Берешит 17:13 Каббала: Sha'arei Orah & Zohar Chadash

Now that you have been informed of this, know that HaShem-יהו"ה wanted to perfect our forefather Avraham in all the Sefirot and told him,¹³⁵Genesis 17:1 “Walk before Me and be perfect.” That is, “In order for you to be connected to My chariot, I am placing an imprint in your flesh which is called, “the covenant of the flesh-Brit Bassar-ברית בשר,” as it states,¹³⁶Genesis 17:2 “I will place My covenant-Brit-ברית between Me and you.” It further states,¹³⁷Genesis 17:13 “Those born in your household or acquired must be circumcised; My covenant shall be in your flesh as an eternal covenant.” The words, “My covenant shall be in your flesh” refer to “the covenant of flesh-Brit Bassar-ברית בשר,” and the words, “as an eternal covenant” refer to the covenant of the tongue-Brit HaLashon-ברית הלשון, which is the matter of Torah, which is drawn from the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah-בינה and is the matter of counting fifty days (Sefirat HaOmer) to the giving of the Torah, corresponding to the counting of fifty years to the Jubilee-Yovel-יובל. That is, had Israel not accepted the covenant of the flesh-Brit Bassar-ברית בשר, they would never have merited receiving the Torah, which is the covenant of the tongue-Brit HaLashon-ברית הלשון. This is why Sefer Yetzirah states,¹³⁸Ending paragraph of Sefer Yetzirah. “When our forefather Avraham came, saw, investigated, understood, engraved, thought, and succeeded, the Lord of the world-Adon HaOlam-אדון העולם revealed Himself to him and called him,¹³⁹Isaiah 41:8 ‘My Beloved.’ He made a covenant with him between the ten fingers of his hands, which is the covenant of the tongue-Brit HaLashon-ברית הלשון and between the ten toes of his feet, which is the covenant of circumcision-Brit Milah-ברית מילה.” And if you say that Avraham was not given the matter of Pri’ah-פריעה,¹⁴⁰As stated in Talmud Bavli, Yevamot 71b the matter of Pri’ah-פריעה was first given in the generation of Joshua. which corresponds to HaShem’s-יהו"ה quality of Lordship-Adona”y-אדנ"י, know that actually, this quality was already his, for he was the first one to call HaShem-יהו"ה by this title.

HaShem-יהו״ה therefore said to Avraham, “Avraham, My son, walk before Me and be perfect.”²³³See Genesis 17:1 Avraham answered, “Master of the worlds, how shall I stand before You in perfection?” HaShem-יהו״ה responded, “When you remove the foreskin-Orlah-ערלה from your body, since that is the portion of the nations who are called ‘uncircumcised-Areilim-ערלים.’” HaShem-יהו"ה therefore said to him,²³⁴Genesis 17:14 “An uncircumcised-Arel-ערל male who will not circumcise-Yimol-ימול the flesh of his foreskin-Orlato-ערלתו, that soul shall be cut off.” Why is he cut off? Because he did not cut off the foreskin and enter the covenant of circumcision-Brit Milah-ברית מילה. Thus, the verse states,²³⁵Genesis 17:12 “He that is born in your household shall surely be circumcised-Himol Yimol-המול ימול.” However, because all the nations are called “uncircumcised-Areilim-ערלים,” David therefore stated,²³⁶Psalms 118:10 “All the nations surround me, in the Name of HaShem-יהו״ה, I cut them off-Amilam-אמילם!” That is, just as in the covenant of circumcision-Brit Milah-ברית מילה man cuts off the foreskin-Orlah-ערלה, so likewise, with the Name HaShem-יהו״ה I will cut off the four obstructions that stand between me and HaShem-יהו״ה. This is the secret of the verse, “In the Name of HaShem-יהו״ה, I cut them off-Amilam-אמילם!”

“In the beginning (Bereishit), God created” (Genesis 1:1): Rabbi Abba began and said: “On that day. the Lord made a covenant with Avram, saying” (Genesis 15:18). The covenant was said about five things: The first is circumcision, as it is stated (Genesis 17:13), “this shall be My covenant in your flesh as an eternal covenant.” The second is the rainbow, as it is stated (Genesis 9:13), “and it shall be a sign of the covenant.” The third is the covenant of salt, as it is stated (Numbers 18:19), “an everlasting covenant of salt.” The fourth is the covenant of afflictions, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 28:69), “These are the words of the covenant.” The fifth is the covenant of the priesthood, as it is stated (Numbers 25:13), “And it shall be for him, and for his offspring after him, an everlasting covenant of priesthood.”