The Mitzvah of Milah is Greater Than Shabbos:
The Gemara (Shabbos 132A) learns from the pasuk that says that a bris is held on the eighth day that a bris is made even on Shabbos. It is stated in the Medrash that the mitzvah of milah and the mitzvah of Shabbos had a debate with each other. Shabbos claimed that it is bigger than milah because Hashem stopped creating the world for it, as is stated (Bereishis 2:2): “And Hashem stopped on the seventh day.” Milah said that it is bigger than Shabbos because if not for it, the world would never have been created, as is stated (Yirmiyahu 33:25): “If not for My bris with the day and the night, the statutes of Heaven and earth I would not place.”
Rav Yehuda bar Shalom compares this to a story of two ministers who frequented a king’s palace, and the people did not know which one was more important. One day, the king left his palace with his entourage and everyone say that one minister was walking in front of the other. They know understood that the one walking in front was bigger. So too, since it is ruled in halacha that milah overrides Shabbos, we know that the mitzvah of milah is greater.
