Milah as the root of Avraham's mitzvos

במדרש מבשרי אחזה אלוקי.

In the Midrash: "From my flesh I behold Hashem" (Iyov 19:26).

Avraham is saying that it was specifically through his own body — through the mitzvah of milah performed in his flesh — that he came to perceive the Divine.

אלולי שעשיתי כן מהיכן הי' נגלה אלי.

Had I not done so, from where would He have become revealed to me?

Were it not for the bris, Hashem's revelation could not have rested upon Avraham; the mitzvah itself created the vessel for that revelation.

פי' דכתיב אחר המילה וירא אליו.

The explanation: for it is written, right after the milah, "And Hashem appeared to him" (Bereishis 18:1).

The Torah places the revelation immediately after the bris, teaching that the mitzvah was the cause of Hashem appearing to Avraham.

וזה בחי' המצות שהם תיקון הרמ"ח איברים להיות חל עליהם נועם ה'.

This is the idea of the mitzvos, which are the rectification (tikkun) of the 248 limbs, so that the pleasantness of Hashem (noam Hashem) should rest upon them.

Just as there are 248 positive mitzvos corresponding to the 248 limbs of the body, each mitzvah refines a limb and draws Hashem's sweetness into the physical body.

והיא חיבה יתירה שיתגלה צלם אלקים בנפש האדם בכח המצות ומילה הוא מצוה ראשונה מתרי"ג מצות המיוחדים לבנ"י והוא שורש אברהם אע"ה בחי' מצות עשה כמ"ש אשר יצוה את בניו.

It is an extra closeness (chibah yeseirah) that the image of Hashem (tzelem Elokim) should be revealed in a person's soul through the power of the mitzvos; and milah is the first of the 613 mitzvos that are unique to Bnei Yisrael, and it is the root of Avraham Avinu — the aspect of a positive mitzvah (mitzvas asei), as it is written, "that he will command his children" (Bereishis 18:19).

Through doing mitzvos the Divine image hidden in the soul shines outward. Milah, the first mitzvah given to a Jew, is bound up with Avraham, who embodies the active "doing" side of avodah — commanding and performing.

דאיתא באור פניך נתת לנו תורת חיים ואהבת חסד אהבת חסד בחי' המצות שהוא אהבה רבה להתדבק בכל אברי הגוף אל הבורא ית' בכח המצות.

For we say, "In the light of Your face You gave us the Torah of life and a love of kindness" — "ahavas chesed" (love of kindness) is the aspect of the mitzvos, which is a great love to cleave with every limb of the body to the Creator, may He be blessed, through the power of the mitzvos.

The phrase "love of kindness" in the blessing refers to mitzvos, for through performing them with the whole body a person binds his entire physical self to Hashem out of deep love.

א"א בחי' רמ"ח מ"ע ויצחק בחי' שס"ה מל"ת ויעקב תורת חיים.

Avraham Avinu is the aspect of the 248 positive mitzvos, Yitzchak the aspect of the 365 prohibitions, and Yaakov the Torah of life.

The three Avos correspond to the three pillars of avodah: Avraham to the positive mitzvos (doing), Yitzchak to the prohibitions (restraint), and Yaakov to the unifying Torah itself.

ומרוב אהבת אברהם אבינו זכה להמשיך כח המצות אהבת חסד כנ"ל וזה וירא אליו מבשרי אחזה זה בריתו של אברהם אבינו שע"י עשיות מצוה שלמטה יתדבק בשורש העליון ויהי נועם ה' עליו בכח הברית שכרת השי"ת לאברהם.

And from the abundance of Avraham Avinu's love he merited to draw down the power of the mitzvos — the "love of kindness" as above — and this is "And He appeared to him," "from my flesh I behold," referring to the bris of Avraham Avinu: that through doing a mitzvah below one becomes attached to the supernal root, and the pleasantness of Hashem rests upon him through the power of the covenant that Hashem forged with Avraham.

Avraham's great love empowered every later mitzvah. The bris is the model: a physical act performed below connects a person to his Divine root above, and Hashem's noam descends upon him by virtue of the eternal covenant.

ועל ידי מצות מילה נכנסין לזה הברית ועל זה מברכין להכניסו בבריתו של אברהם אבינו:

And through the mitzvah of milah one enters this covenant, and concerning this we bless: "to bring him into the covenant of Avraham Avinu."

Every bris re-enacts and joins the child to Avraham's original covenant, which is why the blessing speaks of entering specifically "the covenant of Avraham Avinu."

Summary: Milah is the first mitzvah and the root of Avraham's avodah of love; through a physical mitzvah performed below, a Jew binds every limb to his supernal root, reveals the tzelem Elokim within, and draws down the noam Hashem of Avraham's eternal covenant.