The Secret of Hashem to Those Who Fear Him in the Mitzvah of Bris Milah | Zohar Pekudei 14 on Circumcision, Parshas Lech Lecha 5787 (Auto Translated)

The Secret of Brit Milah – A Sign of What a Person Is, Not What He Does

The Benefit of Contemplating the Mitzvah

This shiur is in honor of Erev Shabbat Parshat Lech Lecha 5777, and we are continuing our study of the mitzvot from the Sefer HaPekudin in the Zohar. In honor of the parsha, I have chosen to learn the mitzvah of brit milah, which appears at the end of Parshat Lech Lecha.

The main intention of this shiur, and this is its entire purpose, is this: We all have brit milah. Every Jew, at least all those I know, was circumcised at the proper time. But as with every mitzvah, the spiritual benefit lies in a person taking something from it, even with minimal awareness. Without awareness, the thing certainly exists always – you have brit milah, you have brit milah; but since the entire point of our approach is to say that when a person pays attention and settles his mind upon it, turns his heart and adds a bit of thought, he receives benefit of an entirely different level. This is the level of da’at (knowledge), the level of understanding, the level of intellect, the level of kavanah (intention). So too with the mitzvah of brit milah – a person needs to set aside time to think about it, to be with it.

And we do not practice this sufficiently with this mitzvah. There are mitzvot that merit “status” on their own, since they come from time to time and people make an occasion of them, like mitzvot that come periodically. When Pesach comes, people contemplate the mitzvah of matzah extensively, and therefore matzah has a powerful effect on a person. Everyone who eats matzah every year on Pesach receives vitality from it, receives divine insights from it, receives good counsel from it – all the matters contained in matzah, which each person learns according to his concern before Pesach – because he pays attention, dedicates time to it, dedicates attention to it.

Frequent Mitzvot: The Deficiency in Attention to Milah

But the mitzvot that a person performs every day, like tzitzit and tefillin and milah – and milah even more than daily – we find that people give them less attention. And this is unfortunate. For this is one of the greatest mitzvot, and one of the most fundamental. Everyone knows that through brit milah a person becomes a Jew. Avraham Avinu became a Jew, so to speak, “va’etnah briti beini uveinecha” (Bereishit 17:2), “hithalech lefanai veheyeh tamim va’etnah briti beini uveinecha” (ibid. 1-2). Through this Avraham Avinu became a person, Avraham Avinu became tamim (complete), Avraham Avinu became shalem (whole). And through this every Jew becomes a Jew, and we say “lehachniso bivrito shel Avraham Avinu” (Shabbat 137b).

And indeed we make a great celebration, for it is one of the mitzvot “she’kiblu aleihem besimchah” (Shabbat 130a), as explained. Therefore we make a great celebration when a brit milah comes. And yet, even the celebration itself I feel is never sufficient, for several technical reasons due to which the brit milah celebration doesn’t turn out to be as great a simchah as it should be. The Gemara explains that the wedding, since the mitzvah of forbidden relations was accepted with some sadness – “bocheh lemishpechotav” (Bamidbar 11:10; Shabbat 130a) – there is still in every wedding a kind of quarrel, and its joy is not complete; yet in practice we make weddings with great joy, with great ceremony. But brit milah, even when it’s in the morning and people need to go to work, for whatever technical reason, we don’t see in it as great a joy as a wedding or such great celebration.

So something is missing. And even if we say that indeed a person makes a brit, or he himself was circumcised, and he has vitality from it – it’s a time of joy for him, a yom tov for him, he makes a brit – he was only eight days old! And brit milah is not only when he’s eight days old; brit milah continues and goes with a person all the days of his life, from when he was eight days old, from eight days old, and from then on he remains without orlah (foreskin), remains with brit milah. As is known from the midrash about David HaMelech, who contemplated his brit milah and said “lamnatze’ach al hasheminit” (Tehillim 6:1; Menachot 43b).

The Rambam: Why Are the Laws of Milah Written in Sefer Ahavah?

And as the Rambam says in his introduction to Sefer Ahavah in Mishneh Torah, that Sefer Ahavah contains the mitzvot “that are frequent that we were commanded in them in order to love Hashem and to remember Him always” (Rambam, Introduction to Sefer Ahavah). And he brings there all those mitzvot that we would expect and anticipate to be in Sefer Ahavah: the mitzvot of Kriat Shema, tefillah, tefillin, berachot – all the matters in the order of Orach Chaim part 1, as I call it, things we do every day. Hilchot Zemanim is Orach Chaim parts 2 and 3, matters of Shabbat and Yamim Tovim. But he included milah in this! And why did he include milah in Sefer Ahavah? Because it too is “an ot (sign) in our flesh to remember always at a time when there are no tefillin or tzitzit” (ibid.), like that midrash we mentioned.

And here is something interesting in understanding the Rambam regarding brit milah: Just as every Jew learning Sefer Ahavah in the Rambam, learning Hilchot Tefillin and Hilchot Tefillah and the like, which are all things he does every day, comes to brit milah: this is something done – yes, a mohel perhaps does it every day, and needs to know its laws every day – but a father, and even an ordinary person, does it once in his life. Brit milah is one of the mitzvot that belong to once in a lifetime; it is, so to speak, the smallest of them, the rarest mitzvah in a person’s life. A person will say: There are mitzvot we do every day, there are mitzvot we do once a week, there are mitzvot we do once a year, there are mitzvot we do once in shemittah, and there are mitzvot we do once in a lifetime. There is brit milah; a wedding we hope to do once in a lifetime, and perhaps it’s possible twice. But brit milah is only possible once. By its very definition brit milah is only once in a lifetime; and this is the least of mitzvot from the perspective of fixed time, as it appears from the very performance of the mitzvah.

