Milah removes sorrow and restores joy

במד' תנחומא ויספו ענוים בה' שמחה ע"ש שדורש על שמחת ברית מילה ומביא מה ששאל הרשע לר"ע איזהו מעשים נאים והביא לו גלוסקאות ושבלים ע"ש.

In the Midrash Tanchuma: "And the humble shall increase their joy in Hashem" (Yeshayahu 29:19) — see there, where it expounds on the joy of bris milah, and brings the account of what the wicked one (the Roman governor) asked Rabbi Akiva: "Whose deeds are finer?" — and Rabbi Akiva brought him fine loaves and stalks of grain; see there.

Rabbi Akiva showed the questioner finished loaves alongside raw stalks, demonstrating that man's "deeds" — which complete what Hashem leaves unfinished, like the loaf and like circumcision — are finer, since they perfect creation.

והענין הוא כי אחר החטא של אדה"ר נאמר בזעת אפך תאכל לחם.

And the matter is that after the sin of Adam HaRishon it was said, "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread" (Bereishis 3:19).

The curse after the sin made even bread require human toil and effort to produce.

ולחם כולל גם הזיוג כמ"ש הלחם אשר הוא אוכל.

And "bread" includes also marital union, as it says, "the bread that he eats" (Bereishis 39:6, a euphemism).

"Bread" in Scripture can hint at marital intimacy as well as food — both are domains affected by the sin.

וכן בשניהם נאמר עצבון. בעצב תלדי ובעצבון תאכלנה.

And likewise in both of them "pain (itzavon)" is mentioned: "in pain you shall bear children," and "in toil (itzavon) you shall eat of it."

The same word for pain appears in the curses of childbirth and of eating — marking both areas with itzavon, sorrow.

והיא הערלה ותערובות הרע שנעשה בכל דבר.

And this is the orlah (foreskin/husk) and the admixture of evil that came to be in every thing.

This "pain" is the orlah — the covering of evil now mixed into every aspect of the world after the sin.

ואיתא אדה"ר נולד מהול.

And it is brought that Adam HaRishon was born circumcised.

Before the sin, Adam had no orlah at all — he was created complete.

וממילא לא הי' ערלה בכל תולדתו.

And consequently there was no orlah in all of his nature.

In his original state there was no "covering" of evil anywhere in his being.

רק ע"י החטא נמשך הערלה.

Only through the sin was the orlah drawn forth.

The orlah, the covering of evil, came into being only as a result of the sin.

וזה הרמז אדה"ר מושך בערלתו הי'.

And this is the hint that "Adam HaRishon drew upon his foreskin" (i.e., became "uncircumcised" through sin).

Chazal's statement that Adam "pulled at his orlah" alludes to how, through sin, he brought the covering of evil upon himself.

ולכן נצרך להיות גם התיקון בכח האדם.

Therefore the rectification too must come through the power of man.

Since man caused the orlah, man must also be the one to remove it — the tikkun is placed in human hands.

וכ' עשה האלקים כו' האדם ישר.

And it is written, "God made man upright (yashar)" (Koheles 7:29).

Man was created straight and complete; the crookedness came later, from his own choices.

ישר הוא בחי' מילה כמ"ש לישרי לב שמחה.

"Upright" is the aspect of milah, as it says, "joy to the upright of heart" (Tehillim 97:11).

Uprightness corresponds to milah — the removal of the covering — and it is bound up with joy for the straight-hearted.

אך המה בקשו חשבונות רבים.

"But they sought many calculations" (Koheles 7:29).

Mankind complicated their original uprightness with countless schemes and crooked reckonings.

לכן נאמר אשה כי תזריע כו' שע"י האשה הוסב הדבר להיות ערלה וטומאה בלידה כמ"ש בעצב תלדי.

Therefore it is said, "When a woman conceives…" — for through the woman the matter came about that there should be orlah and impurity in birth, as it says, "in pain you shall bear."

Because Chavah's part in the sin introduced itzavon into childbirth, birth now carries impurity and the child is born with an orlah.

אכן ע"י המילה זוכין לאור הראשון שהי' קודם החטא.

However, through milah one merits the original light that existed before the sin.

Bris milah restores access to the pristine "first light" of creation, as it was before Adam sinned.

ולכן קיבלו בנ"י מצות מילה בשמחה שהוא היפוך העצבון.

Therefore Bnei Yisrael accepted the mitzvah of milah with joy, which is the opposite of itzavon (pain/sorrow).

Because milah undoes the sorrow introduced by sin, Bnei Yisrael embraced it with simchah — the very reverse of itzavon.

כי כל עצב בא מסט"א.

For all sorrow comes from the sitra achra.

Sadness itself is rooted in the "other side" — the realm of impurity.

וכמו כן במאכל בעצבון תאכלנה.

And likewise with food: "in toil you shall eat of it."

The same sorrow attaches to eating, which now demands struggle and refinement.

והיא הפסולת והקליפות.

And this is the waste and the klipos (husks).

The "toil" of eating reflects the husks and refuse now mixed into food.

