Milah unlocks the hidden secret of Hashem

בפסוק וירא אליו כו' ובפסוק המכסה אני מאברהם כו' ובמדרש סוד ה' ליריאיו זו המילה שלא נתגלה סוד המילה עד אברהם אע"ה כו'.

On the verse "And He appeared to him" etc., and on the verse "Shall I conceal from Avraham" etc., and in the Midrash: "The secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him" — this is the milah (circumcision), for the secret of milah was not revealed until Avraham Avinu etc.

The Midrash teaches that the hidden sod of Hashem is bound up with the bris milah, a secret first revealed to Avraham.

כי הנה בכל דבר יש סוד ה' כמ"ש גדולים מעשה ה' אך שנתלבש בבחי' עולם שנה נפש והסוד הוא כמ"ש רב טובך אשר צפנת ליריאיך והוא בחי' עוה"ב וע"ז אמרו חז"ל כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעוה"ב.

For behold, in every thing there is the secret of Hashem, as it is written, "Great are the works of Hashem" — only that it is clothed in the aspects of olam, shanah, nefesh (space, time, soul); and the secret is as it is written, "How abundant is Your goodness which You have hidden away for those who fear You," which is the aspect of Olam Haba, and concerning this Chazal said, "All Yisrael have a portion in Olam Haba."

A divine secret is concealed within everything, garbed in space, time, and soul; this hidden goodness is the dimension of Olam Haba in which every Jew has a share.

אך הברית הוא התקשרות ודעת שיוכלו הצדיקים להתדבק בזה הסוד בהיותם בעוה"ז ג"כ.

But the bris (covenant) is a binding and an awareness (da'as) whereby the tzaddikim are able to cleave to this secret even while they are in this world.

The covenant grants tzaddikim the connection and inner knowing to access this hidden Olam Haba dimension already in this world.

וזהו ובריתו להודיעם.

And this is "and His covenant, to make it known to them."

The bris is precisely the means by which Hashem makes His secret known to those who fear Him.

ואמרו חז"ל על שבת מתנה טובה יש לי לך והודיעם כו' וע"י הברית מילה יש התדבקות בסוד הנפש וכמו כן ע"י ברית הארץ ובית המקדש יש התדבקות בסוד העולם וע"י שבת ומועדים יש התדבקות בסוד הזמן והשנה והאמת כי השבת כולל כל הג' בחי' כמ"ש בפ' נח מזה.

And Chazal said regarding Shabbos: "I have a good gift, and make it known to them" etc.; and through the bris milah there is cleaving to the secret of the nefesh, and likewise through the covenant of the Land and the Bais Hamikdash there is cleaving to the secret of the olam (space), and through Shabbos and the festivals there is cleaving to the secret of time and the year — and the truth is that Shabbos includes all three aspects, as was written on Parshas Noach concerning this.

Three covenants give access to the three secrets: milah to the soul, the Land and Mikdash to space, and Shabbos and Yamim Tovim to time — while Shabbos itself encompasses all three.

אך הוא מצד הקב"ה ומתנה שהנחלנו.

However, it is from the side of Hashem, a gift that He bequeathed to us.

Shabbos comes as a free gift from above, bestowed upon us by Hashem.

אבל הג' בחי' הנ"ל צריכין להתברר מן התחתונים בעצמם לכן נולד אאע"ה עם הערלה ובזכותו ניתן לו מצות המילה וכמו כן קדושת הארץ ובית המקדש היה בכח האבות כמ"ש ויקרא בשם ה' כו' ומכש"כ המועדות שהיו בכח בני ישראל דקדשינהו למועדים.

But the three aforementioned aspects must be clarified by the lower beings themselves; therefore Avraham Avinu was born with the orlah (foreskin), and in his merit the mitzvah of milah was given to him; and likewise the holiness of the Land and the Bais Hamikdash came about through the power of the Avos, as it is written "and he called in the name of Hashem" etc.; and all the more so the festivals, which came about through the power of Bnei Yisrael, who sanctify the appointed times.