And on the other hand we understand that on the contrary, in complete reversal: The Rambam says it’s in Sefer Ahavah, that it’s the most fixed mitzvah, the most frequent! For even the daily mitzvot – Kriat Shema, tzitzit – let’s say a person wears tzitzit all day, and that he should have worn tefillin all day, even this is not all day. There are times when he doesn’t wear tzitzit and tefillin: he enters the bathhouse, removes his garments at night to sleep – and although the Arizal came and said it’s possible to wear tzitzit at night, even though it’s not a mitzvah, and I don’t know what its effect is, in any case at that time he has only brit milah. So brit milah is “an ot in our flesh to remember always,” and like everything, when we don’t think about it we don’t take anything from it.

The Matter of Vach Nacht: Cutting the Orlah of the Heart

And when Parshat Lech Lecha comes, there is a complete parsha in it about brit milah. In Parshat Shemini it returns, but there in only one verse. Here the entire deed is stated, all the light, all the inspiration of brit milah. Therefore we are making a shiur – ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour, whatever its length will be – and its purpose is that a person should spend twenty minutes in thought about the brit milah that we have.

And this is a very good thing. The thing itself is brit milah; contained in it are all the segulot (special qualities) that milah accomplishes: it pushes away the orlah, we are disconnected from all kinds of bad things, from all kinds of external things. This is what we are doing here.

However, it’s not possible to sit idle doing nothing – and indeed it’s possible, but it’s difficult on video – therefore we will learn meanwhile a bit of what the Zohar says about the mitzvah of brit milah here in Pekudin. Pekuda 14, says the Zohar, is the mitzvah of brit milah.

And as we learned the Pekudin briefly, many things are written here a second time from what was already written in Parshat Lech Lecha, where the Zohar elaborates greatly. Everyone who performs brit milah should learn beforehand the Zohar in Parshat Lech Lecha, all the lengthy discussion there about brit milah. And from there we learn the mitzvah of vach nacht, the very idea. And the idea is simple: that a person should learn and think about the matter – not just make a brit in the morning, but that an entire night beforehand he should learn. The Zohar tells a story that someone made a brit, and all the friends, the entire chavurah, came there and learned beforehand.

And they say this too is a segulah against external things, kelipot. But this is the same thing! For the greatest kelipah, as the meaning of orlah – orlah means dullness; and dullness means distraction, that a person comes in the morning to a brit and makes a brit, and there is around this a great orlah, and one needs to cut the orlah! And just as one needs to cut the orlah of the flesh, one needs to cut the orlah of the heart, and to cut the orlah of the heart that doesn’t allow one to feel, that doesn’t allow one to rejoice in the orlah of the flesh.

How so: During the day the time for the mitzvah has already arrived, and one needs to do it in practice, but at night a person needs to dedicate time, to open and broaden his perspective, to contemplate all the verses, all the statements, how they are understood, in all the ways, so that he can receive the vitality of brit milah.

And here in Pekudin the Zohar is more concise, and brings only the main points of how we understand the matter of brit milah. Perhaps there are some novel insights here, but this is the subject being learned here.

Foundations of the Mitzvah: Cutting the Brit and the Eighth Day

Two Questions: What Is the Cutting, and Why on the Eighth Day?

Thus says the Zohar: The mitzvah is to circumcise a baby boy on the eighth day, and the Zohar calls it “geziri dekayama kadisha” (Zohar, Introduction 13a). “Kayama” means brit in the language of Targum as usual. And the brit is holy – “kayama kadisha,” a holy brit – and it is cut. And one must understand, and the Zohar stands to speak about this: What is the cutting of the brit? We cut the orlah, not the brit! But what is the simple meaning that the essence of the brit is to cut the orlah? This is one question.

And another thing: It must be on the eighth day, and this too is a question. It’s important, even though the essence of brit milah is not entirely the eighth day. There is the aspect of time, and there is the aspect of the brit. Avraham Avinu performed brit milah not on the eighth day, but it says “uven shemonat yamim yimol” (Bereishit 17:12), that from the eighth day we perform brit milah. So we need to understand the connection of these two things.

Three Modes of Cutting in Brit Milah

First of all we need to understand the cutting. There is the expression “krirat brit” (cutting a covenant), and it’s an interesting thing. Rashi speaks about this (Rashi Bereishit 15:18): Why is it called krirat brit, and what is the connection of the language? And Rashi says we learn from brit bein habetarim its meaning, for there was an order to cut something as a sign. And since the way of those who cut covenants was – and perhaps even today, I don’t know – to do something and cut something to hint at a matter, whatever it may be, this was the way. Just as today we say they sign the contract, the way in which they do the matter, in which they establish the brit, is by cutting something; on account of this it’s called krirat brit. This is Rashi’s explanation.

But an interesting thing – and perhaps indeed this is the simple meaning – that when we perform brit milah we also cut something: we cut the orlah, as it says here “unmaltem et besar arlatechem” (Bereishit 17:11). The language of cutting is not used for orlah, but apparently this is the same idea itself: we cut and cut the orlah. And the language “karet” is also used for one who doesn’t do it, and it’s an interesting thing: there is also karet for one who doesn’t perform brit milah – he is cut off! So we cut brit, we cut the orlah, and whoever doesn’t cut will be cut off from the brit, “et briti hefer” (ibid. 14), “venichrta hanefesh hahi me’ameha” (ibid.). These are the three cuttings that are here.

