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20 MarCheshvan
1. On Shabbos Parshas Vayeira — 20 MarCheshvan[1] 5693[2], my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, related a story that happened with his father, the Rebbe (Rabbi Shalom DovBer) nishmaso Eden, when he was a child of four or five years old.
(That he was then no older than five follows from the fact that the Rebbe nishmaso Eden was born on 20 MarCheshvan of the year 5621[3], and at the passing of the Tzemach Tzedek — 13 Nissan 5626 — he was not yet six years old. That he was already four years old at the time is understood from the fact that he was placed in cheder at three and a half[4], and the story has to do with his learning in cheder.)
On Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayeira (on his birthday, or on the Shabbos before[5] it[6]), his mother, Rebbetzin Rivkah, brought him in to his grandfather, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, to receive a blessing in connection with his birthday. As he came in to the Tzemach Tzedek, the child burst into tears. When the Tzemach Tzedek asked him why he was crying, he answered that he had learned in cheder that G‑d revealed Himself to Avraham Avinu (from this we see that he was already learning in cheder not only Ivri and Siddur but also Chumash), and he was crying over this: why did G‑d reveal Himself to Avraham Avinu, yet to us He does not reveal Himself?
The Tzemach Tzedek answered him: When a Jew, at ninety-nine years old, resolves that he must circumcise himself, he becomes worthy that G‑d should reveal Himself to him. Another version[7]: When a Jew who is a tzaddik, at ninety-nine years old, resolves that he must circumcise himself, he becomes worthy that G‑d should reveal Himself to him.
My revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, explained at the time the reason for the two versions: the Rebbe nishmaso Eden did not himself remember it (for, after all, he was then a small child), and those who told the story related it in these two versions.
2. The general point and lesson of this saying of the Tzemach Tzedek (according to both versions) is[8] that even a Jew who is ninety-nine years old —
— and not only that according to the “calendar” he is that old, but that he has served his service for ninety-nine years; and as it is said[9] of Avraham Avinu that he was “advanced in days” — with him there were “complete days” —
he too must circumcise himself[10], that is: he too must guard himself against the covering and concealment that can come from the world (olam, from the word he’elem, concealment[11]), and remove it.
For it is specifically of one who is “a hundred years old” that it is said[12], “as if he had died, passed away and ceased from the world” — that the world does not conceal for him. But as long as he is only ninety-nine years old, and stands (even if only by a single level) lower than “a hundred years old,” he must guard himself against the concealment of the world.
3. A further point in this: Adam HaRishon was commanded six mitzvos. Noach was given an additional, seventh mitzvah. Avraham Avinu was given the mitzvah of milah[13]. And since the mitzvah of milah was innovated through Avraham Avinu, it is understood that this mitzvah is the essential matter of Avraham.
From this it is understood that Avraham’s decision at ninety-nine years old that he must circumcise himself means [not that he must still add “something” to the service he had done over ninety-nine consecutive years, but] that after all his service, an essential matter is still lacking.
And more: from now on, all his deeds, whatever service they may be, will be in an entirely different manner —
as our Sages say[14]: “‘Be perfect’ — through this thing (through the milah) you will be perfect, for as long as the foreskin is on you, you are blemished before Me.” And the superiority of one who is perfect over one who is blemished is, after all, in everything[15], not only in the limb in which the blemish lies.
4. A deeper point in this: It has already been spoken of many times[16] that although the mitzvos we fulfill after the Giving of the Torah are far higher than the mitzvos the Avos fulfilled — in the words of the Midrash[17]: “All the mitzvos that the Avos performed before You were fragrances, but we — ‘Your name is oil poured forth.’”
[The mitzvos the Avos fulfilled, since they did them by their own power (and this also includes Avraham praying Shacharis, Yitzchak setting aside maaser, and so on[18]), (a) drew down through them only a glimmer of G‑dliness, not the Essence; and therefore (b) these mitzvos did not establish the holiness of the mitzvah, inwardly and openly[19], in the physical things with which they performed the mitzvos, in such a way that the holiness should remain in them openly also after the mitzvah had been performed.
Whereas the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah (a) carry within them the power of the Essence, for the command to do them came from “I[20] am the L‑rd your G‑d”; and therefore (b) they establish the holiness of the mitzvah in the physical things with which the mitzvos are done, to the point that the holiness remains in them, inwardly and openly, also after the mitzvah has been performed.]
Nevertheless, “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children”[21]: the power we have to fulfill the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah comes from the mitzvos the Avos fulfilled before the Giving of the Torah.
And in order that the mitzvos of the Avos should have a connection and a bond with the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah, there had to be at least one mitzvah of the Avos resembling[22] the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah. And that is the mitzvah of milah — (a) for it Avraham was commanded by G‑d[23], and therefore (b) the holiness of the mitzvah (even before the Giving of the Torah) remained in the physical thing also after the mitzvah had been performed[24] — which bound all the other mitzvos the Avos fulfilled with the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah, so that the “deeds of the fathers” should be a “sign for the children”[25].
