Human Effort Draws Forever

במדרש תינוק שנולד מהול מה למול אותו כו' צריך להטיף ממנו דם ברית מפני בריתו של אברהם אע"ה

In the Midrash: A child who is born already circumcised, what should be done to circumcise him? One must draw from him a drop of bris blood, on account of the bris of Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him.

The Sfas Emes opens with a Midrashic ruling: even a baby born without an orlah still needs a symbolic drop of bris blood drawn, precisely to connect him to the bris of Avraham Avinu.

הענין הוא כי זה החילוק בין א"א ע"ה דכ' בו התהלך לפני והי' תמים

The matter is as follows: this is the distinction concerning Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, of whom it is written, "Walk before Me and be wholehearted" (Bereishis 17:1).

He frames the underlying question through the verse commanding Avraham to walk before Hashem and become wholehearted, hinting that Avraham's perfection was something he had to achieve.

וצדיקים הראשונים אדם ונח נולדו כשהן מהול אבל אברהם זכה בעצמו למצות מילה ומה"ט נולד ערל שרצה הקב"ה שיבוא בעצמו אל השלימות ולהסיר הערלה בכח מצות ה' שניתן לו ובמד' ששאל טורנספורס הרשע את ר"ע איזה מעשה נאה של הקב"ה או של בני אדם והביא לו גלוסקאות ע"ש במד' תנחומא פ' [תזריע] ומסיים שלכך לא נולד האדם מהול שהמצות ניתנו לצרף את הבריות א' אלוה צרופה ע"ש

The earlier tzaddikim, Adam and Noach, were born already circumcised; but Avraham merited the mitzvah of milah through his own effort. For this reason he was born uncircumcised, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, wanted him to arrive at perfection by his own doing and to remove the orlah through the power of the mitzvah of Hashem that was given to him. And in the Midrash, the wicked Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva which deeds are finer, those of the Holy One, Blessed is He, or those of human beings, and Rabbi Akiva brought him loaves of bread, as it is explained there in Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Tazria; and it concludes that this is why a person is not born already circumcised, for the mitzvos were given to refine the creatures, as it is said, "The word of Hashem is refined" (Tehillim 18:31).

Unlike Adam and Noach, who were born circumcised, Avraham had to remove his own orlah through the mitzvah, because Hashem wanted him to reach completeness by his own effort. Rabbi Akiva's loaves prove that human refinement of the raw world is the very purpose of the mitzvos.

ובאמת הכל מעשה הש"י אך מה שהאדם מסייע להוציא מכח אל הפועל חביב לפניו ית"ש ביותר

And in truth, everything is the doing of Hashem Yisbarach; yet that which a person contributes to bring out from potential into actuality is especially beloved before Him, may His Name be blessed.

Although Hashem is the true Maker of everything, the part a person actively contributes, turning potential into reality, is especially precious to Him.

ובגמ' איתא גדולים מעשה צדיקים ממעשה שמים וארץ דכ' ידי יסדה ארץ

And in the Gemara it is stated: Greater are the deeds of the tzaddikim than the making of heaven and earth, for regarding heaven and earth it is written, "My hand laid the foundation of the earth" (Yeshayahu 48:13).

The Gemara teaches that the deeds of tzaddikim outrank even Creation itself, contrasting the verse where Hashem alone founds the earth.

ובמעשה צדיקים כ' מקדש ה' כוננו ידיך והנה גם זה הוא מעשה הקב"ה דכ' כוננו ידיך אך הוא ע"י התעוררות הצדיקים

But regarding the deeds of the tzaddikim it is written, "The Sanctuary of Hashem that Your hands established" (Shemos 15:17). Now this too is the doing of the Holy One, Blessed is He, as it is written, "Your hands established"; only it comes about through the arousal of the tzaddikim.

The Mikdash is described as built by Hashem's hands, yet it only comes to be through the tzaddikim's spiritual arousal, showing the partnership between Divine making and human effort.

וע"ז כתיב כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו

And concerning this it is written, "He declared the power of His deeds to His people" (Tehillim 111:6).

This dual reality is captured in the verse that Hashem declared the power of His deeds to His people, hinting that the deeds are accomplished together with them.

כי מעשה בראשית נברא בהתלבשות הטבע

For the work of Creation was brought into being clothed within nature.

Creation as a whole was deliberately enclothed within the workings of ordinary nature, concealing its inner light.

אבל הצדיקים בידם לפתוח הפנימיות ושיתגלה דרך הגנוז לצדיקים שהוא מעין עוה"ב וזה עצמו סוד המילה דאיתא עוה"ז נברא בה' ועוה"ב בי'

But the tzaddikim have it in their power to open up the inner dimension, so that the way hidden away for the tzaddikim becomes revealed, which is a foretaste of Olam Haba. And this itself is the secret of milah, for it is stated that Olam Hazeh was created with the letter hei and Olam Haba with the letter yud.

The tzaddikim can pierce that natural covering and reveal the hidden inner light, a taste of Olam Haba; this is the secret of milah, tied to Olam Hazeh being created with hei and Olam Haba with yud.