And we need to understand the subject. It’s interesting that here it says “unmaltem et besar arlatechem,” that we cut and circumcise. And perhaps even “milah” means cutting? I don’t know the meaning of the word milah, and perhaps it too is a language of cutting. So we cut the orlah, and this is the brit. And we do it to every male, to a child, when he is “ben shemonat yamim” (ibid. 12), eight days old. And all these are things that need some explanation of their essence. And the Zohar says thus – and I think what the Zohar does here is very good – and it brings a verse:

“Sod Hashem Lirei’av Uvrito Lehodi’am”

Mysteries of Milah in the Midrash

The mitzvah is a secret. And how is it a secret? Everyone knows that the Zohar holds that every mitzvah is a secret, and this is not a great novelty that the mitzvah is a secret. We already spoke about the matter that every mitzvah is a secret, but the mitzvah is a secret. The Zohar says: I have a verse for this! A verse is stated in Tehillim, in the psalm “Eilecha Hashem nafshi esa” (Tehillim 25:1): “Sod Hashem lirei’av uvrito lehodi’am” (ibid. 14).

And the Zohar didn’t innovate this thing about the verse on its own; it expounds “uvrito lehodi’am” on brit milah. This is the midrash! The midrash on this parsha, all the midrashim – Bereishit Rabbah and Tanchuma – bring the verse “sod Hashem lirei’av uvrito lehodi’am” about the subject of brit milah (Bereishit Rabbah 49:2; Tanchuma Lech Lecha 19).

And what does the midrash say about this? The midrash expounds “brit,” “uvrito.” Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave “briti beini uveinecha.” And to whom was “briti beini uveinecha” said? This is the brit. Hakadosh Baruch Hu already made a covenant with Noach – and one who learns the parsha carefully will need to elaborate, that there is a covenant with Noach, a covenant with Avraham, all those layers of covenant that were innovated until the time of the Flood and after. In any case it says “sod Hashem lirei’av uvrito lehodi’am.” And what is the midrash’s intention at this point?

That for twenty generations the world existed, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn’t reveal to anyone, didn’t tell anyone, so to speak, “lehodi’am.” And it’s an interesting thing, “uvrito lehodi’am.” What is the meaning of “lehodi’am”? The Ramak here in his commentary on the Zohar claims that the Zohar struggles with this and troubles us to expound: What is “lehodi’am”? What is He making known? He is making known the brit? He makes them know His brit, or makes known something else? The language is not clear; brit is apparently not something that is made known, what connection is there to announce about brit? There is some difficulty in the verse, we see something here.

So the midrash says: For twenty generations Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn’t reveal His brit to anyone. And the midrash explicitly calls it “misterin shel milah” (Tanchuma ibid.), meaning the mysteries, brit milah is mysteries. And although I seek to explain clearly – we already spoke about this many times – that the word “sod” in the verse, according to its simple meaning, is not interpreted as secret, but more like a kind of counsel and council, that people gather together, and an assembly is called sod.

“Uvsod ami al yavo’u” (Yechezkel 13:9) means that they gather together. And it’s understood that then they gather to speak hidden things. But “sod” doesn’t mean secret, but rather more like council, “besod.” “Besod yesharim ve’edah” (Tehillim 111:1), that they gather. A gathering, and usually a gathering of special people, not just anyone, but certain people gather. This is the meaning of “besod.”

“Sod Hashem lirei’av” means: Hakadosh Baruch Hu with His fearers; this is the simple explanation. But already the midrash interprets here about brit milah, the midrash in Parshat Lech Lecha says that “sod Hashem lirei’av” means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu revealed “misterin shel milah” – the mysteries of brit milah, that in lashon hakodesh is “seter,” and aren’t these words connected to each other. The mysteries of brit milah Hakadosh Baruch Hu revealed to Avraham Avinu first. There was already Adam, there was already Noach, there were already many people, and not one of them knew the mysteries of brit milah, until Avraham Avinu came and He revealed the secret to him.

And the midrash tries to explain what the secret is. The midrash expounds homilies: sod in gematria samech-vav-dalet – things that come out from Avraham Avinu in the merit of milah. But the main point – and this is the language in Tanchuma; in Bereishit Rabbah the language is not thus, but in Midrash Tanchuma thus is the language, and there are two versions in Tanchuma as is known, in one thus and in one thus, but this is what is in the midrash – is thus: that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Avraham Avinu: What shall I give you?

And I’m sure that when the Zohar says “sod Hashem lirei’av,” even though the Zohar is going to interpret this in the way of Kabbalah and in its style, this is nothing but an explanation of what the midrash says. Every person should always learn that the Zohar is an explanation of the midrash in many ways, and it explains here the midrash on this matter.

The Parable of the King’s Weapon: “It Is Sufficient for You to Be Like Me”

Let us open then the midrash that it should be here again. The midrash says, what is “sod Hashem lirei’av uvrito lehodi’am”? How does the verse connect here? Thus says the midrash: Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to Avraham Avinu – and this is “vayehi Avram ben tish’im shanah vatesha shanim” (Bereishit 17:1), already ninety-nine years old, after a complete lifetime of work, he already did everything. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu says: It still wasn’t enough, and therefore indeed you still didn’t have a son, that son who is Yitzchak, from whom comes the covenant of Avraham Avinu first. It still wasn’t! Thus says the midrash: Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to Avraham, what shall I give you? Money? You already had more than enough money! Already before, in the first promise, Hakadosh Baruch Hu promised him “va’avarechecha va’agadelah shemecha” (Bereishit 12:2), and there was already everything.

He had money, “ve’Avram kaved me’od bamikne bakesef uvazahav” (Bereishit 13:2). Like a parable of a king who had a friend, says the midrash (Tanchuma Buber Lech Lecha 24): a king who had a very wealthy friend, “he was excessively rich,” he already had more than enough of everything he needed – and perhaps the king himself gave him – he already had everything. The king said: What shall I give him? Silver, gold, servants, maidservants, animals – everything needed he already has! Like that “ilan ilan bameh avarechecha” (Ta’anit 5b), that I cannot give you. “Rather Hakadosh Baruch Hu said”: What shall I give you? I will give you that you should be like Me!