5. Accordingly it is understood that Avraham Avinu’s resolution, after his service over the course of ninety-nine years, that he must circumcise himself, meant (not only that he still lacked a certain matter, and an essential matter, and that from now on all the deeds he would do would be in perfection, but) that something was lacking for him also in all his previous service: he must circumcise himself in order to bring all his previous service up to the level where it too would be in perfection.
And this is a lesson for each and every one: however great he may be (as long as he has not yet reached the service of “a hundred years old”), it is not only that he has not yet completed his service — that he must still do service, and essential service — but he must also bring perfection into all his previous service.
6. As said above, there are two versions of the Tzemach Tzedek’s saying. And since both versions were told by a Rebbe, a Nasi in Israel, it is certain that each version (even if it comes from the tellers) has a point — a particular lesson in man’s service of G‑d.
It is not understood: what is the advantage of the first version (“a Jew” — plainly) over the second version (“a tzaddik”)? Since it says (in the second version) that even a Jew who is a tzaddik must have the resolution that he must circumcise himself, it is surely understood all the more so that a Jew who is not a tzaddik must certainly have this resolution — for “two hundred includes one hundred.” What, then, is the point of the first version[26]?
And in general — how is the first version relevant at all? Avraham was, after all, a tzaddik also before the milah[27]; only the title “perfect” was added to him through the milah.
The explanation of this is: Since the novelty of the mitzvah of milah, relative to the mitzvos Avraham had fulfilled before, is that for this mitzvah he was also commanded by G‑d, and accordingly he fulfilled it not by his own power alone but (like the mitzvos after the Giving of the Torah) by the power of the mitzvah, the power of the Creator, the power of the Emanator (as above, section 4) —
therefore the resolution to fulfill this mitzvah must come from the place in the soul where there is no room for distinctions of levels between a tzaddik and one who is not a tzaddik (and so it was also with Avraham). And therefore he does not say the word “tzaddik” in the first version, because
[in addition to the fact that, with regard to the revelation of the power of the Emanator that is to be brought about through the milah, there is no novelty in a tzaddik too needing to circumcise himself[28] — for relative to the Emanator, Atzilus (and even Adam Kadmon[29]) is equal to Asiyah[30] — in addition to this]
in order to receive the revelation of the power of the Emanator (which comes through the revelation of the level of the soul that is above distinctions of levels), he must become nullified from his own levels. (And all the more so from what is said[31] of Rabbi Zeira, that he had to forget the Babylonian Talmud in order to be able to learn the Jerusalem Talmud, even though both are specifically within understanding and comprehension, and so they certainly bear some relation to one another.)
And this is the explanation of the two versions: the first version speaks of the matter as it is in truth — from the standpoint of the Emanator, relative to Whom Atzilus and Asiyah (in the world and in man) are equal. And the second version speaks of it as it is from the standpoint of the created beings’ perception; and in the perception of the created beings there is a novelty in this, that even a tzaddik must circumcise himself.
7. The lesson of this saying of the Tzemach Tzedek (according to both versions) for us — after the Giving of the Torah — is:
Through every mitzvah — from the word tzavta, joining and bonding[32] — one becomes united Above with G‑d forever, as the Alter Rebbe says[33]: “And this union Above is eternal, forever and ever.”
And this union is present in every Jew, as the Gemara says[34]: “Even the transgressors of Israel are full of mitzvos” — mitzvos in the sense of joining and bonding. This is why every Jew says the text of the blessing over mitzvos [and says it with G‑d’s Name and Kingship, because in this text there is no doubt, nor even a double doubt[35]] — not only “King of the world,” but also “our G‑d” (the G‑d Who is ours), and “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos and commanded us” (vetzivanu, from the word tzavta, joining and bonding).
And since every Jew is “full” of mitzvos, through which he is united with G‑d forever and ever, he might think that he is already complete. For this comes the lesson that one must always know that one must circumcise oneself.
And when he has this resolution, he becomes worthy — as the Tzemach Tzedek’s saying concludes — that G‑d should reveal Himself to him, even in the way He revealed Himself to Avraham Avinu: the level of prophecy[36] — which is higher than chochmah — the seeing of the essence[37].
(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, 5725)
Key Lesson
No matter how many years a person has served G‑d, and however many mitzvos he has to his credit, he must never regard himself as finished. Like Avraham at ninety-nine, he must resolve again and again to “circumcise himself” — to remove whatever concealment the world places on him and to rise above his own attainments. This resolution does not only add something new; it elevates all his earlier service as well. And one who makes it becomes worthy that G‑d should reveal Himself to him.