Milah as the gateway to all mitzvos

והנה באמת מצות מילה היא מן התרי"ג מצות.

Now in truth the mitzvah of milah (circumcision) is one of the 613 mitzvos.

The Sefas Emes notes that bris milah is counted among the taryag (613) mitzvos.

וא"א להתקיים מצות מילה בשלימות רק באמצעות התרי"ג מצות.

And the mitzvah of milah cannot be fulfilled in its completeness except by means of the 613 mitzvos.

Milah only reaches its full perfection when it is bound up with the entire body of taryag mitzvos.

ולכן היא ברית שגי' תרי"ג עם המילה.

Therefore it is called "bris," whose numerical value (gematria) is 613 together with the milah.

The word "bris" equals 612, and counting the milah itself as one makes 613 — hinting that the covenant of milah contains all the mitzvos within it.

ובאמת אברהם עצמו קיים כל המצות עד שלא ניתנו.

And in truth Avraham himself fulfilled all the mitzvos even before they were given.

Avraham Avinu kept the whole Torah before it was commanded at Sinai.

אבל עיקר שלימות מצות מילה בבנ"י שניתן להם התרי"ג מצות ובתוכם מצות ביום השמיני ימול.

But the essential completeness of the mitzvah of milah is in Bnei Yisrael, to whom the 613 mitzvos were given, and among them the mitzvah of "on the eighth day he shall be circumcised."

The fullness of milah belongs to Bnei Yisrael, who received all taryag mitzvos as a formal command — including milah on the eighth day — so that their milah is rooted in the complete Torah.

אבל לא"א ניתן המצוה מקודם.

But to Avraham our father the mitzvah was given beforehand.

Avraham received milah earlier, on his own, before the rest of the Torah was given.

ועליו נאמר אחות לנו קטנה כו' אם חומה היא כו'.

Of him it is said, "We have a little sister" etc., "if she be a wall" etc.

The Sefas Emes applies the verses of Shir HaShirim (8:8-9) to Avraham: the "little sister" is the beginning of the mitzvah in its early, immature stage.

פי' שזה הי' התחלת המצוה בקטנות.

The meaning is that this was the beginning of the mitzvah in a state of smallness (katnus).

Avraham's milah was the seed and start of the mitzvah, but in a diminished, incomplete form.

לכן לא ניתן מצות פריעה שהוא התגלות אור המילה.

Therefore the mitzvah of pri'ah (the uncovering) was not given to him, which is the revelation of the light of the milah.

Pri'ah, which fully reveals the light hidden in milah, was not yet commanded to Avraham — because his stage was still only the beginning.

ואח"כ כשזכו בנ"י אחריו נגמר המצוה בשלימות.

And afterward, when Bnei Yisrael who came after him merited it, the mitzvah was completed in its fullness.

Only when Bnei Yisrael received the full Torah — including pri'ah — was the mitzvah of milah brought to its complete form.

וע"ז כתיב לבית יעקב אשר פדה את אברהם.

Concerning this it is written, "to the house of Yaakov, who redeemed Avraham."

The posuk (Yeshayahu 29:22) says the house of Yaakov "redeemed Avraham" — his descendants completed and elevated the mitzvah he began.

כי ישמעאל הי' ג"כ נימול אבל הי' רק לשעה.

For Yishmael too was circumcised, but it was only temporary.

Yishmael also had a milah, yet it lacked permanence — a circumcision without enduring kedushah.

דלת היא כו' לוח ארז.

"If she be a door... we will enclose her with a board of cedar."

Continuing Shir HaShirim, the "door" that swings open represents the unstable milah of Yishmael, which had no lasting structure.

אבל בבנ"י אני חומה כו' כמוצאת שלום.

But in Bnei Yisrael, "I am a wall" etc., "then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace."

Bnei Yisrael are the steadfast "wall" (Shir HaShirim 8:10) — their milah is firm and enduring, bringing them to wholeness and peace.

ונבנה אח"כ על המילה טירת כסף שהיא כל המצות שבאו בזכות המילה מצוה ראשונה לבנ"י.

And afterward there was built upon the milah a "palace of silver," which is all the mitzvos that came in the merit of the milah, the first mitzvah of Bnei Yisrael.

On the foundation of milah — the "wall" — a whole "palace of silver" is built: all the other mitzvos, which flow from milah, the first mitzvah given to Bnei Yisrael.

ולכן כתי' שש אנכי כו' כמוצא שלל רב.

Therefore it is written, "I rejoice... like one who finds great spoil."

The joy of the posuk (Tehillim 119:162) is the joy over milah, through which one "finds great spoil" — all the mitzvos that come in its merit.