And in the other language – and it’s in both languages – I will give you my weapons, thus says the midrash (Tanchuma Lech Lecha 19). The king says: I will give this friend, “behold I am girding him with my weapons,” I will give him my weapons, this I will give him. I will make him as if like Me! This is the explanation, this is the language of the midrash: “What shall I give you? It is sufficient for you to be like Me” (Tanchuma Buber ibid.), this I can give you, that you should be like Me. “Va’etnah briti” – “sufficient for the servant to be like his master” (Berachot 58b). Meaning, all those external things, silver and gold, are nice things, but the novel part is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu says “briti beini uveinecha,” that “behold I am girding you with my weapons” – they dress him, gird him with the king’s weapons, with what the king is. This is the explanation: “Ani hineh briti itach” (Bereishit 17:4) – my brit is what I am, my brit is with you! This is the explanation.

And it’s possible that the midrash intends to hint – and one needs to contemplate and be precise in the languages of the verses about Noach: Indeed Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave a covenant to Noach, but it doesn’t say “ani hineh briti itach,” it doesn’t say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave His brit with Noach. Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave a covenant, “vahakimoti et briti itach” (Bereishit 6:18), and other languages: a covenant “beini uveinechem uvein kol nefesh chayah asher itchem” (Bereishit 9:12), many matters in that covenant. But with Avraham Avinu a strong language is stated! Hakadosh Baruch Hu says: “Ani” – I – “hineh briti itach,” I who am I, my brit is with you. This is the precision that the midrash notes here.

And on this the midrash says: “Sod Hashem lirei’av uvrito lehodi’am.” Meaning, “sod Hashem” means the secret of what Hashem is, for this is now the explanation, and it connects to what we spoke about in the previous shiur (as we explained in the previous shiur about sod Hashem and this is not its place). “Sod Hashem” is the secret, and they say the mysteries, a mysterious thing. Always what a thing is, what a person is, this is his secret. What I say to so-and-so – this is what he needs; what I do – this is what I do; what I am – this is my secret! And when I have a friend, who is from my inner circle, from my counselors, from my people, I transmit my mysteries to him, I transmit my secret to him.

The midrash explains that brit milah means: Hakadosh Baruch Hu transmits His secret to Avraham Avinu. He transmits to him what He is, so to speak, like that king who transmits to him his weapons. And indeed weapons are not the soul of the king, and the parable is not identical to what it represents, but weapons are so to speak what makes the king a king, what effects in him his kingship. A king is a warrior, a king is a man of war, a king concerns himself with this. He gives him his seal, like his seal – in other languages, the king’s seal, like “vayasar hamelech et tabato me’al yado vayitnah” (Esther 3:10) – this is the matter of “ani hineh briti itach”: they give him the seal, they give him what Hakadosh Baruch Hu is. “Chotam brit kodesh” it’s called, “vetze’etza’av chatam be’ot brit kodesh” (text of the blessing of milah).

A Thing That a Person Is, Not What He Does

So we understand that naturally brit milah is a great secret, “sod Hashem lirei’av,” a secret – a greater secret than all the mitzvot! And there is a novelty here: All the mitzvot are secrets, and in a certain sense Jews perform all the mitzvot from the power of the brit. One who enters into the brit, afterwards performs mitzvot. Brit milah is like a prerequisite to mitzvot. And we do it to a child, as the Ramak is precise here in the Zohar – we do it to a small baby, eight days old. And one of the matters of eight days old is to minimize, as we learn, “veYishmael beno ben shelosh esreh shanah” (Bereishit 17:25).

No, the essence of the mitzvah of brit milah of Avraham Avinu is eight days old. And what is eight days old? It means that the entire world does it, the community – for it is a law that brit milah is incumbent upon the father and upon the beit din (Kiddushin 29a). The Zohar says “kol alma,” an obligation on “kol ama kadisha” (Zohar, Introduction 13a), an obligation on the world; the world, the community, brings the child into the covenant of Avraham Avinu.

And its meaning: Brit milah is still not a mitzvah, but it is the secret of the mitzvot! When you are part of the secret, you are in my inner circle, you are part of the Jews, and the Jews perform brit milah for you – this is the explanation – then on this basis, built on brit milah, you can perform mitzvot. Therefore this is the depth, and it’s a very important thing: Brit milah is not something that needs to be done, but something that a person is. And therefore we do it to infants, for infants don’t do anything; to infants we do, and they are! We will speak a bit more deeply about the meaning of this, but in practice this is so.

Practical Conduct: To Think for a Moment Every Day

Therefore, when we say that brit milah – according to the words of the Rambam, according to the words of the midrash – brit milah is something that doesn’t even need to be worn. Tzitzit a person needs to get up in the morning and wear, needs to get up in the morning and put on tefillin, needs to get up in the morning and recite Kriat Shema. All these are things that need to be done. These are indeed the constant mitzvot; a person is a Jew, and it becomes like “targileinu beToratecha” (text of Ahavah Rabbah blessing), it becomes fixed: he gets up and puts on tefillin. But he still needs to do it, it’s still a mitzvah, and it’s not a secret. In this external manner it’s revealed. Brit milah is something that already exists: a person gets up and already has it, it already is!

And this is a true intention. I think that the midrash that says that David HaMelech looked at his brit milah (Menachot 43b) – and one needs to know what the meaning of “looked at the milah” is: it means he contemplated it, and not necessarily that he gazed at it, but he looked at his brit milah at the time when he was in the bathhouse and saw that he was naked from tzitzit and from mitzvot. And what the midrash seeks to express is that brit milah is something elevated above the mitzvot, and therefore one needs to rejoice in it.