Unlike the gift of Shabbos, these three covenants require human effort to refine: Avraham was born uncircumcised so that he himself would earn milah; the Avos sanctified the Land, and Bnei Yisrael sanctify the festivals.

ולכן היה מצות ראיות כל זכורך שהוא אות המילה בג' זמנים המיוחדים ובמקום אשר יבחר שהם ג' אותות הנ"ל.

Therefore there was the mitzvah of "all your males shall appear" — which is the sign of milah — at the three appointed times, and in the place that He shall choose; these being the three aforementioned signs.

The aliyah l'regel unites all three signs: the male (milah/nefesh) appears at the festivals (time) in the chosen place (the Mikdash/space).

ואיתא על שבת קודש שהוא החותם ע"ש במד' בפסוק ויכלו.

And it is taught regarding Shabbos Kodesh that it is the "seal," as is found in the Midrash on the verse "Vayechulu" (and they were completed); see there.

Shabbos is the seal that completes and authenticates the entire creation.

וכמו כן החותם בגוף הוא המילה שחתם בבשרינו.

And likewise the seal in the body is the milah, which He sealed into our flesh.

In the dimension of the body, milah is the seal Hashem set into our very flesh.

וחותם העולם הוא ביהמ"ק שנקרא שמו יתברך עליו ובהמועדות שנקראו מקראי קודש.

And the seal of the world (space) is the Bais Hamikdash, upon which His blessed Name is called, and in the festivals, which are called "holy convocations" (mikra'ei kodesh).

The Mikdash is the seal upon space, and the festivals — called mikra'ei kodesh — are the seal upon time.

ואמת כי כל התרי"ג מצות הם דרכים להתדבק בפנימיות הסוד.

And it is true that all 613 mitzvos are pathways to cleave to the inner core of the secret.

Every one of the taryag mitzvos is a route toward the hidden inner sod.

אבל אלו שנקראו אותות ובריתות הם מגלין כל הסודות כמ"ש ובריתו להודיעם לכן ביום שבת קודש הוא הזמן שיכולין לדעת סוד ה' כמ"ש במזמור שיר ליום השבת במעשה ידיך ארנן מה גדלו מעשיך כו'.

But those which are called "signs" and "covenants" reveal all the secrets, as it is written "and His covenant, to make it known to them"; therefore on the day of Shabbos Kodesh is the time when one can know the secret of Hashem, as it is written in "A psalm, a song for the Shabbos day": "in the works of Your hands I sing for joy; how great are Your works" etc.

The signs and covenants uniquely unlock the hidden secrets, and Shabbos in particular is the time to apprehend the sod of Hashem within His works.

והנה וירא אליו הוא בודאי התגלות הנבואה במדריגה עליונה שהיה לו מקודם כדאיתא בזוה"ק שאחר המילה זכה להתגלות עלמא דאתכסיא וכמ"ש המכסה אני מאברהם.

And behold, "And He appeared to him" is certainly a revelation of prophecy on a higher level than he had previously, as is found in the Zohar that after the milah he merited the revelation of the "concealed world" (alma de'iskasya), as it is written, "Shall I conceal from Avraham."

After his bris, Avraham reached a higher prophetic rung — access to the hidden world — so that Hashem would no longer "conceal" His secrets from him.

ולבאר הענין לפמ"ש בפרשה הקודמת למה נקרא תמים ע"י המילה שבערלה אין פנימיות לכן צריכין להסירו.

And to explain the matter according to what was written in the previous parshah: why one is called "tamim" (whole) through the milah — because in the orlah there is no penimiyus (inner dimension), therefore it must be removed.

One becomes tamim by removing the orlah, which is pure outer husk with no inner spiritual content.

והרמז הוא כי השי"ת הרכיב הנשמה עם הגוף וייצר ב' יצירות כו'.