ורמז היוד שחתם בבשרינו בכח המילה לרמוז שאנחנו בני עוה"ב וז"ש במד' אנכי מגן לך שאמר אאע"ה שמא יבא א' וידחה בריתי ע"ש שהשיב לו הקב"ה מנח לא העמדתי מגינים של צדיקים כו'

And the yud that He sealed in our flesh, alludes, through the power of milah, that we are children of Olam Haba. This is what the Midrash says on "I am a shield to you" (Bereishis 15:1), that Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, said: perhaps someone will come and nullify my bris; see there, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, answered him: from Noach I did not raise up shields of tzaddikim, and so forth.

The yud-shaped imprint of milah marks us as belonging to Olam Haba. The Midrash on Hashem being Avraham's shield shows that this bris-merit, unlike Noach's, raises enduring shields of tzaddikim.

והוא כנ"ל שמה שזכה א"א ע"ה להיות נועם ה' חל על מעשה ידיו זה מתקיים לעד

And this is as stated above, that what Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, merited, namely that the pleasantness of Hashem rest upon the work of his hands, this endures forever.

The point is that because Avraham drew Hashem's pleasantness onto his own handiwork, that achievement lasts forever.

ולכן צריכין להטיף דם ברית שיהי' בכח מעשה האדם

Therefore one must draw bris blood, so that it come about through the power of a person's deed.

This is why a drop of bris blood is required even from one born circumcised, so that the bris is realized specifically through a human act.

וזה עצמו ג"כ ענין שלוח הקן דאיתא במד' שהיא נתינת רחמיו על העופות ובמשנה איתא האומר על ק"צ יגיעו רחמיך משתקין אותו

And this itself is likewise the matter of shiluach haken, for it is stated in the Midrash that this is Hashem's bestowing of His mercy upon the birds; yet in the Mishnah it is stated that one who says in his tefillah, "Your mercy reaches even to the bird's nest," we silence him.

He turns to shiluach haken: the Midrash calls it Hashem's mercy on the birds, yet the Mishnah forbids framing the mitzvah as if Hashem's mercy is limited to a bird's nest.

ופי' מו"ז ז"ל שהפי' הוא שבנ"י יעוררו מדת הרחמים למעלה ע"י מעשיהם וכ"ה בתקונים

And my grandfather, of blessed memory, explained that the meaning is that Bnei Yisrael are to arouse the attribute of rachamim above through their deeds; and so it is in the Tikkunim.

His grandfather resolved the tension: the mitzvah is not about Hashem pitying birds, but about Bnei Yisrael arousing the attribute of rachamim on high through their actions, as found in the Tikkunim.

והוא כמ"ש שהקב"ה רוצה שיהי' מדת הרחמים בעולם ע"י מעשה הצדיקים

And this is as was said, that the Holy One, Blessed is He, desires that the attribute of rachamim be in the world through the deeds of the tzaddikim.

Thus Hashem wants mercy to enter the world specifically by way of the deeds of the tzaddikim, not as something fixed from above.

[וי"ל עוד כי בחי' והאם רובצת הי' כמו תיבת נח שלא הי' כדאי בעצמו

And one may further say that the aspect of "and the mother bird crouching" (Devarim 22:6) was like Noach's teivah, which was not worthy in its own right.

He adds a further reading: the crouching mother bird represents a state, like Noach's teivah, that has no merit of its own.

אבל בחי' שלח תשלח כו' הבנים תקח לך הוא הדרך שניתן לאברהם אבינו ע"ה

But the aspect of "you shall surely send away the mother, and the young you may take for yourself" (Devarim 22:7) is the way that was given to Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him.

Sending away the mother and taking the young represents the path Avraham introduced, of actively earning and drawing down blessing.

לכן והארכת ימים שהיא מתקיים לעד והיא בחי' אשה מזרעת תחלה יולדת זכר

Therefore, "and you shall lengthen your days" (Devarim 22:7), which endures forever, and this is the aspect of "when a woman emits seed first she gives birth to a male" (Berachos 60a).

Therefore this path earns long, enduring days, paralleling the teaching that when the woman initiates she bears a male, an image of lasting, active accomplishment.

ודו"ק]:

And let this be carefully considered.

He closes with the customary call to study the matter closely.

Summary: This piece of Sfas Emes explores why even a baby born already circumcised must have a drop of bris blood drawn, and uses it to teach the value of human effort in avodas Hashem. Adam and Noach were born circumcised, but Avraham Avinu had to remove his own orlah through the mitzvah, because Hashem desired that he reach perfection by his own doing; thus the mitzvos exist to refine us, and what a person actively brings from potential to actuality is especially beloved before Hashem. The deeds of tzaddikim are therefore greater even than Creation, for while everything is truly Hashem's making, the tzaddikim open the hidden inner light, a taste of Olam Haba, which is the very secret of milah and its yud sealed in our flesh. The Sfas Emes applies the same idea to shiluach haken: following his grandfather, he explains that the mitzvah is not about Hashem's mercy on the birds but about Bnei Yisrael arousing the attribute of rachamim above through their own deeds. In both milah and shiluach haken, that which is accomplished through human effort, in the path of Avraham Avinu, is what endures forever.