Hidden inner core of land and bris

בפ' כי תבואו כו' ג' שנים יהי' לכם ערלים כו'.

On the parsha "When you come [into the land]... for three years it shall be to you as forbidden (areilim)," etc. (Vayikra 19:23).

The Sefas Emes opens from the mitzvah of orlah: the fruit of a newly planted tree is forbidden for the first three years, "covered over" before it may be eaten — and he will read this as a parable for the hidden inner core of Eretz Yisrael and of the Jew.

כתי' סוד ה' ליראיו.

It is written: "The secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him" (Tehillim 25:14).

The deepest secret, the sod, is entrusted only to those who possess yiras Shomayim.

וארץ ישראל אשר נתן הקב"ה לאבותינו יש בה אוצרות גנוזים והקב"ה מסר הסוד ומפתח איך למצוא הפנימיות.

And Eretz Yisrael, which the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to our forefathers, contains hidden treasures, and Hashem handed over the secret and the key for how to find the penimiyus (inner essence).

Eretz Yisrael holds concealed spiritual treasures, and Hashem gave Klal Yisrael both the sod and the "key" — the means of accessing the inner dimension of the land.

וכמו ברית מילה בנפש שכ' במד' ע"ז סוד ה' ליראיו כי אור הגנוז בברית יש עליו ג' קליפות.

It is like the bris milah in the soul, regarding which the Midrash says on this verse "the secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him," for the hidden light contained in the bris has upon it three kelipos (husks).

Just as Eretz Yisrael has a concealed core, so does the bris milah: the holy hidden light of the bris is wrapped in three covering kelipos that conceal it — paralleling the three years of orlah.

חותם תוך חותם.

A seal within a seal.

The inner light is sealed up layer upon layer, guarded behind successive coverings.

ומסר הקב"ה הסוד לא"א ע"ה.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, handed over the secret to Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him.

It was to Avraham — the first to receive the mitzvah of milah — that Hashem entrusted this secret of reaching the hidden light beneath the kelipos.

וכמו כן בעולם מסר לו סוד א"י שהוא שורש כל העולם.

And likewise in the world He handed over to him the secret of Eretz Yisrael, which is the root of the entire world.

Just as Avraham received the secret of the bris within the soul, he was also given the secret of Eretz Yisrael within the world — and that land is the spiritual root from which all of creation draws.

וז"ש יהי' לכם ערלים.

And this is the meaning of "it shall be to you as areilim (uncircumcised/forbidden)."

The Torah's term areilim for the forbidden fruit deliberately echoes orlah, the covering removed at milah — linking the land's hidden core to the hidden light of the bris.

לכם בשבילכם.

"To you" — meaning, for your sake.

The word lachem ("to you") is read as "for your benefit": the concealment exists for the sake of Bnei Yisrael themselves.

שכל הערלה וקליפות הסוככים על הפנימיות.

For all the orlah and the kelipos screen over the penimiyus.

The "covering" of orlah and the kelipos serve as a protective screen guarding the inner holiness.

לבל יגע בה זר.

So that no stranger should touch it.

The purpose of the concealment is protective — to keep the holy inner point from being grasped or defiled by anyone unworthy.

וא"י לעמוד על סוד הארץ רק על ידי המפתח שנתן לנו הקדוש ברוך הוא בתורה וכן כתיב ועמך כולם צדיקים כו' יירשו ארץ נצר מטעי.

And it is impossible to grasp the secret of the land except by means of the key that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us in the Torah; and so it is written, "And your people are all tzaddikim... they shall inherit the land, a shoot of My planting" (Yeshayahu 60:21).

The only "key" that unlocks the inner secret of the land is the Torah; the pasuk ties together being tzaddikim, inheriting Eretz Yisrael, and being "a shoot of My planting" — the very imagery of the planted tree of orlah.

שע"י שיש בנפשם אות ברית נמסר להם סוד א"י:

For because they have within their souls the sign of the bris (os bris), the secret of Eretz Yisrael is handed over to them.

Since Bnei Yisrael bear the os bris within their very souls — the same hidden light beneath the kelipos — they are the ones entrusted with, and able to reach, the inner secret of the land.

Summary: The three years of orlah parallel the three kelipos that conceal the hidden light of the bris milah — "a seal within a seal." Hashem entrusted Avraham with the sod both of the bris in the soul and of Eretz Yisrael in the world; the concealment protects the inner penimiyus from any zar, and the only key to it is the Torah. Because Bnei Yisrael carry the os bris within them, the secret of Eretz Yisrael — the root of all the world — is given over to them.