Kabbalah Mazmur 147:19: Zohar & Sha'arei Orah

It was Jethro who gave Moses sound advice concerning the administration of justice. And in this is contained an allusion to his confessing the Holy One, namely, in his awareness that “judgement is God’s” (Deut. 1, 17), and belongs not to the “other side”, and that law and right were given to Israel and not to any of the heathen nations, as it is written: “He showeth his words unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgements unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for his judgements, they have not known them” (Ps. 147, 19, 20). So one must beware of despising anyone, since the words of an ordinary person may be of great consequence, as it says of Moses that he “hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said (Ex. 18, 24).

Let me now enlighten your eyes about how HaShem-יהו"ה, blessed is He, imprinted His Great Name HaShem-יהו"ה in our forefather Avraham and in those of his descendants who received the Torah. How so? It says in Sefer Yetzirah¹⁴⁷Sefer Yetzirah 6:8 “He made a covenant with him in the ten fingers of his hands,” which is the covenant of the tongue, with the imprint of the letters Yod-Hey-י"ה of His Name HaShem-יהו"ה. The letter Yod-י has the numerical value of ten, corresponding to the ten fingers, and the letter Hey-ה has the numerical value of five, corresponding to the five places in the mouth that are the sources of the letters of the speech of Torah. These are the letter groupings אחה"ע from the throat, בומ"ף from the lips, גיכ"ק from the palate, דטלנ"ת from the tongue and זסצר"ש from the teeth. We thus find that the seal of Ya”h-י"ה is the covenant of the tongue-Brit HaLashon-ברית הלשון which is the covenant of the mouth-Brit HaPeh-ברית הפה. “And He made a covenant between the ten toes of his feet,” which is the covenant of circumcision-Brit Milah-ברית מילה with the imprint of the letters of the second half of His name ו"ה and have the numerical value of eleven-י"א. This is the matter of the ten toes and the one covenant of circumcision-Brit Milah-ברית מילה, for the sum of eleven-י"א, corresponding to the letters ו"ה of His name HaShem-יהו"ה. Furthermore, the matter of the letters ו"ה is the matter of the Written Torah (ו) and Oral Torah (ה), all of which depend on the covenant of circumcision-Brit Milah-ברית מילה, which is the lower root of the letter Vav-ו, whereas the letter Hey-ה is the matter of the Oral Torah, which is the matter of Pri’ah-פריעה. Therefore, being that he is uncircumcised, the teachings of Torah are not given over to a non-Jew, as our sages stated,¹⁴⁸Tractate Berachot 48b “In saying grace after meals, one must mention the covenant-Brit-ברית before mentioning the Torah, by saying, “We thank You HaShem-יהו"ה our God…for Your covenant-Brit-ברית that You imprinted in our flesh and for Your Torah that You taught us.” This is the meaning of the words,¹⁴⁹Psalms 147:19 “He tells His words to Yaakov,” that is, to one who is circumcised, like Yaakov, peace be upon Him. On the other hand,¹⁵⁰Tractate Sanhedrin 59a “A non-Jew who occupies himself in the study of Torah is liable to the death penalty.” Since the circumcision and the Pri’ah-פריעה is the matter of Remember-Zachor-זכור and Keep-Shamor-שמור of Shabbat, therefore the rite of circumcision supersedes Shabbat and is always done on the eighth day from birth, this being the matter of HaShem’s-יהו"ה Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ"י, which is the matter of Pri’ah-פריעה, that is performed subsequent to the circumcision-Milah-מילה. This is the matter of Lord HaShem/God-Adona”y HaShem/Elohi”m-אדנ"י יהו"ה.¹⁵¹When these two Divine names are juxtaposed in such a way in the written Torah, the name HaShem-יהו"ה is pronounced Eloh”im-אלהי"ם-God, as will be explained in the Eighth Gate. We thus find that the covenant of circumcision supersedes Shabbat, being that it is the very quality itself. Thus, wherever in Torah you find the term covenant-Brit-ברית, contemplate from what angle it is being mentioned, whether it refers to the covenant of the tongue-Brit HaLashon-ברית הלשון, the covenant of the flesh-Brit Bassar-ברית בשר or the matter of Pri’ah-פריעה.