Milah empowers chesed and dveikus

במדרש אתה אמרת יקח מעט מים אני פורע לך בישוב ובמדבר ולעתיד לבוא כו' ע"ש שדורש על כל פרט.

In the Midrash: "You said, 'let a little water be taken' (Bereishis 18:4) — I will repay you, in the settled land and in the wilderness and in the time to come," etc. — see there, that it expounds upon every detail.

The Midrash teaches that Hashem rewarded Avraham measure for measure for the hospitality he showed the three guests, repaying his small act of offering water across every era and setting.

ושמעתי מפי מו"ז ז"ל כי הגם שלעולם הי' אברהם אע"ה גומל חסד לא נכתב בתורה רק אחר המילה שקיים המצוה בדרך התורה ומצות שניתן לבני ישראל לא כמו בן נח.

And I heard from my grandfather, of blessed memory, that although Avraham Avinu always performed acts of chesed, it was written in the Torah only after the milah (circumcision) — for then he fulfilled the mitzvah in the manner of the Torah and mitzvos given to Bnei Yisrael, not as a ben Noach (a son of Noach).

In the name of his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim), the Sefas Emes notes that Avraham was always kind, yet the Torah records his hospitality only after the bris milah — because only then did his chesed have the elevated status of a Torah mitzvah performed as a Yid, not merely as a righteous gentile.

והענין הוא כדאיתא במדרש משפטים לבני נח נתן מצות גלמיות ע"ש.

And the matter is as is taught in the Midrash on Mishpatim: to the Bnei Noach He gave "raw" (unformed) mitzvos — see there.

The Midrash distinguishes the mitzvos of the Bnei Noach as "raw" or unrefined, lacking the deeper spiritual form given to the mitzvos of Bnei Yisrael.

כי המצות שניתן לבנ"י הוא לעשות רושם בשמים וזה הוא בכח ברית מילה ושאר המצות שנקראו אות וברית שזה פי' כריתת ברית להיות להם התקשרות למעלה לכן אחר המילה כל החסדים שעשה אאע"ה הי' מעוררין מדת החסד למעלה וע"ז אמרו חז"ל שהחסד מתגלגל בעולם בזכותו.

For the mitzvos given to Bnei Yisrael are meant to make an impression Above, and this is through the power of bris milah and the other mitzvos that are called "a sign" and "a covenant" — for this is the meaning of "cutting a covenant," that they have a connection Above. Therefore, after the milah, all the acts of chesed that Avraham Avinu performed would arouse the attribute of chesed Above. And concerning this Chazal said that chesed circulates through the world in his merit.

The mitzvos of Bnei Yisrael leave a real "imprint" in the upper worlds. Bris milah is called a "sign" and a "covenant" precisely because it forges a binding connection between a Yid and Heaven. Once Avraham was circumcised, his every act of kindness awakened the heavenly attribute of chesed — which is why Chazal say chesed still flows through the world in his merit.

פי' הקב"ה רב חסד וחפץ חסד.

The explanation: Hashem is abundant in chesed and desires chesed.

Hashem is overflowing with kindness and wants to bestow it.

אבל צריך להיות למטה כלים לקבל החסד וכלי זה תיקן אאע"ה עמוד החסד.

But there must be vessels below to receive the chesed, and this vessel Avraham Avinu fashioned — the pillar of chesed.

For Hashem's boundless chesed to enter the world, there must be "vessels" here below to receive it. Avraham built that vessel, becoming the very pillar of chesed.

וזהו הרמז איזהו חסיד המתחסד עם קונו.

And this is the hint of "Who is a chassid (devoted one)? One who acts with chesed toward his Maker."

The Sefas Emes brings the striking teaching that a true chassid does kindness "with his Maker" — which demands explanation.

וכי צריך הקב"ה לחסד בן אדם.

Does Hashem need the chesed of a human being?

The obvious question: Hashem lacks nothing, so how could a person do "kindness" with Him?

