All-inclusive mitzvos as bundles of avodah

במד' בזאת יבא כו' בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה כו' חבילית של מצות כו'.

In the Midrash: "With this shall Aharon come [into the Kodesh]" (Vayikra 16:3) — "by stratagems shall you wage your war" (Mishlei 24:6) — a "bundle" (chavilah) of mitzvos, etc.

The Sefas Emes cites the Midrash that links Aharon's entry into the Kodesh HaKodashim with the verse about waging war "by stratagems," and with the image of a "bundle" of mitzvos.

אהרן הכהן נכנס בכמה מצות כו' שבת אשרי אנוש יעשה זאת כו'.

Aharon HaKohen entered by means of many mitzvos, etc.; "Shabbos" — "fortunate is the man who does this (zos)." (Yeshayah 56:2)

Aharon's entry was empowered by a whole cluster of mitzvos. The Midrash connects "zos" with Shabbos, hinting that Shabbos too is one of these all-encompassing mitzvos.

והלא שנינו א' המרבה וא' הממעיט.

But have we not learned, "one who does much and one who does little [are equal, provided he directs his heart to Heaven]"? (Berachos 17a)

The Sefas Emes raises a difficulty: if Hashem values quality of intent over quantity, what significance is there in a "bundle" of many mitzvos?

ומה ענין חבילות של מצות.

So what is the matter of "bundles" of mitzvos?

He sharpens the question: why should the sheer accumulation of mitzvos matter at all?

אבל הענין שיש מצות כלליות ונק' חבילות.

But the matter is that there are all-inclusive mitzvos (mitzvos kelaliyos), and these are called "bundles."

The answer: a "bundle" does not mean a large number of separate mitzvos, but a single mitzvah that is comprehensive — one that gathers all the others into itself.

כענין השבת שנאמר יעשה זאת בפרט שהיא כוללת כל המצות וכל המעשים מתיחדים בזו המצוה כמ"ש דאתאחדת ברזא דאחד.

Such as Shabbos, of which it says, "[fortunate is the man who] does this," in particular — for it includes all the mitzvos, and all deeds are unified within this one mitzvah, as it is said, "for it is unified in the secret of the One." (Zohar)

Shabbos is the prime example of an all-inclusive mitzvah: every action of the week is gathered and unified within it, for Shabbos is bound up "in the secret of the One" — the source where all multiplicity returns to unity.

וכן המילה שנק' ברית כידוע.

And so too milah, which is called a "bris" (covenant), as is known.

Bris milah is likewise an all-encompassing mitzvah — it is the very "covenant," a single sign that binds the whole person to Hashem.

ואלה המצות נאמר עליהם בתחבולות תעשה כו' מלחמה:

And concerning these mitzvos it is said, "by stratagems shall you wage… war."

These comprehensive mitzvos — Shabbos and milah — are the "stratagems" by which one wages the war against the yetzer hara, for through a single unifying mitzvah one draws in the power of them all.

Summary: A "bundle of mitzvos" does not mean mere quantity — which Chazal teach is not what counts — but rather mitzvos kelaliyos, all-inclusive mitzvos that gather every other mitzvah into themselves. Shabbos is the paradigm, unifying all the week's deeds "in the secret of the One," as is bris milah, the covenant. These comprehensive mitzvos are the "stratagems" with which Aharon entered the Kodesh and with which every person wages the war of avodah.