קבלה אויף בראשית 17:1

Already, before Abraham was circumcised, we are told that “the Lord appeared unto Abram” (Gen. 17, 1), and if the word “him” in this sentence refers to Abraham, we may well ask, what advance had he made (in prophecy) by being circumcised?

PERFECT HE WAS IN HIS GENERATIONS: this refers to his descendants; he perfected them all, and he was more virtuous than all of them. Again, the words “He was perfect” indicate that he was born circumcised (cf. of Abraham, “Walk before me and be perfect, i.e. circumcised” Gen. 17, 1). IN HIS GENERATIONS: and not in those of his contemporaries, for all future generations issued from him only.

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.