אבל הפי' שהחסיד העושה חסד לשם שמים אז משתתף עמו חסד עליון ומתחסד עם קונו בשותפות וז"ש במדרש שכל מה שעשה נעשה בו חסד למעלה בישוב ובמדבר ולעתיד לבוא וכל זה הי' אחר ברית מילה שכתוב בו התהלך לפני והי' תמים זהו פי' תמים שמעשיו יהי' למטה ולמעלה בשרשו.

Rather, the meaning is that when the chassid performs chesed for the sake of Heaven, then the supernal chesed joins together with him, and he "does chesed with his Maker" in partnership. And this is the meaning of the Midrash, that everything he did caused chesed to be enacted Above — in the settled land, in the wilderness, and in the time to come. And all this was after the bris milah, of which it is written, "Walk before Me and be tamim (whole/perfect)" (Bereishis 17:1). This is the meaning of tamim: that his deeds would be both below and Above, at their root.

When a person does kindness purely for Hashem's sake, the supernal chesed joins his act, so that he becomes a "partner" with Hashem in revealing chesed — and in that sense he "does chesed with his Maker." This is why the Midrash says his hospitality reverberated across every era. And it all began after the milah, when Hashem told him "be tamim" — meaning his deeds would now be complete, reaching both this world and their root Above.

ואמרו חז"ל גדולה מילה שנכרתו עלי' שלש עשרה בריתות.

And Chazal said: great is milah, for thirteen covenants were established over it.

The Torah uses the word "covenant" thirteen times in the passage of milah, signaling its extraordinary power.

הרמז כמו שיש להקב"ה י"ג מדות של רחמים.

The hint is that this corresponds to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy that Hashem has.

The thirteen covenants of milah parallel Hashem's Thirteen Middos of Rachamim, linking the mitzvah of milah to the divine attributes themselves.

ואמרו חז"ל ובו תדבק הדבק במדותיו מה הוא רחום אף אתה כו' וזה ניתן רק לבנ"י ובכח ברית מילה וכמ"ש בזוה"ק בפרשה זו ואותו תעבודו זה אות ברית מילה וכתיב אח"כ ובו תדבק.

And Chazal said on "and to Him you shall cleave" (Devarim 13:5) — cleave to His attributes: just as He is merciful, so too you should be merciful, etc. And this is given only to Bnei Yisrael, and through the power of bris milah, as is written in the Zohar HaKadosh on this parsha: "and Him you shall serve" — this is the sign of bris milah — and afterward it is written, "and to Him you shall cleave."

Dveikus with Hashem means emulating His attributes — "just as He is merciful, so you be merciful." This intimate cleaving is granted only to Bnei Yisrael, made possible specifically through bris milah. The Zohar links "and Him you shall serve" (the sign of milah) directly to the following words, "and to Him you shall cleave."

וכ"כ חז"ל בפסוק מגיד דבריו ליעקב שכל מי שאינו נימול אינו יכול לקיים תורה ומצות ע"ש פרשת משפטים.

And so too Chazal said on the pasuk, "He tells His words to Yaakov" (Tehillim 147:19), that anyone who is not circumcised cannot fulfill the Torah and mitzvos — see there, parshas Mishpatim.

Chazal teach that without milah a person cannot truly fulfill Torah and mitzvos, because milah is the prerequisite that gives the mitzvos their inner force.

מגיד דבריו הוא להיות נמשכין אחר הנהגה פנימיות של הקב"ה כמ"ש לעיל:

"He tells His words" means to be drawn after the inner conduct of Hashem, as stated above.

"He tells His words to Yaakov" means that through milah a Yid is drawn after Hashem's penimiyus — His inner mode of governing the world — which is the whole theme of the piece.

Summary: Although Avraham always performed chesed, the Torah records his hospitality only after the bris milah, because only then did his deeds carry the inner power of a Torah mitzvah — making a real "imprint" Above and arousing the heavenly attribute of chesed. Milah is a "covenant" that binds a Yid to Heaven, parallels Hashem's Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, and enables true dveikus — emulating Hashem's middos and being drawn after His inner governance. Through it, a person who does kindness for Hashem's sake becomes His partner, "doing chesed with his Maker."