Milah and mitzvos reopen the gates of Gan Eden

במדרש ואחר עורי נקפו כו' מהיכן הי' הקב"ה נגלה עלי.

In the Midrash: "And after my skin is destroyed…" (Iyov 19:26) — from where was the Holy One revealed upon me?

The Midrash homiletically asks about the "skin" — through which point did Hashem's revelation reach man — opening the discussion of the "garments of skin" given to Adam.

כי הנה האדם כולל כל הבריאה ונקרא עולם קטן.

For behold, man includes within himself all of creation and is called a "small world" (olam katan).

Man is a microcosm — everything found in the larger creation is mirrored within him.

ויצירת אדה"ר הי' בצלם אלקים ממש ומקומו הי' בגן עדן.

And the formation of Adam HaRishon was literally in the image of God (tzelem Elokim), and his place was in Gan Eden.

Adam was originally created bearing a real divine image and dwelt in Gan Eden, where holiness was openly present.

ואחר החטא כמו דכתיב ויגרש וישכן מקדם הכרובים ולהט החרב.

And after the sin, just as it is written: "And He drove out [the man], and He stationed at the east of Gan Eden the Keruvim and the flame of the ever-turning sword" (Bereishis 3:24) —

After the chet, Adam was expelled from Gan Eden, which was now guarded by the Keruvim and the flaming sword, barring the way to the Tree of Life.

כן באדם עצמו נעשה לו כתנות עור והם לבוש וכסוי שלא הי' מתגלה פנימיות נשמת אלקי ונעשה הסתר בגוף.

so too within man himself, garments of skin (kosnos ohr) were made for him — these are a clothing and covering, so that the inner divine soul should not be revealed, and a concealment was made in the body.

The expulsion has an inner parallel: the "garments of skin" are a covering over man's own being, hiding the inner divine neshamah and creating a screen of concealment within the body itself.

וכשזכו בני ישראל בכח האבות לתקן החטא וניתן לאאע"ה ברית מילה להסיר הערלה והכסוי.

And when Bnei Yisrael merited, through the power of the Avos, to rectify the sin — and bris milah was given to Avraham Avinu to remove the orlah (foreskin) and the covering —

The tikkun of Adam's sin came through the Avos; the mitzvah of milah given to Avraham removes the orlah, which corresponds to that "covering" of concealment over the inner soul.

כמו כן נפתח להם שערי ג"ע.

likewise the gates of Gan Eden were opened for them.

Removing the covering through milah reopens the very gates of Gan Eden that had been closed after the sin.

וכמו שאמרו חז"ל בפסוק אשרי תבחר ותקרב כו'.

As Chazal said on the pasuk "Fortunate is the one You choose and bring near" (Tehillim 65:5).

This drawing-near to Hashem, the reopening of access to His closeness, is what the pasuk celebrates.

וכ"כ במדרש פתח טוב פתחת כו' שע"י המילה נפתחו השערים וכמ"ש פתחו שערים ויבוא גוי צדיק וכ"כ ועמך כולם צדיקים כו' נצר מטעי כו'.

And so it is written in the Midrash: "A good opening You have opened…" — that through the milah the gates were opened, as it is written: "Open the gates, that a righteous nation may enter" (Yeshayahu 26:2), and as it is written: "And Your people are all righteous… a shoot of My planting" (Yeshayahu 60:21).

Milah is the "good opening": it unlocks the gates so the "righteous nation" — Bnei Yisrael, who are all tzaddikim and "a shoot of Hashem's planting" — may enter into closeness with Hashem.

ויתכן כי ב' השמירות הכרובים ולהט הם מכוונים לב' מילות כי הערלה היא מכסה לגמרי.

And it is fitting [to say] that the two guardings — the Keruvim and the flame — correspond to the two stages of milah, for the orlah covers completely.

The two guardians of Gan Eden parallel the two parts of the milah: the orlah, which forms a total covering, corresponds to one of the guardings.

ופריעה הוא לגלות כמשל להט המתהפכת.

And the periah (uncovering) is to reveal, like the analogy of the ever-turning flame.

The periah, which uncovers and reveals, corresponds to the "ever-turning flame" — the second guarding. Removing both layers reopens the path within.

ויש לבאר עוד דכתיב סוד ה' ליריאיו ובריתו להודיעם.

And one may further explain, as it is written: "The secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him, and His covenant, to make it known to them" (Tehillim 25:14).

The Sefas Emes now turns to a second line of explanation, built on this pasuk linking Hashem's "secret," His covenant (the bris of milah), and the making-known of His closeness.

וכבר כתבנו בזה עפ"י המשנה חביב אדם שנברא בצלם חבה יתירה נודעת לו שנברא בצלם דכתיב כי בצלם אלקים עשה ומקשין אמאי לא הביא פסוק הקודם ויברא אלקים את האדם בצלמו.

And we have already written on this, based on the Mishnah: "Beloved is man, for he was created in the [divine] image; an even greater love is made known to him, that he was created in the image, as it is written: 'For in the image of God He made man' (Bereishis 9:6)." And the commentators ask: why did [the Mishnah] not bring the earlier pasuk, "And God created man in His image" (Bereishis 1:27)?

