לקוטי שיחות חלק י׳ - לך לך ב

Parshas Lech Lecha

1. In our parshah^[1] it is related that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Avraham our father to circumcise himself and the members of his household; and through fulfilling this command he became "the head of the circumcised"^[2] — the first of all who enter into the holy covenant made between the Holy One, blessed be He, and each and every Jew.

So much so that in the wording of the blessing at a bris milah we say: "to bring him into the covenant of Avraham our father"^[3]. That is, the bris milah performed now belongs to and is attributed to that of Avraham our father. For since he is "(Avraham) our father," he bequeaths and passes on to each of his children^[4], who inherit the power to enter into a covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He^[5]. And regarding the nature of inheritance, it is known:

a) That inheritance does not depend at all on the state and preparation of the son to inherit, for even a one-day-old infant inherits everything.

b) That inheritance does not involve a change of ownership from the one who bequeaths^[6]; rather, the heir steps into the actual place of the one who bequeaths^[7].

From this it is understood that the covenant of every Jew is "the covenant of Avraham our father": for his power and fitness to enter this covenant came to him as an inheritance from Avraham our father; and since the heir — regardless of his own state — steps into the place of the one who bequeaths, as explained above, his covenant is the covenant of Avraham our father.

2. But this requires understanding:

The Rambam^[8] writes in explaining this mitzvah: "We do not circumcise because Avraham our father, peace be upon him, circumcised himself and the members of his household, but because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded us through Moshe our teacher that we be circumcised." It is thus understood that although the power to fulfill the mitzvah of circumcision was given as an inheritance from Avraham our father, the mitzvah itself, as it is incumbent upon us, is not a continuation by inheritance of "the covenant of Avraham our father"; rather, its foundation and beginning^[9] is in the command of the Holy One, blessed be He, through Moshe. If so, why is this mitzvah called "the covenant of Avraham our father"?

Especially according to the statement of the Midrash^[10]: "All the mitzvos that the Patriarchs performed before You were fragrances, but we — 'Your name is oil poured forth.'" Thus our fulfillment of the mitzvos has a superiority and an added advantage over their fulfillment by Avraham our father, like the advantage of the oil itself over its fragrance. If so, how can it be that the mitzvah of circumcision which we fulfill is the covenant of Avraham our father?

It also requires understanding: the wording of the blessing, "into the covenant of Avraham our father," emphasizes Avraham our father; seemingly it would be preferable to emphasize that the covenant is with the Holy One, blessed be He — that is, "to bring him into the covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He."

3. This will be understood by first prefacing the words of the Alter Rebbe in his Shulchan Aruch^[11], that "the beginning of the entry of this holy soul is … with the mitzvah of circumcision."

Seemingly this is not understood: even before the infant is born, while he is still in his mother's womb, "he is taught the entire Torah"^[12]; thus even before he is born the holy soul is present in him^[13], and it is that soul which learns "the entire Torah." How, then, does this fit with what was cited above — that the beginning of the entry of the holy soul is at the time of the bris milah, which is the eighth day after his birth?

The explanation is: "the entry of the holy soul" means an inner bond of the soul with the body, to the point of uniting and fusing into a single entity, at which point the activity of the soul in the body is recognizable and visible. When the fetus is in its mother's womb, however — although the holy soul is already in it — not only has this soul not yet "entered" and become united with its body, as explained above, but even the activity of its vital soul is not yet recognizable and felt in its body: for it eats and drinks and is nourished from what its mother eats, etc.^[14]

And even after he is born, when the soul has already come to be bound with the body, what is recognizable and revealed in his body is not the activity and bond of the G‑dly soul (which is still within him in a hidden and encompassing manner), but rather that of his vital soul. The inner entry of the holy soul into the body, and its revealed bond with it, is brought about and becomes recognizable specifically through the bris milah, because then there comes about "My covenant in your flesh as an everlasting covenant"^[15] — the covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He, is imprinted and sealed in the flesh of the physical body, to the point of "an everlasting covenant" (visible and recognizable even to the nations of the world).