And this is a true intention. I think that like everyone who wants to receive something – you want to receive from tefillin, you need to think for a moment; we say leshem yichud, to put on tefillin, I am ready and prepared, and I think for a moment what I am doing, and through this we merit the benefit of da’at – the same thing with brit milah: one needs to take a moment and think about it! And indeed with brit milah we don’t say leshem yichud; the father already said “lehachniso bivrito shel Avraham Avinu” when he was eight days old. But when every person enters the bathhouse, or the shower, it’s proper that he should have such an intention: he needs to think, he needs to give this a moment every day, that when he enters the shower and he is naked, he should think that he has brit milah! I think this is a practical thing, and that this practical thing needs to have a very powerful effect. This is the meaning of brit milah, this is its simple meaning.

The Explanation According to Kabbalah: From the Attribute of Fear (Malchut) to the Secret of Hashem (Yesod)

And this is a secret. I think it’s the simple meaning of Scripture, and it’s also a secret. And what is the secret? Thus says the Zohar: It says “sod Hashem lirei’av.” What is “lirei’av”? The midrash says that “yerei’av” is Avraham Avinu, as it says “atah yadati ki yerei Elokim atah” (Bereishit 22:12) after the entire matter. Avraham Avinu is the fearer, he is a fearer of Hashem. Thus says the Zohar, and it’s simple: If we understand that the midrash says that brit milah is the king’s weapon, that brit milah is “that you should be like Me” – they give him the kingship itself, the essence of the king itself.

And everyone understands that it cannot be literally so. And this is a coarse, physical parable, of a king with weapons with a friend. And everyone who learns Kabbalah knows that this needs to be explained, to be stripped, and to understand that it’s not speaking, so to speak, about the king himself – the king is above all this. Rather we’re speaking about what our mekubalim call “sefirot” – and the Zohar almost never calls it thus, but the mekubalim call this the ten sefirot. And when we grasp a sefirah, meaning we grasp the king himself; this is the meaning of Kabbalah. Naturally, when such a parable is stated in the midrash, that he gives weapons, or gives this or that, we need to know which sefirah is being discussed. And each sefirah speaks about a different attribute, a different level, a different kind of comprehension, a different kind of taste, a different kind of light that it’s possible to see from the king himself.

Therefore the Zohar says, that when the verse says “sod Hashem lirei’av,” we can immediately understand at which level we’re speaking here. For “lirei’av” are certainly those who fear sin. We spoke many times about fear here in Pekudin (

The Explanation According to Kabbalah: From the Attribute of Fear (Malchut) to the Secret of Hashem (Yesod)

And this is a secret. I think it’s the simple meaning of Scripture, and it’s also a secret. And what is the secret? Thus says the Zohar: It says “sod Hashem lirei’av.” What is “lirei’av”? The midrash says that “yerei’av” is Avraham Avinu, as it says “atah yadati ki yerei Elokim atah” (Bereishit 22:12) after the entire matter. Avraham Avinu is the fearer, he is a fearer of Hashem. Thus says the Zohar, and it’s simple: If we understand that the midrash says that brit milah is the king’s weapon, that brit milah is “that you should be like Me” – they give him the kingship itself, the essence of the king itself.

And everyone understands that it cannot be literally so. And this is a coarse, physical parable, of a king with weapons with a friend. And everyone who learns Kabbalah knows that this needs to be explained, to be stripped, and to understand that it’s not speaking, so to speak, about the king himself – the king is above all this. Rather we’re speaking about what our mekubalim call “sefirot” – and the Zohar almost never calls it thus, but the mekubalim call this the ten sefirot. And when we grasp a sefirah, meaning we grasp the king himself; this is the meaning of Kabbalah. Naturally, when such a parable is stated in the midrash, that he gives weapons, or gives this or that, we need to know which sefirah is being discussed. And each sefirah speaks about a different attribute, a different level, a different kind of comprehension, a different kind of taste, a different kind of light that it’s possible to see from the king himself.

Therefore the Zohar says, that when the verse says “sod Hashem lirei’av,” we can immediately understand at which level we’re speaking here. For “lirei’av” are certainly those who fear sin. We spoke many times about fear here in Pekudin (as we explained previously about fear and this is not its place), and always fear is the level of the Shechinah, fear is the level of the attribute of Malchut. And as we learned regarding positive commandments and negative commandments, the matter connects here as well: Fear is the level of negative commandments, which is the level of Malchut.

But the verse says a novelty: One who fears Hashem, who already merited Malchut, receives “sod Hashem.” “Sod Hashem” is a higher level than fear of Hashem. One who fears – preparation is needed, as we just spoke that fear of Hashem means paying attention, preparation is needed – one who fears Hashem, receives “sod Hashem.” Sod is a secret, a higher level. “Sod Hashem” is the brit! “Uvrito lehodi’am” – the brit is made known to whom? To “yerei’av,” to the aspect of fear above and to the aspect of fear below. One who has the aspect of fear, will receive the brit, which is the secret.

Meaning, everyone knows that “brit” means “tzaddik” in the Zohar. Brit is one level above the Shechinah, meaning tzaddik, which we usually call “Yesod”; this is the level of the brit. And who receives it? “Yerei’av,” one who fears Hashem. These are simple things.

But the language of the brit, that the brit is “that you should be like Me,” it is “my weapons” – and so to speak the weapons can also be as we learned in recent weeks (as we explained in recent weeks about the rainbow and this is not its place): the rainbow. The rainbow too is an aspect of weapons, and the rainbow also indicates the brit, as it says “et kashti natati be’anan vehayetah le’ot brit” (Bereishit 9:13), it is a sign of the covenant. And the rainbow is also a clean language for the organ of milah – and the Ramban explains thus – as it says “yoreh kachetz” (Yevamot 65a), such languages; so to speak it’s a bow, it’s also a weapon, literally, for a bow is an arrow and bow. And the same thing here: the king’s weapon, this is the aspect of a bow. And the same thing “one who looks at the rainbow” (Chagigah 16a): Just as it’s forbidden to look at the milah, it’s forbidden to look at the rainbow, according to the words of the Ramban (as we spoke in the previous shiur about the Ramban and this is not its place). And the weapons – meaning, there are weapons as an external aspect, and there are weapons that indicate the king’s own weapons. The king himself, who is so to speak as we say the sefirot, the weapons of the king’s body, this is his organ of the brit; this is the king’s weapon that is given to a Jew in brit milah. This is the meaning of “sod Hashem lirei’av.” Correct, this is the Zohar’s explanation; and a person needs to rejoice in this! This is what every Jew has. We already need to say this, it’s already permitted to say this. And when we speak about this, we need to remember that it’s understood that the Zohar comes with the idea that if so, the matter connects with the Rambam, connects with the following matter.

