that Avraham recognized he stood at the threshold of an entirely new avodah and a new chapter of his life.

Summary: Reading "which I am doing" in the present tense, the Sefas Emes shows that creation is continually being renewed — the same ongoing "doing" by which Hashem daily renews maaseh bereishis and by which chiddushei Torah fashion new heavens. Avraham was granted insight into this and became a "partner" in conducting creation, as do all tzaddikim who sustain the world founded on ten utterances. After his milah he became a new creation, like a newborn ger, and "the entrance of the tent" signals that he knew he was now beginning an entirely new path.