Two covenants for two worlds

בפסוק כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי.

On the pasuk: "For you are sojourners and residents with Me."

The verse (Vayikra 25:23) describes Bnei Yisrael as both "gerim" (sojourners/strangers) and "toshavim" (settled residents) before Hashem.

פי' גרים בעוה"ז ותושבים בעוה"ב.

The meaning: "sojourners" in this world (olam hazeh), and "residents" in the World to Come (olam haba).

In this world we are only passing strangers, but in the next world we are permanent residents — two facets of our standing before Hashem.

כי הנה א"י דכ' בי' כי לי הארץ ואיתא במד' כ"מ שנאמר לי הוא לעולם ולעולמי עולמים.

For behold, Eretz Yisrael, of which it is written "for the Land is Mine," and the Midrash teaches that wherever "Mine" (li) is said, it is forever and to all eternity.

Because Hashem calls Eretz Yisrael "Mine" (the same pasuk, Vayikra 25:23), and the Midrash's rule is that "li" denotes the eternal, the Land carries an everlasting quality reaching into olam haba.

וכן במשנה אמרו כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעוה"ב שנאמר לעולם יירשו ארץ.

And likewise the Mishnah said: "All of Yisrael have a portion in the World to Come, as it says 'they shall inherit the Land forever.'"

The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 90a) derives every Jew's share in olam haba from a verse about inheriting the Land (Yeshayahu 60:21), showing the Land and the World to Come are bound together.

הרי כי הארץ היא ג"כ עוה"ב.

Thus the Land is also [bound up with] the World to Come.

Eretz Yisrael is not merely a physical place; it carries within it the eternal dimension of olam haba.

ולכן כתי' וכרות עמו הברית לתת כו' לתת לזרעו.

Therefore it is written: "and You forged with him the covenant to give... to give to his offspring."

The verse (Nechemiah 9:8) repeats "to give" twice, which the Sefas Emes reads as a deliberate doubling.

ב"פ לתת בעוה"ז ובעוה"ב.

Twice "to give" — in this world and in the World to Come.

The double "to give" corresponds to the two gifts: the Land in this world and its eternal counterpart in the next.

והם ב' הבריתות דאיתא (נתן) [*כרת] לו ברית בין עשר אצבעות רגליו זו המילה ובין אצבעות ידיו ברית הלשון.

And these are the two covenants, as it is taught: [He forged] with him a covenant "between the ten toes of his feet" — this is milah (circumcision) — and "between the fingers of his hands" — the covenant of the tongue (bris halashon).

Chazal (Sefer Yetzirah) speak of two covenants Hashem made with Avraham: the bris milah of the body and the "bris halashon," the covenant of speech and Torah.

ברית הלשון הוא בחלק שלמעלה שהוא מהג' דברים שאדם דומה למלאך מדבר בלשון הקודש כמלאכי השרת ע"ש בחגיגה.

The covenant of the tongue is in the higher part [of man], which is among the three things in which a person resembles an angel: he speaks in Lashon HaKodesh (the Holy Tongue) like the ministering angels. See there in [Chagigah].

Speech in the Holy Tongue is one of the three angelic qualities of man (Chagigah 16a); the bris halashon belongs to this elevated, spiritual dimension.

אבל חיבה יתירה חיבב הקב"ה את אברהם וכרת לו ברית המעור בחלק שדומין לבהמה גם בזה נשתתף עמנו הקב"ה וחתם בנו שמו.

But with extra affection the Holy One, blessed be He, loved Avraham, and forged with him the covenant of milah in the part [of man] that resembles an animal; even in this Hashem associated Himself with us and sealed His Name within us.

Out of special love, Hashem extended the covenant even to the bodily, "animal-like" dimension through bris milah, imprinting His Name (the letters of Sh-d-d-y) into our very flesh.

וכ"כ במדרש תחתונים שיש בהם יצה"ר צריכין לב' אמירות.