The Secret of the Eighth Day

But first we need to say the matter of the eighth day – I want to go according to the order of the Zohar, and afterwards speak about this a bit. The eighth day indicates that there is a “day.” Everyone knows that “days” indicate the sefirot, and thus we understand that “days” mean the very essence of time, the very being of time now: What day is today? Today is the eighth day, the eighth day from his birth. The eighth day according to the Zohar is the level of Yesod – and how this is calculated, one needs to investigate in the calculation of the mekubalim how this comes out, for this is actually a great problem – this is the eighth day.

And the midrash as is known says (Vayikra Rabbah 27:10), and the Zohar mentions it here at the end of the passage, that why does a child need milah on the eighth? So that one Shabbat should pass over him. Meaning, as we said about Shabbat at the beginning: Why is the order of the day made, the regular order that passes? And he needs to pass through the regular order, and this is not a special thing. I think to minimize the one who says that the eighth is the higher level, I think that on the contrary, the opposite: the eighth is after you have the entire regular level, and this is the regular level.

And now we need to return to the subject of cutting the orlah: Where does cutting the orlah enter here? For this is the deeper thing in brit. And here it says thus, and this is stated briefly on the subject:

The Rambam’s Reasoning in Moreh Nevuchim and the True Meaning of “Shomer HaBrit”

The Simple Meaning: A Sign on the Most Important Organ

As is known what the Rambam said about brit milah – and I think the Rambam is perhaps the first who came up with this idea; and one needs to examine in the midrashim if there is a source for such an idea, and I wish to emphasize this.

Meaning, simply everyone understands: Brit milah is a brit, it’s an ot (sign), it’s a mark in the flesh. We cut the orlah, and this is a sign that a person has a sign, like every sign of a covenant – just as in brit bein habetarim they cut the turtledove and the young pigeon and so on, a sign on the covenant, a sign. The same thing in every person’s body there is a kind of sign, a seal, a sign; we make a cut, we cut the orlah, and this is a sign that he has the brit. This is the meaning of brit milah, and this remains the simple meaning of Scripture, and there is no doubt that this is the simple meaning of Scripture, according to the words of the Rambam himself in Sefer Ahavah that this is the essence of the simple meaning, and also in Moreh Nevuchim (Part 3, Ch. 49) where he speaks that there are three simple meanings in brit milah, and it’s clear that this is the essence of the simple meaning, the simple meaning of Scripture, the simple meaning of reality. Brit milah means that we make a sign that there is a brit.

But the Rambam came up with a very interesting novelty, and I think we need to appreciate the greatness of this novelty. And it’s as if he contemplates thus: Why does brit milah enter into the organ of the brit? Indeed we call it “ever habrit,” but this is only after there is brit milah! Initially why is it called thus? “Bivsarchem” (Bereishit 17:13). The Torah calls it flesh, “bivsarchem,” “besar arlatechem” (ibid. 11). Why does brit milah enter into the flesh? Let them do it on the ear, as the Gemara says (Shabbat 108a), on the nose, I don’t know!

I think that even on this one needs to hear, that the simple meaning is that indeed because of this! Meaning, brit milah is a sign for the brit. And the thing has a strong connection, as we see here, with what Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives Avraham Avinu children, those children through whom the brit is established. And this is an important place, an important and honored place as well. The essence of the flesh – meaning, flesh generally means the entire person, but flesh in a particular way can indicate the organ of the brit (see Rashi Vayikra 15:2) – in that flesh we make a brit, for this is the essence of the person: there he becomes a father, there he begets children. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to show that when a Jew begets children, when Avraham begets children, there is a sign on this point. This is the simple meaning of Scripture. So this is not that in the organ of milah there is a contradiction to the idea that it’s a sign. On the contrary: This is the best sign! The strongest sign is made on the most important place, on the best place, on the strongest place, where Chazal call it “keli zeino shel adam.” There he does it, and the thing fits very well, suits very well. There is nothing here that needs explanation, there is no difficulty here.

The Rambam’s Innovation: Weakening the Power of Desire

But the Rambam contemplated – I don’t know if he asked the difficulty thus, but I saw others asking such a difficulty: It’s not acceptable that brit milah needs to be done in such a modest place, they will say, that this is not a place that can be shown. True, one needs to go to the bathhouse, and then they see it, like David HaMelech. But generally perhaps one can ask that this is not honorable; and there is a question in the Rishonim whether it’s possible to bless facing the nakedness of a minor at the time of brit milah. The Rosh writes that it’s not possible to say that one cannot bless – certainly one can, for on this the mitzvah was given, and besides that a minor perhaps doesn’t have the law of nakedness, an infant – but he says that necessarily Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave brit milah, and at brit milah we bless, so we bless there! Thus wrote the Rosh, if my memory serves me, in Hilchot Milah. But there is here a kind of difficulty, a problem that perhaps troubles people. In the Torah we don’t see that it troubles, but people are troubled by the thing.