שקודם החטא הי' מוציא הארץ לחם מוכן לאכול בלי תיקון.

For before the sin, the earth would bring forth bread ready to eat without any preparation.

Originally the ground produced finished bread effortlessly, with no need for human labor to refine it.

ושוב ראיתי מכל זה בס' אוה"ח.

And I afterward saw all this in the sefer Ohr HaChaim.

The Sefas Emes notes that he later found this idea expressed in the Ohr HaChaim's commentary.

והנה בשבת נאמר ולא יוסיף עצב עמה.

And behold, regarding Shabbos it is said, "and He adds no sorrow (etzev) with it" (Mishlei 10:22).

The blessing of Shabbos comes with no admixture of sorrow.

כי בימי המעשה יש תערובות וכל נקודה קדושה א"י להתגלות רק ע"י הסתר וקליפה וסט"א.

For during the weekdays there is admixture, and every holy point cannot be revealed except through concealment, klipah, and the sitra achra.

On weekdays holiness is hidden and can only emerge through layers of concealment and resistance from the "other side."

אבל בשבת קודש סט"א ערקת והברכה מתפשטת בלי תערובות ובטל העצבון.

But on Shabbos Kodesh the sitra achra flees, and the blessing spreads without admixture, and the sorrow is nullified.

On Shabbos the forces of impurity withdraw entirely, blessing flows unmixed, and sorrow is annulled.

ולכן אחז"ל וביום שמחתכם הוא שבת.

Therefore Chazal said: "and on the day of your rejoicing" — this is Shabbos.

Shabbos is identified as "the day of your rejoicing," for it is free of sorrow.

כי מסלק העצבון כמו מילה.

For it removes the sorrow, just like milah.

Shabbos, like bris milah, strips away the itzavon caused by sin.

והנה שבת סהדותא איקרי שלא יאמרו באי העולם כי כך ברא הש"י להיות העצבון והסט"א בעולם.

And behold, Shabbos is called "a testimony," so that the inhabitants of the world should not say that Hashem created the world this way — with sorrow and the sitra achra in it.

Shabbos testifies that sorrow and evil are not part of Hashem's original creation but consequences of sin.

הרי ביום השבת ערקת הסט"א.

For behold, on the Shabbos day the sitra achra flees.

The weekly withdrawal of evil on Shabbos proves that evil is not intrinsic to the world as Hashem made it.

וז"ש להגיד כי ישר ה' צורי.

And this is the meaning of "to declare that Hashem is upright (yashar), my Rock" (Tehillim 92:15).

The Shabbos psalm declares Hashem "yashar" — that His creation is fundamentally straight and good.

שרק ע"י החטא נתהוה העצבון.

That only through the sin did the sorrow come into being.

Sorrow is a product of sin, not of Hashem's upright creation.

ושבת ובנ"י עדים ע"ז.

And Shabbos and Bnei Yisrael are witnesses to this.

Both Shabbos and Bnei Yisrael bear witness that the world was created upright and free of sorrow.

לכן גם במילה שזכו בנ"י להעביר הערלה הוא עדות.

Therefore milah too, by which Bnei Yisrael merited to remove the orlah, is a testimony.

Bris milah, removing the covering of evil, likewise testifies to the original uprightness of creation.

וכ' שש אנכי כו' כמוצא שלל רב.

And it is written, "I rejoice over Your word like one who finds great spoil" (Tehillim 119:162).

The joy of milah is likened to finding great plunder.

פי' מה ששלל הסט"א ונחש הקדמוני בעצתו להביא עצבון בעולם.

The explanation: that which the sitra achra and the primordial serpent "plundered" by their counsel, to bring sorrow into the world.

The serpent's scheme had "stolen" away the world's joy by introducing sorrow.

ובכח המילה מסלקין העצבון ובא השמחה.

And through the power of milah one removes the sorrow, and the joy comes.

Bris milah reclaims that stolen joy — the "great spoil" — by removing the sorrow the serpent introduced.

וז"ש בערב ילין בכי הוא בימי המעשה והתערובות.

And this is the meaning of "in the evening weeping lodges" (Tehillim 30:6) — this is during the weekdays and the admixture.

The "evening of weeping" represents the weekdays, when holiness is mixed with concealment and sorrow.

ולבקר רנה הוא בחי' שבת ומילה. שהוא טוב בלי פסולת:

"And in the morning, joyous song" — this is the aspect of Shabbos and milah, which is good without any waste.

The "morning of joyous song" is Shabbos and milah — pure good with no admixture of refuse, the restoration of creation's original state.

Summary: The sin of Adam introduced orlah and itzavon — a covering of evil and sorrow mixed into birth, food, and all of life. Because man caused this, man must repair it: through bris milah Bnei Yisrael remove the orlah and recover the original light of creation, which is why milah is accepted with joy, the opposite of sorrow. Shabbos accomplishes the same — evil flees and sorrow is nullified — and both Shabbos and milah testify that sorrow stems only from sin, while Hashem's creation is fundamentally upright.