4. This is the advantage of the mitzvah of circumcision over the other mitzvos:

All the mitzvos serve to bind the person who fulfills them with the Holy One, blessed be He, Who commands them — mitzvah is related to the word tzavta^[16], joining and bonding — but this bond is not recognizable in the body of the one who fulfills the mitzvah^[17]. For example, the hand that distributes charity: although this mitzvah certainly brings about a change even in the physical being of the hand, it is not a change that is visible and recognizable in the physical flesh of the hand. With the mitzvah of circumcision, by contrast — and even more so, the entire point of the mitzvah is that the change brought about by one's covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He, be recognizable in the flesh of the body — visible to the eyes of flesh, and even to the nations of the world, as explained above.

In this respect the making of the covenant of circumcision is greater than the making of the covenant at Chorev (and the like): the covenant that the Holy One, blessed be He, made with the Jewish people at Sinai and in the plains of Moav was also with those who were not present there in their bodies, but only in their souls, as it is written^[17*], "With those who are standing here … and with those who are not here with us today." And it is explained in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer^[18] that this covenant was made both with the generations that had passed and with the generations destined to come; that is, the covenant was made with the souls, all of whom were present at that event. And as is well known regarding each and every Jew, including converts: "he is sworn and standing from Mount Sinai"^[19].

Moreover: even those who were present there in their bodies entered into the "covenant" only by hearing the words of the covenant from the mouth of Moshe. Although hearing is grasped by the ear, one of a person's physical organs, the ear is nevertheless only an intermediary through which the soul "hears" (with its spiritual faculty of hearing) and receives what is heard. From this it is understood that the covenant in the plains of Moav (and those like it) was made primarily with the souls of the Jewish people. The covenant of circumcision, however, whose purpose is "My covenant in your flesh as an everlasting covenant," is that (also) the flesh of the physical body — down to "the secret of the end of the body"^[20] — should be bound in an everlasting covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He, as explained above. Through this, "a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed, in the lower realms"^[21] is made — in the lowest realm, beneath which there is none lower^[22].

And this is the entire point of the mitzvah of circumcision: when the infant is eight days old, at a time when he is still devoid of any knowledge, understanding or comprehension, then from the standpoint of the revelation of the soul and its spiritual faculties he is not fit to enter into a covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He. Nevertheless the Torah has placed upon him^[23] the obligation to be circumcised at this age — because the entire point of the bris milah is that the flesh of his physical body be bound in a covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He, as explained above, and this is possible also (and even more so) in an eight-day-old infant.

5. Accordingly, the wording of the blessing, "to bring him into the covenant of Avraham our father," will also be explained:

In Pri HaAretz^[24] by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, the wonder of the test of the Akeidah in Avraham our father is explained: although many Jews (including simple people) throughout the generations have withstood the test of self-sacrifice (even similar to that of the Akeidah), even without having heard an explicit command about it from the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself — nevertheless the greatness of Avraham our father, peace be upon him, in the test of the Akeidah is wondrous. The reason is that Avraham was the first to withstand this test, and in every such matter, being the "first" is exceedingly difficult^[25]. But once the "first" has already "opened the channel"^[26] and paved the way, it becomes easier for those who come after him^[27], for they walk in his ways and paths^[28].

However, all this applies to a matter that depends on a person's understanding and feeling and on his service: in order that he be able to overcome with his own powers the difficulties and obstacles in this matter, when he knows and feels that the "first" (especially when he is his father) has already preceded him and opened the channel "for him and for all his children," this helps him in his own service. But when the matter under discussion is one that is not connected with his knowledge and action, but is an act performed on his body without any preparation or readiness on his part — and especially in an infant, in whom there is no control or influence of his spiritual faculties — then the fact that the thing has already been done before him will not give or help him at all. If so, in this sense there is no difference between him and the "first": in this act he himself is "first," for he has no assistance from the one who came before him.

