מדרש אויף בראשית 17:14

"To the conductor on the eighth. This is what is stated (Psalms 119:164): Seven times a day I praise You. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said these are the seven commandments mentioned in the recitation of Shema. [They are]: creation, love, [recitation of] Shema, speaking truth, [affirmation of God as] Redeemer, and [the commandments] concerning tzitzit and adding on to the sukkah of peace. Rabbi Avin in the name of Rabbi Nechemia said [these are] the seven commandments that a person does every day: [recitation of] Shema twice a day, praying three times a day, eating and blessing [before and after], and Rabbi Meir used to say: "Beloved is circumcision, for the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to Abraham that anyone who is circumcised will not descend to Gehenna, as it is said (Genesis 17:14), 'But the uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.' And who goes down there? What is written after that? (Genesis 15:19-21) 'The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite.'" And so Ezekiel says (Ezekiel 32:19), "Go down and lie with the uncircumcised," and Isaiah says (Isaiah 5:14), "Therefore, Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure." This is for those who do not have the covenant of circumcision. And where is the term "chok" (statute) mentioned? As it says (Psalms 105:10), "He established it for Jacob as a statute." But for the heretics and sinners of Israel who deny God, they are afflicted with uncircumcision and fall into Gehenna, as it says (Isaiah 9:20), "He has stretched out His hand against them and smitten them." This is because all the commandments that we have are not meant to be scrutinized meticulously, except for the commandment of circumcision and the empty words of the mouths of schoolchildren that have no sin, as it says (Jeremiah 33:25), "If not for My covenant, I would not have appointed the statutes of heaven and earth." For when a person enters the synagogue, he wraps himself in tzitzit and puts on tefillin on his head and arm, and four tzitzit surround him and guard his four corners. And when he enters the bathhouse, he looks at himself and says, "I am now naked of mitzvot (commandments)." And when he looks at the circumcision, which is equivalent to all the commandments, his mind is calmed. When David saw this, he composed a psalm on it, saying, "For the leader, on the eighth [day], a psalm, a song for the dedication of the Temple, of David. (This passage appears to be an addition from some copyist, as it is not the language of the Midrashim, as is known).

Rav Huna bar Kapara said: Abraham our patriarch sat and expounded: Orla is stated regarding a tree and orla is stated regarding man.¹⁹The foreskin, which is removed during a circumcision, is also called orla. Just as orla that is stated regarding the tree is in the place where it produces fruit, so orla that is stated regarding man is in the place where he produces offspring. Rabbi Ḥanin ben Pazi said: Did Abraham already know a fortiori inferences and verbal analogies? Rather, He hinted it to him: “I will establish My covenant between Me and you [and will multiply you exceedingly]” (Genesis 17:2), [implying that it is in] the place from which he procreates.
Rabbi Yishmael taught: The Holy One blessed be He sought to have the priesthood emerge from Shem, as it is stated: “Malkitzedek king of Shalem [brought out bread and wine and he was a priest of God, the Most High]” (Genesis 14:18). When he gave precedence to the blessing of Abraham over the blessing of the Omnipresent,²⁰“And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abram…and blessed be God, the most High…” (Genesis 14:19–20). Abraham said to him: ‘Does one give precedence to blessing the servant over blessing the master?’ The Holy One blessed be He removed it from him and gave it to Abraham, as it is stated: “The utterance of the Lord to my master” (Psalms 110:1) and it is written thereafter: “The Lord has taken an oath, and He will not renounce it; you are a priest forever by My decree [divrati], like Malkitzedek” (Psalms 110:4); due to the speech [diburo] of Malkitzedek. That is what is written: “Blessed is Abram to God, the Most High, master of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:19).
Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Yishmael says: Abraham was a High Priest; that is what is written: “The Lord has taken an oath, and He will not renounce it; you are a priest forever”; and it is written: “You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin” (Genesis 17:11). From where would he circumcise? If he would circumcise from the ear, he would remain ineligible to sacrifice. If he would circumcise from the heart, he would remain ineligible to sacrifice. If he would circumcise from the mouth, he would remain ineligible to sacrifice. From where would he circumcise and be eligible to sacrifice? One must say this is a mitzva of [the tip of] the body.²¹It must be that it is the foreskin that is removed, after which the individual remains unblemished.
Rabbi Akiva says: There are four instances of orla. Orla is stated regarding the ear: “Their ear is obstructed [arela]” (Jeremiah 6:10); orla regarding the mouth, as it is stated: “I am one of obstructed lips [aral sefatayim]” (Exodus 6:30); it is stated regarding the heart, as it is stated: “The entire house of Israel is of uncircumcised heart [arlei lev]” (Jeremiah 9:25). And it is written: “Walk before Me and be perfect” (Genesis 17:1). Where should he circumcise? If he would circumcise from the ear he would not be perfect. If he would circumcise from the mouth he would not be perfect. Where could he circumcise and be perfect? One must say this is the male organ.
Nagda said: It is written: “And one who is eight days old [shall be circumcised]” (Genesis 17:12). From where should he be circumcised? If from the ear, he will not be able to hear. If from the mouth, he will not be able to speak. If from the heart, he will not be able to think. From where could he be circumcised and be able to hear, speak, and think? One must say this is the male organ. Rabbi Tanḥuma said: Nagda’s [reasoning] is the most logical.
“An uncircumcised male who will not circumcise [the flesh of his foreskin]” (Genesis 17:14); Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak, and Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak, and they taught it in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥalafta: “An uncircumcised male” – is there an uncircumcised female? Rather, at the place that one sees him and knows whether he is male or female, that is where one circumcises him.

Rabbi Ẓe'era || said: There are five kinds of 'Orlah (things uncircumcised) in the world: four with reference to man, and one concerning trees. Whence do we know this concerning the four (terms) applying to man? (Namely,) the uncircumcision of the ear, the uncircumcision of the lips, the uncircumcision of the heart, and the uncircumcision of the flesh. Whence do we know of the uncircumcision of the ear? Because it is said, "Behold, their ear is uncircumcised" (Jer. 6:10). Whence do we know of the uncircumcision of the lips? Because it is said, "For I am of uncircumcised lips" (Ex. 6:12). Whence do we know of the uncircumcision of the heart? Because it is said, "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart" (Deut. 10:16); and (the text) says, "For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart" (Jer. 9:26). Whence do we know of the uncircumcision of the flesh? Because it is said, "And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin" (Gen. 17:14). And "all the nations are uncircumcised" in all the four cases, and "all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." The uncircumcision of the heart does not suffer Israel to do the will of their Creator. And in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will take away from Israel the uncircumcision of the heart, and they will not harden their stubborn (heart) any more before their Creator, as it is said, "And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh" (Ezek. 36:26); and it is said, "And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin" (Gen. 17:11). Whence do we know concerning the one ('Orlah) for trees? Because it is said, "And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you" (Lev. 19:23).