Tzaddikim draw down a path above nature

וירא אליו ה' במדרש ואחר עורי כשמלתי עצמי הרבה גרים באו להדבק בזאת הברית.

"And Hashem appeared to him." (Bereishis 18:1) In the Midrash: "And after my skin" (Iyov 19:26) — when I circumcised myself, many converts (gerim) came to attach themselves to this bris.

The Midrash links Avraham's milah to the drawing in of converts. Once Avraham removed his own "skin" (the orlah), he gained the power to draw outsiders close to the covenant.

כי אדה"ר ונח נולדו מהול.

For Adam HaRishon and Noach were born circumcised (mahul).

Adam and Noach were already in a state of natural completeness, born without an orlah, so they had no act of removing concealment to perform.

ואברהם ניתן לו מצות המילה.

But Avraham was given the mitzvah of milah.

Avraham, by contrast, had to actively perform the milah — to remove the orlah himself through his own deed.

והי' זה הכנה לקרב את הגרים שאאע"ה הי' כחו יפה לפעול במעשיו להסיר הערלה ולגלות האור מתוך החושך כמ"ש פתח טוב פתחת.

And this was a preparation to draw near the converts, for Avraham Avinu's power was potent to act through his deeds to remove the orlah and reveal the light out of the darkness, as it is written, "You opened a good opening."

Because Avraham achieved his completeness through his own action, he gained the power to do the same for others — to strip away concealment and reveal holy light hidden within darkness, opening a "good opening" for converts.

ובמדרש וה' פקד את שרה.

And in the Midrash on "And Hashem remembered Sarah." (Bereishis 21:1)

The Sefas Emes now turns to a second Midrash, on the miraculous birth of Yitzchak to Sarah.

הה"ד וידעו כו' כי השפלתי עץ גבוה הגבהתי עץ שפל הפרחתי עץ יבש דברתי ועשיתי כו'.

This is what is written: "And they shall know… that I have lowered the high tree, raised the low tree, made the dry tree flourish; I have spoken and I have done." (Yechezkel 17:24)

The posuk describes Hashem's power to overturn the natural order — humbling the lofty and elevating the lowly, making the barren bloom — which is precisely what occurred with Sarah.

כי מה שהי' שרה עקרה ואח"כ ניתן לה יצחק בדרך נס הי' הכל הכנה לדורות שיוכלו הצדיקים להפוך את הטבע כמ"ש במדרש בענין אלישע האנוש מאלוקי יצדק.

For the fact that Sarah was barren and then was given Yitzchak through a miracle was all a preparation for the generations, so that tzaddikim would be able to overturn nature, as the Midrash says regarding Elisha: "Can a man be more righteous than his Maker?" (Iyov 4:17)

Sarah's miraculous conception was not a one-time event but laid the groundwork for future tzaddikim to transcend and overturn the laws of nature, as Elisha later did.

כי הנסים הנעשים על ידי הצדיקים הי' הכל בהקדמת הבורא ית"ש שסידר סדר מיוחד לבנ"י למעלה מן הטבע.

For the miracles performed through tzaddikim were all by the prior arrangement of the Creator, may He be blessed, who established a special order for Bnei Yisrael above nature.

The miracles of tzaddikim are not breaches of the system but flow from a higher, supernatural order that Hashem built into creation specifically for Bnei Yisrael from the outset.

וכ"כ מו"ז ז"ל בפ' שמות כי לידת כלל ישראל הי' בדרך נס מה"ט ולהראות כי בנ"י עיקר מהותם למעלה בשמים ונשתלחו נשמות בנ"י בעוה"ז לתקן העולם.

And so wrote my grandfather, of blessed memory (the Chiddushei HaRim), in Parshas Shemos: that the birth of Klal Yisrael came about through a miracle for this reason — and to show that the essence of Bnei Yisrael is rooted above in the heavens, and the souls of Bnei Yisrael were sent into this world to rectify it.

Citing his grandfather, the Sefas Emes explains that the supernatural birth of the nation demonstrates that the true essence of Bnei Yisrael belongs to a realm above nature; their souls were dispatched into this world to fix it.

וז"ש ואברהם הי' יהי' לגוי גדול.

And this is the meaning of "And Avraham will surely be (hayo yihyeh) a great nation." (Bereishis 18:18)

The doubled language "hayo yihyeh" hints at this supernatural essence of the nation that descends from Avraham.

פי' עיקר גוי גדול של אברהם הי' ויהי'.