And the hint is that Hashem combined the neshamah with the body, and "He formed" — two formations etc.

The doubled word "vayitzer" alludes to the two formations: Hashem joined a soul to a body, two distinct creations in one being.

אך לפי שעיקר הגוף בעוה"ז יש בו משהו עודף בגוף מהארת הנשמה.

But since the essence of the body is in this world, there is something in the body that is in excess of the illumination of the neshamah.

Because the body belongs to this world, part of it extends beyond the reach of the soul's light.

ובזה הוא המקום שהרשעים מצאו להם מקום להתגדר בו.

And in this is the place where the wicked found room to take hold.

That surplus of body beyond the soul's light is the foothold the resha'im exploit.

כי אם הנשמה היה מאירה עד הסוף לא היה נמצא רק אור כי טוב.

For if the neshamah had illuminated all the way to the end, there would be found only "light, that it was good."

Had the soul's light fully permeated the body, there would be no room for evil — only pure good.

ומול זה בחלק הנשמה שעיקרו בעוה"ב.

And corresponding to this, in the portion of the neshamah whose essence is in Olam Haba.

Mirroring the body's surplus, the soul too has a portion rooted in the World to Come.

יש עודף מה שאינו יכול להתלבש בגוף.

There is an excess that cannot be clothed within the body.

Part of the neshamah is too lofty to be contained in the physical body.

ונאמר שע"ז נקרא נשמה יתירה שהיא עודף על הגוף.

And it may be said that regarding this it is called "neshamah yeseirah" (additional soul), which is in excess of the body.

This supra-physical portion of the soul is what is termed the neshamah yeseirah — the soul-light beyond the body's capacity.

ובני ישראל בכח המילה זוכין להארת הנשמה יתירה והוא המקום שמצאו הצדיקים להתגדר בו.

And Bnei Yisrael, through the power of milah, merit the illumination of the neshamah yeseirah — and this is the place where the tzaddikim found room to take hold.

Just as the wicked exploit the body's surplus, the tzaddikim, through milah, lay hold of the surplus soul-light, the neshamah yeseirah.

וכמ"ש במ"א שיש (עולם) [העלם*] שהוא הסתר מכח הסט"א ויש ג"כ העלם מצד שהוא גבוה מעל גבוה.

And as was written elsewhere, that there is a concealment (he'elem) which is a hiding from the power of the sitra achra (other side), and there is also a concealment by virtue of its being "high above high."

There are two kinds of hiddenness: one caused by the forces of evil that obscure holiness, and one caused by the sheer loftiness of something too exalted to be perceived.

וכפי מה שזוכין להתגבר על העלם של עוה"ז כך זוכין להתגלות מעולם הנעלם הנ"ל לכן וירא אליו ה' כו' ע"י פתח האהל שפתח בעוה"ז נפתח לו פתח בעלמא דאתכסיא כנ"ל:

And according to how one merits to overcome the concealment of this world, so does he merit the revelation from the aforementioned hidden world; therefore "And Hashem appeared to him" etc. — by means of the "opening of the tent," that the opening he made in this world opened for him an opening in the concealed world, as above.

By overcoming the lower concealment (of the sitra achra), Avraham earned revelation of the higher hidden world; the entrance he opened below — his hospitality at the tent's opening — opened for him a corresponding doorway into the concealed world above.

Summary: A divine secret (sod) is concealed in everything, garbed in space, time, and soul, and corresponds to the hidden goodness of Olam Haba. Three "signs and covenants" — milah (soul), the Land and Mikdash (space), Shabbos and festivals (time) — let the tzaddikim cleave to this secret already in this world, with Shabbos as the all-encompassing seal. Milah removes the inner-less orlah and grants the neshamah yeseirah, the surplus soul-light through which tzaddikim "take hold," countering the surplus of body that the wicked exploit. Thus after his bris Avraham overcame the lower concealment and merited revelation of the concealed world — the opening he made below opening a doorway above.