In truth this is so also with an adult (and a convert) who fulfills the mitzvah of circumcision — even though he already has knowledge, feeling, etc. Since the whole essence of the mitzvah of circumcision is to bring the actual physical flesh (through a physical act) into a covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He, as explained at length above, it is understood that in the act of the covenant itself, that help and assistance which comes by way of the spiritual faculties, and works in them and through them, has no effect. (That is, the empowerment that comes from the first (even that which comes as a special gift, like an inheritance) applies only to the spiritual preparation and readiness to enter into the covenant of circumcision, but not to the effecting and imprinting of the covenant in the physical body.) Accordingly, each and every one who fulfills the mitzvah of bris milah, whether a minor or an adult, is in the category of "first" in this sense.

This explains why we say "to bring him into the covenant of Avraham our father": the distinction and greatness of Avraham our father lies in his having been the first, as explained above; and since every Jew who fulfills this mitzvah is likewise in the category of "first," he enters into the very "covenant of Avraham our father"^[29].

6. According to the above, a further matter that requires explanation will be clarified: why is the bris milah bound up with something that causes "pain to the infant"^[30]? Especially since joy is a central element in the service of G‑d — as it is written^[31], "Serve G‑d with joy"^[32] — why, then, were we commanded by the Holy One, blessed be He, to perform this great and weighty mitzvah^[33] specifically in a manner involving pain — the opposite of joy?

Now, although the fact that the act of circumcision causes pain is because that is the nature of the body in all acts of this kind — nevertheless, since all the matters of the world are precise and correspond to these matters as they are Above in their root (since "they evolved from them"^[34]), and all the more so in a matter of a mitzvah, it is understood that the matter of pain in the bris milah is intended and has a specific purpose.

Especially according to the view of later authorities^[35] that the mitzvah of circumcision must specifically involve pain (and that therefore one may not anesthetize the one being circumcised, wholly^[36] or partially, so that he not feel the pain) — pain is certainly an essential element in the mitzvah of circumcision.

The explanation of this is:

The function of the mitzvah of circumcision is to draw down G‑dliness even into the physical flesh of the body, whereby "a dwelling place in the lower realms" is made for Him, may He be blessed. That is, even in the very lowest, and as it is in its lowliness, a dwelling place is made for Him, may He be blessed. Therefore it must be specifically in flesh as it is in its own nature, defined with all its qualities: even in flesh such as this, which feels pain in a matter (a mitzvah) in which there ought to be the opposite (joy) — even at so low a level, one brings about that it be bound in an everlasting covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He^[37].

7. The lesson from this:

The Alter Rebbe writes in his Shulchan Aruch^[38]: "A person has no authority over his body at all … to cause it any pain." From this it is plainly understood that a person is not permitted to seek out involvement in a matter that will cause him pain. Nevertheless, when the matter at hand is a mission to make a dwelling place for Him, may He be blessed, in the lower realms, then on the contrary — he is not permitted to refrain from it because of the pain connected with it, and "Why do you concern yourself with the hidden ways of the Merciful One?"^[39] Perhaps it is specifically in this way that he fulfills his task and mission.

From this it is understood that one upon whom the task of such a "mission" has been placed cannot leave it to his own judgment whether to accept the mission or not, for "a person is close to himself"^[40], and it is possible that his intellect will be swayed and distorted just so as to evade the mission because of the pain. And although one may say that he should inform the one who sent him that in his opinion (the opinion of the agent) it will cause him pain and the like, the decision itself must be that of the sender (who certainly has no personal motives, G‑d forbid).

On the contrary: when he devotes himself to his task with all his own powers, in addition to the power of the sender, he will certainly succeed and fulfill the mission placed upon him as is fitting — and without pain and suffering^[41], but with joy and gladness of heart — and he will make for Him, may He be blessed, a dwelling place in the lower realms.

(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Pinchas, 19 Tammuz, 5732)

Key Lesson

Most mitzvos bind the soul to G‑d, but circumcision imprints that covenant in the very flesh of the body, which is why it is done on an eight-day-old infant who understands nothing. In such a physical act no one can lean on the trail blazed by those who came before, so every Jew who enters the covenant is himself a "first," and enters the very covenant of Avraham our father. Even the pain is part of the purpose: G‑d's dwelling is made in the lowest place, exactly as it is. So too, one given a mission to make a dwelling for G‑d should not decline it because it is hard; giving himself to it fully, together with the power of the One Who sent him, he will succeed, and with joy.