That is, the essential "great nation" of Avraham is "was and will be" (hayah v'yihyeh).

The true reality of Bnei Yisrael exists in the eternal dimension of "was and will be" — above the flow of present time and nature.

ובעוה"ז ההוה.

And in this world, the present (hoveh).

In the realm of this world, which is the dimension of the present moment,

הם בדרך מקרה לכן ונברכו בו כי עיקר הברכה להמשיך מעולם שלמעלה מן הטבע.

they appear by way of "happenstance" (mikreh); therefore "and they shall be blessed through him" — for the essence of the berachah is to draw down from the world that is above nature.

Within the present, things seem to operate by chance and nature. The blessing of Avraham is the power to draw down into this world the supernatural reality of "was and will be," transcending mere happenstance.

ובמדרש הוסיפה על המאורות דכתיב הכא עשי' וכתיב ויעש המאורות ע"ש.

And in the Midrash: she [Sarah] added to the luminaries — for it is written here "doing" (asiyah) and it is written [regarding creation] "And He made the luminaries" (Bereishis 1:16). See there.

The Midrash uses a gezeirah shavah (verbal parallel) of the word "made" to teach that Sarah, through her righteousness, actually added to the light of the heavenly luminaries.

כי אור הראשון שהי' מאיר מסוף העולם נגנז ונתלבש כל הנהגת הטבע במאורות ומזלות בדרך הטבע כדכתיב מארת חסר.

For the original light that shone from one end of the world was concealed, and the entire governance of nature became clothed in the luminaries and the constellations (mazalos) in a natural manner, as it is written "me'oros" (luminaries) spelled deficiently (chaser, missing a vav). (Bereishis 1:14)

When the original hidden light was concealed, the world came to be governed by nature through the luminaries and constellations. The deficient spelling of "me'oros" hints at this diminishment — a "curse" (me'eirah) of concealment.

וכמו שע"י חטא הראשון נחסרו המאורות כמו כן שרה בצדקתה הוסיפה על המאורות והמשיכה אור הגנוז למעלה מן המזלות כמ"ש הבט נא השמימה כו'.

And just as through the first sin the luminaries were diminished, so too Sarah, through her righteousness, added to the luminaries and drew down the hidden light above the constellations, as it is written, "Look now toward the heavens…" (Bereishis 15:5)

Where Adam's sin caused a diminishing of light, Sarah's tzidkus reversed it, restoring the hidden light and drawing it down above the rule of the constellations — beyond the fixed "mazal" that should have left her barren.

לכן כתיב ויחשבה לו צדקה כי בני חיי ומזוני לאו בזכותא רק במזלא תליא.

Therefore it is written, "And He counted it to him as righteousness (tzedakah)" (Bereishis 15:6) — for children, life, and sustenance (banei, chayei, m'zonei) do not depend on merit but on mazal.

Ordinarily, as Chazal teach, children, lifespan, and livelihood are determined by mazal (the constellations) rather than by merit alone.

א"כ אין זכות מועיל לשנות המזל.

If so, merit (zechus) does not avail to change the mazal.

So how could Avraham and Sarah merit a child against their mazal? Ordinary merit cannot override the fixed constellations.

רק צדקה שנתן הקב"ה לאבות ובנ"י אחריהם שיוכלו להמשיך דרך חדש מלמעלה כמ"ש אין מזל לישראל:

Rather, it is the tzedakah that the Holy One gave to the Avos and to Bnei Yisrael after them — that they are able to draw down a new path from above, as it is written, "There is no mazal for Yisrael." (Shabbos 156a)

The answer is that beyond ordinary merit, Hashem granted the Avos and their descendants a special gift: the power to draw down an entirely new supernatural channel from above the constellations. This is the meaning of "ein mazal l'Yisrael" — Bnei Yisrael are not bound by the natural order of mazal.

Summary: Because Avraham achieved his completeness through the active mitzvah of milah — removing his own orlah — he gained the power to reveal holy light out of darkness and draw converts close. Likewise, Sarah's miraculous conception of Yitzchak laid the groundwork for all future tzaddikim to overturn nature, for the true essence of Bnei Yisrael belongs to a supernatural realm of "was and will be," above the present world of happenstance. Through her tzidkus, Sarah even "added to the luminaries," drawing down the hidden light above the constellations. This is the special gift Hashem gave the Avos and their descendants: the power to draw a new path from above, beyond mazal — "ein mazal l'Yisrael."