And so it is written in the Midrash: the lower beings, who have a yetzer hara within them, require two "sayings" (amiros).

Because earthly beings are pulled by the yetzer hara, they need a twofold bond to secure them — two covenants rather than one.

אמירה היא התקשרות וברית כמו ה' האמירך.

An "amirah" (saying) is a bonding and a covenant, as in "Hashem he'emircha" ("you have affirmed Hashem").

The word "amirah" connotes a mutual binding, as in the reciprocal affirmation between Hashem and Yisrael (Devarim 26:17-18).

והם ב' הבריתות.

And these are the two covenants.

The two "amiros" correspond to the two covenants of milah and the tongue.

וז"ש במשנה תלמידי א"א ע"ה אוכלין בעוה"ז ונוחלין לעוה"ב דכתי' להנחיל אוהבי יש.

And this is what the Mishnah says: the disciples of Avraham Avinu eat in this world and inherit the World to Come, as it is written "to bequeath substance (yesh) to those who love Me."

The Mishnah (Avos 5:19) promises Avraham's disciples a portion in both worlds, derived from Mishlei 8:21 and its word "yesh" (substance).

ובזוהר איתא י"ש הוא יובל שמיטה.

And in the Zohar it is taught: "yesh" (yud-shin) is Yovel and Shemittah.

The Zohar reads the word "yesh" as an acronym for Yovel (the Jubilee) and Shemittah (the Sabbatical year).

והם ב' בחי' הנ"ל.

And these are the two aspects mentioned above.

Yovel and Shemittah correspond, respectively, to the two dimensions of olam haba and olam hazeh, the two covenants.

וזה גרים ותושבים.

And this is "sojourners and residents."

The two terms of the opening pasuk now map onto these two aspects.

גר בחי' צדיק.

"Ger" (sojourner) is the aspect of tzaddik.

The sojourner corresponds to the level of the tzaddik who labors in this world.

וסימנך גר צדק.

And your sign is "ger tzedek" (a righteous convert).

The phrase "ger tzedek" itself links "ger" with righteousness, confirming the connection.

שבכח המילה זוכין לא"י שלמטה וזה בחי' שמיטה.

For through the power of milah they merit Eretz Yisrael below, and this is the aspect of Shemittah.

Bris milah, the bodily covenant, earns the Land in this world, corresponding to Shemittah — the seventh year tied to this world.

גם צדיק גי' גר ע"ה.

Also, "tzaddik" in gematria equals "ger" plus one (im hakollel).

By numerical value the word tzaddik matches ger (with the standard added "one"), reinforcing that the sojourner is the tzaddik.

תושבים בחי' יובל.

"Residents" (toshavim) is the aspect of Yovel.

The permanent resident corresponds to Yovel, the Jubilee of complete return and freedom.

עולם הבא.

The World to Come.

Yovel, in turn, represents olam haba — the realm of ultimate, enduring rest.

בחי' תשובה.

The aspect of teshuvah.

Yovel is also the aspect of teshuvah, the great return to the source (its very name shares the theme of "returning").

וע"י התורה זוכין לעוה"ב כדאיתא במשנה קנה לו ד"ת קנה לו חיי עוה"ב והוא ברית הלשון:

And through the Torah one merits the World to Come, as the Mishnah teaches: "one who acquires for himself words of Torah acquires for himself the life of the World to Come" — and this is the covenant of the tongue.

Torah, the "bris halashon" of speech, is what secures olam haba (Avos 2:7), completing the parallel: milah earns the Land below, while Torah earns the eternal world.

Summary: "Sojourners and residents" describes Bnei Yisrael as strangers in this world yet eternal residents in the next — for Eretz Yisrael itself carries the eternity of olam haba. These two standings flow from the two covenants Hashem made with Avraham out of special love: bris milah, the bodily covenant that earns the Land below (Shemittah, ger, tzaddik), and bris halashon, the covenant of Torah and speech that earns the World to Come (Yovel, teshuvah, the resident).