The Mishnah in Avos cites a verse from after the Flood (and after Adam's sin) to prove man's divine image, rather than the original verse from creation. Why choose the later pasuk?

ופרשנו שם.

And we explained it there.

He alludes to a prior explanation, which he will now recast.

ועתה נבאר באופן אחר והכל אחד.

And now we will explain it in a different way, though it is all one.

He offers a fresh formulation that ultimately conveys the same underlying idea.

כי קודם החטא הי' נגלה הצלם אלקי.

For before the sin, the divine image was revealed.

Originally Adam's tzelem Elokim was openly manifest, with nothing concealing it.

רק אחר דכתיב משנה פניו ותשלחהו.

Only afterward, as it is written: "You change his face and send him away" (Iyov 14:20).

After the sin Adam's "face" — his form — was changed, and he was sent out of Gan Eden.

ונשתנה הציור ונתלבש בכתנות עור על זה מביא המשנה שאעפ"כ חבה יתירה נודעת והוא כמ"ש ובריתו להודיעם.

And the form was changed, and he was clothed in garments of skin — concerning this the Mishnah brings [the later verse], that even so, an additional love is made known; and this is as it says, "and His covenant, to make it known to them."

This is precisely why the Mishnah cites the post-sin verse: even after man's form was altered and covered with garments of skin, Hashem's "additional love" is still made known to him — and that making-known comes through "His covenant," the bris milah.

כי סוד ה' ליראיו הוא הפנימיות בחי' עץ החיים.

For "the secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him" — this is the penimiyus, the aspect of the Tree of Life.

The "sod Hashem" is the inner dimension, corresponding to the Eitz HaChaim from which Adam was barred.

ואח"כ שאכל מעץ הדעת טוב ורע הי' התיקון על ידי המצות ובריתות שנתן לנו הקב"ה לתקן הדעת ולברר הטוב מן הרע ובכח זה נוכל לחזור להתדבק בעץ החיים שהיא התורה.

And afterward, since he ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, the tikkun is through the mitzvos and covenants that the Holy One gave us — to rectify the daas (knowledge) and to separate the good from the evil; and through this power we can return to cleave to the Tree of Life, which is the Torah.

Because Adam ate from the Tree of Daas (mixing good and evil), the repair must work through that very faculty: the mitzvos and covenants rectify our daas and sift good from evil, enabling us to return and cleave to the Eitz HaChaim — the Torah.

דכתיב תורה אור ונר מצוה א"כ המצות הם במקום שצריכין להאיר ולברר האור מתוך החושך והוא תיקון עץ הדעת ועי"ז נוכל להתדבק באור התורה וזהו ובריתו להודיעם כמ"ש אתה הראת לדעת.

As it is written: "The Torah is light, and a mitzvah is a lamp" (Mishlei 6:23) — thus the mitzvos are [needed] in the place where one must illuminate and separate the light out of the darkness, and this is the rectification of the Tree of Knowledge; and through this we can cleave to the light of the Torah. And this is "His covenant, to make it known to them," as it is written: "You were shown, to know" (Devarim 4:35).

The mitzvos are "lamps" precisely for the dark, mixed realm of the Tree of Daas, where good must be separated from evil; by this work we reattach to the "light" of Torah. This is the meaning of "His covenant makes it known" — the bris and mitzvos restore our knowledge of Hashem.

ולכן הביאו הפסוק בצלם אלקים עשה שנאמר אחר החטא.

And therefore they brought the pasuk "in the image of God He made [man]," which was said after the sin.

This resolves the original question: the Mishnah deliberately cites the post-sin verse to teach that the divine image — and the love it expresses — endures even after the fall, and is restored through the covenant.

וזה נקרא חבה יתירה כענין שכתבתי במ"א פי' יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומעש"ט בעוה"ז כו' ודו"ק:

And this is called "an additional love," similar to what I wrote elsewhere explaining "Better is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world [than all the life of the World to Come]" (Avos 4:17) — examine it well.

The "additional love" is the greater closeness attainable specifically after the fall, through teshuvah and mitzvos in this world — a level of intimacy with Hashem that even exceeds the original, unblemished state, which is why one hour of teshuvah and good deeds here is so precious.

Summary: Man is a microcosm created with a revealed tzelem Elokim in Gan Eden; after the sin, "garments of skin" became a covering that conceals the inner divine soul, just as the Keruvim and flaming sword barred Gan Eden. Bris milah — removing the orlah (the complete covering) and the periah (the uncovering), paralleling the two guardians — reopens the gates of closeness to Hashem. The mitzvos and covenants are "lamps" that rectify the faculty of daas damaged by the Tree of Knowledge, separating good from evil so we can recleave to the Tree of Life, the Torah. This is why the Mishnah proves man's divine image from a post-sin verse: even after the fall, Hashem's "additional love" is made known through His covenant — the heightened closeness reached through teshuvah and good deeds in this world.