שע"י המילה זכו אח"כ לכל המצות.

For through the milah they afterward merited all the mitzvos.

Milah was the gateway: in its merit Bnei Yisrael went on to attain the entire body of mitzvos.

וא"א ע"ה הי' המתחיל.

And Avraham our father, peace be upon him, was the one who began.

Avraham initiated this whole chain by being the first to perform milah.

ואי לאו דדלא לן חספא לא אשכחנן מרגניתא.

And "had he not lifted up the shard for us, we would not have found the pearl."

Using the Gemara's image (Yevamos 92b), the Sefas Emes says Avraham raised the outer "shard" (the beginning of milah) that allowed his descendants to uncover the "pearl" — its full inner light.

ולכן מברכין במילה ב' ברכות.

Therefore at a milah we recite two berachos.

This dual character — Avraham's beginning and Bnei Yisrael's completion — is reflected in the two blessings made at a bris.

להכניסו מלבד על מצות המילה.

"To bring him in [to the covenant]" — apart from [the blessing] on the mitzvah of milah itself.

Beyond the beracha on the act of milah, there is a second, "to bring him into the covenant of Avraham" — marking that the child is being joined to the larger covenant containing all the mitzvos.

ויש חלק לא"א בכל מצות מילה שבנ"י מקיימין.

And Avraham our father has a share in every mitzvah of milah that Bnei Yisrael perform.

Because Avraham began the mitzvah, he retains a portion in every milah his descendants will ever perform.

וע"ז כתי' שכרך הרבה מאוד.

Concerning this it is written, "your reward is very great."

Hashem's promise to Avraham, "your reward is very great" (Bereishis 15:1), reflects his ongoing share in every future milah.

ויתכן עוד לומר כי באמת כל תרי"ג מצות תלוין זה בזה כידוע.

And one may further say that in truth all 613 mitzvos are bound up one with another, as is known.

He now broadens the idea: all taryag mitzvos are interconnected, each linked to all the rest.

וא"א ע"ה ששש על המצוה מאוד וידע והאמין כי במצות ה' כלול הכל.

And Avraham our father, peace be upon him, rejoiced over the mitzvah greatly, and he knew and believed that within the mitzvah of Hashem all is included.

Avraham's great simchah and emunah in milah came from his recognition that a single mitzvah of Hashem contains the whole of avodah within it.

ולכן המשיך עי"ז כל התרי"ג מצות והוא ללמד על הכלל כולו כי בכל מצוה כפי רוב השמחה ואמונה שיש לאדם בעשיות המצוה יכול לבוא בזה לכל המצות.

Therefore through it he drew down all 613 mitzvos — and this teaches about the whole rule: that in every mitzvah, according to the abundance of joy and faith a person has in performing the mitzvah, he can thereby come to all the mitzvos.

Avraham's joy and emunah in this one mitzvah drew all 613 after it, and this is a general principle: with enough simchah and emunah in any single mitzvah, a person can reach the entirety of the mitzvos through it.

רק פתח המילה כבר נפתח ע"י א"א.

Only that the opening of milah was already opened by Avraham our father.

With milah specifically, the "doorway" has already been opened once and for all by Avraham.

שעל ידה המשיך כל המצות.

For through it he drew down all the mitzvos.

Through milah Avraham opened the channel that draws all the mitzvos into the world.

אבל באמת הוא ללמד על כל המצות כנ"ל.

But in truth it teaches about all the mitzvos, as explained above.

Milah is only the prime example; the lesson applies to every mitzvah done with joy and faith.

והיינו דתנן הוי רץ למצוה קלה ששכר מצוה מצוה שמצוה גוררת מצוה כו':

And this is what is taught in the Mishnah: "Run to a 'light' mitzvah, for the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, since one mitzvah draws another after it."

This is the Mishnah in Avos (4:2): doing even a seemingly minor mitzvah with eagerness draws further mitzvos after it — for the true reward of a mitzvah is the next mitzvah it brings, exactly as milah drew all taryag in its wake.

Summary: Bris milah, whose gematria hints at all 613 mitzvos, can only be perfected through the whole Torah. Avraham began the mitzvah in "katnus," without pri'ah — the unstable "door" — while Bnei Yisrael, who received the full Torah, are the steadfast "wall" who completed it and built upon it the "palace of silver" of all the mitzvos. Avraham, who "lifted the shard so we could find the pearl," retains a share in every milah, reflected in the two berachos. The deeper lesson: any single mitzvah done with abundant simchah and emunah can draw all the mitzvos after it — "one mitzvah leads to another."