And another thing that connects to this: As is known there is a rule of things that a person’s soul desires them (Makkot 23b). And proof: The mitzvah is somewhat difficult, as we spoke “bocheh lemishpechotav” – a strange thing, and certainly the Gemara contemplated this when it said that these two mitzvot, brit milah we do with joy and a wedding with sadness (Shabbat 130a), even though for us it’s somewhat the opposite: in practice at brit milah there is pain, while a wedding – although we sometimes struggle with the ketubah – a wedding is certainly great joy. And certainly the matter connects with the fact that the wedding is also with brit milah. The Gemara seeks to express from this that the part of contention in the wedding is not connected with the part of milah. This I think the Gemara seeks to express, but understand that there is something here.

And the Rambam came up with a very interesting explanation (Moreh Nevuchim Part 3, Ch. 49), which is not the simple meaning of Scripture – meaning, he includes brit milah in another category, and we will explain. The Rambam came up with an explanation that everyone knows: Since in this organ there are great desires, which are things that a person’s soul desires, we cut it somewhat, so to speak, to weaken. And if it’s physically weakened – the Rambam says that it’s physically weakened, that every organ from which we cut a bit is weakened a bit; and in the Gemara it’s explained that perhaps it’s not actually physically weakened, but there becomes less pleasure, “one who has relations with an uncircumcised man finds it hard to separate” (Niddah 31b), that there is a kind of pleasure from the orlah; or this is a symbolic thing. And however it is, the Rambam’s idea fell that brit milah belongs to the opposite! Meaning, not that here is the strongest place, the best place, the king’s weapon, and here we cut a covenant – no! The Rambam contemplated with this additional simple meaning that he innovated in brit milah, that since here there is a problem – let’s say it in spoken language – here there is orlah, and the orlah indicates additional desire, an abundance of desire, an abundance of lust that people have in matters of forbidden relations, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave a brit to cut a bit, to weaken the power of desire. This is the Rambam’s simple meaning.

And according to this it comes out – unlike the Rambam in Mishneh Torah – that brit milah belongs to which book? To Hilchot Issurei Bi’ah, it belongs to Sefer Kedushah, it doesn’t belong at all to Sefer Ahavah! This is not a mitzvah like tzitzit and tefillin; rather a mitzvah like the mitzvot of forbidden relations, Hilchot Issurei Bi’ah, regarding “va’avdil etchem min ha’amim liheyot li” (Vayikra 20:26), which is also part of the holiness of Israel: to be separated from forbidden relations, from forbidden unions. This was the simple meaning. And the Rambam in other places indeed includes brit milah in this, but in Mishneh Torah explicitly he doesn’t include it there; he includes brit milah in Sefer Ahavah, where its main place is, certainly the main simple meaning.

The Excellence of a Mitzvah That Doesn’t Depend on a Person’s Actions

We therefore need to say thus: The Zohar says, how is brit milah done? Brit milah is done by cutting the orlah. And the Zohar says that orlah indicates what is called the Sitra Achra, all the parts of evil in the world.

And at the time when we cut the orlah, the brit is revealed through this. In other words, it’s possible to say thus: that cutting the orlah belongs to the verse “sod Hashem lirei’av.” If there is a condition that sod Hashem is for those who fear, we first need to ensure that a person fears, that he is not uncircumcised.

And the Zohar says that at the time when the world gathers to cut the orlah, so to speak Hakadosh Baruch Hu gathers the heavenly retinue, which are the supernal forces, existence itself, and there Hakadosh Baruch Hu is revealed. And by revealing the crown, by revealing the brit from the orlah, we reveal Hakadosh Baruch Hu from among all the orlah of all the forbidden relations, all the nakedness of the land in the world. And through this, like everything that Jews do that is done thus in the world and done thus above, then the orlah is pushed away before the good, the orlah is pushed away before the holy people above – for there is an aspect of Israel above, the king’s weapon – and at the time when a Jew here below cuts his orlah, the orlah is cut from there above. This is the Zohar’s explanation of “yimol besar arlato” (Vayikra 12:3): Where does the orlah enter, and what is the explanation that cutting the brit is cutting the orlah, to cut the orlah from before the brit.

But I think the meaning of the thing is very deep, and I will be brief. And I say thus, that this is another problem: I think that from this thing brit milah became a thing of joy… This is the greatest perfection! For a Jew should have thought thus:

I have tzitzit, I have tefillin, but they come through action. Go know if my intention is correct, go know if my tzitzit is kosher; I don’t know, I need to do, I need to ensure, I need to check. There is always a certain deficiency in the practical mitzvot that a person does. And as David HaMelech expresses, I don’t always have them – and this is already in itself a deficiency: I sometimes need to remove my garments, and I don’t have tzitzit.

But brit milah – meaning “hithalech lefanai veheyeh tamim” – the brit milah that every Jew has, it’s impossible to touch it! For it doesn’t go away, except if someone pulls back his foreskin – and it’s been a long time since I met someone pulling back his foreskin. There is no such thing that in brit milah there is a flaw. And you didn’t even do it yourself! You also cannot think: “I intended, I didn’t do brit milah with the correct intention” – you didn’t do it with any intention, you were eight days old! And no one, the greatest of the mekubalim that I know, didn’t have kavanot at his brit milah – perhaps at his sons’ brit milah, but for himself he didn’t have intention. So it means it’s perfect!

And from the side of the brit, when a person thinks from which mitzvah to take vitality, from which part of his Judaism, certainly brit milah should be the first candidate. You have brit milah perfectly, you are circumcised, and there’s nothing better than this!

Who Is the True “Shomer HaBrit”?

But what? Since people know the Rambam’s simple meaning, and the Zohar built many homilies on the foundation of the Rambam’s simple meaning, and they call this many times – and one needs to know that this is in the way of complete homily – what is called “shomer habrit,” meaning one who is careful about forbidden relations. I think this is a mistake! If I were given the authority to change the language, I would stop using the term “shomer habrit” about the subject of forbidden relations, for this is a terrible thing. The holy brit, “vetze’etza’av chatam be’ot brit kodesh,” doesn’t mean that his descendants are shomrei habrit, careful about forbidden relations. I’m not saying the thing isn’t connected, I think it’s certainly connected; certainly there is here a hint to the evil inclination of forbidden relations. But this is a sign of the holy covenant, far more elevated than this! Even one who commits transgressions doesn’t transgress the covenant of Avraham Avinu – but what, does he pull back his foreskin? But I’m not speaking now about one who pulls back his foreskin.

And there’s no possibility that we should take the thing that should be the most independent of a person’s actions, and turn it into something that is as the Gemara says “most of them in theft and a minority in forbidden relations” (Bava Batra 165a), and “improper thoughts” that no person is saved from them every day (ibid. 164b) – it comes out that no one is shomer habrit! They say: no one is shomer habrit. It’s impossible that there should be such a thing!

In brief summary: “Shomer habrit” always means Hakadosh Baruch Hu! “Shomer habrit anenu beyom koreinu” (Selichot), Hakadosh Baruch Hu is shomer habrit. And which brit does Hakadosh Baruch Hu guard? The brit that He made between Him and the Jews in brit milah, “va’etnah briti beini uveinecha”! And the meaning of the word “brit” is something that cannot be changed, and we already spoke about this many times. The meaning of the word brit is that this is not something that needs to be guarded vigilantly. It’s impossible that guarding the brit means that one needs to stand guard that there shouldn’t be forbidden thoughts, not to be among forbidden relations. Certainly one needs to be careful about forbidden relations, but on the contrary, exactly the opposite: The Zohar that used the term guarding the brit – or I don’t know who started – about the trial of forbidden relations, meant to say exactly the opposite: that when a Jew has a trial of forbidden relations – and in the Gemara it’s explained that one needs to look at the tzitzit, “ur’item oto uzchartem… velo taturu” (Bamidbar 15:39; Menachot 43b) – no, you can think about brit milah! For there is brit milah, and this is what the Rambam says: brit milah itself is already a protection from forbidden relations!

Removing the Orlah: Revealing What Was Always There

In other words, instead of struggling with the nakedness – this is the secret of negative commandments. And why do we say that fear indicates negative commandments? Negative commandments have a certain excellence over positive commandments: negative commandments are passive, and naturally negative commandments indicate something that a person doesn’t do at all, and naturally there cannot be any deficiency in them; this is nothing but a revelation of what is true. So in brit milah we cut the orlah: we don’t do anything, we don’t build, we don’t add – but we remove! And what do we remove? We only show what was true.

And this is the meaning of brit milah, that we remove the orlah: all of brit milah is so to speak a negative commandment. And indeed this is not a negative commandment, but a positive commandment – and it’s one of two positive commandments that have karet, and this is a novelty; and one of the explanations in this novelty, besides Korban Pesach which also has something similar, because Pesach is also entry into the covenant.

But one of the novelties in this is that it’s a positive commandment, but it’s not really a positive commandment. This is a positive commandment that has nothing but cutting, meaning that we cease to believe in the orlah! And the moment we cut it, naturally there is already milah, naturally there is already brit. This is not a brit that needs to be renewed; Hakadosh Baruch Hu already made Avraham Avinu so that this is already true. The midrash intends to explain this, and it’s stated explicitly in the following midrash: “Ani hineh briti itach” – that it already was! This is not “I am renewing my brit”; Hakadosh Baruch Hu says: I have a brit, and I am giving it to you. Meaning, the brit was always already there. And what does Avraham Avinu need to do? Only to remove the orlah, “unmaltem et besar arlatechem.”

And this is the meaning of brit milah: it’s nothing but cutting, it’s nothing but severing, and this is the secret that cutting the brit is cutting the orlah.

Burying the Orlah in Dust: Giving the Evil Inclination Its Proper Place

Afterwards the Zohar elaborates more – and I think the custom already preceded the Zohar (see Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer Ch. 29) – that we take the orlah and place it in a vessel of earth. And thus is the custom: we bury it or place it in some earth, we do something with the orlah. And the Zohar says this is a great secret: this shows that even the orlah – meaning, the orlah indicates the Sitra Achra, indicates the evil inclination – cannot be completely discarded. This is the secret of the goat to Azazel, which the Zohar elaborates on many times. Iyov erred: Iyov wanted to cut the orlah so nothing would remain. But it’s impossible to cut the orlah so nothing remains! At every brit milah there is a complete ceremony – meaning, the mohel does this, and this is not a great public ceremony – but we take the orlah, do something with it, place it in earth. And the Zohar says this is so to speak a hint that we give to the earth – “venachash afar lachmo” (Yeshayahu 65:25), the earth belongs to the serpent; and serpent means the evil force, the force of matter, the force of the Sitra Achra – we give it the orlah. Meaning, not that we cut the orlah and burn it and don’t give it to anyone.

And certainly this intends to express a depth, if we interpret that orlah here means what the Rambam innovated – that this again indicates and is built on the fact that milah belongs to cutting the excessive power of desire, the power of the evil inclination.

So certainly what the Zohar seeks to say here, and what the Zohar elaborates many times in other places, that cutting the evil inclination – according to the words of the Ramak, and this is language in Pardes: to eliminate the evil inclination doesn’t mean to burn the evil inclination, but to give it its proper place in holiness.

So it’s impossible to cut everything. And even what we say that we only need to cut the orlah in order to reveal the brit, doesn’t mean that it’s possible to completely ignore the orlah. The more correct meaning is that we need to give it, so to speak, its sustenance, we need to give it what the serpent needs: the serpent wants to eat earth, we need to give it earth. We need to give it the right thing – and certainly only the orlah, nothing more than this – but we need to give it what it needs. And this is “a child and a woman, the left hand pushes away and the right hand draws near” (Sotah 47a). This is the subject of brit milah.