The passuk says מצאתי ידבע דוד I found Dovid my servant (Tehillim 89,21). The Medrash asks the passuk does not disclose where Dovid was found? The answer is in Sodom. (a hint to this derasha is found in the gematria of the inner letters of סדם which are מך לית מ which equal with the kollel the word מצאתי). The explanation to this cryptic message is that in Lot was nestled the neshamah of Dovid Hamelech and the future Moshiach as Dovid's great grandmother was Ruth who descended from Lot's daughter. Why did the Hashgacha have it that this special royal neshamah of Dovid and Moshiach was heavenly navigated to dwell in Sodom through Lot, a city which was completely destroyed because of its evil, spiritual bankruptcy and waywardness?
It is not a coincidence that after the Bris Milah Covenant that Hashem told Avraham that He is going to destroy Sodom and its satellite cities. What is the relationship? Hashem promised five times to Avraham that He will give to him and his descendants Eretz Yisrael. The first four times this promise was not associated with any particular condition. However, the fifth time Hashem promised Avraham Eretz Yisrael and to his descendants as an everlasting possession in connection with Bris Milah. When Avraham fulfills the mitzvah of Bris Milah he sacrifices a part of himself to Hashem, a part that is irrevocable and cannot be undone. So too in return Hashem gave to Avraham an irrevocable and eternal possession, the Land of Eretz Yisrael.
In a deeper sense the relationship of Eretz Yisrael to Bris Milah is as follows. Eretz Yisrael has a quality of spirituality more than any other place on earth because עיני ה' אלקיך בה Hashem's personal presence can be felt and experienced there. Mazal and angels are not in charge and the managers of life events like in every other geographic area. In that sense, in Eretz Yisrael the earthly dense orlah of nature which conceals the consciousness of Hashem's presence and intervention in creation everywhere else, is removed and it is as if Eretz Yisrael is circumcised, making Hashem more easily accessible and attainable.
The Sefer Yetziah writes there are three major categories in the world that correspond to each other. They are nefesh which is the person, shanah which is time, and makom place. When these three come together it creates an incredible burst of spiritual energy. An example of such a manifestation is the Kohen Gadol who is the highest nefesh, enters the Kodesh Kadashim the holiest place, on Yom Kippur on the holiest day of the year.
However even in Eretz Yisrael there can still remain an uncircumcised part of orlah attached to it. Such was the city of Sodom and its satellite habitats which promoted and fostered a sinful and evil lifestyle. Sodom not only concealed the light of Hashem but profaned it to the lowest degree possible. It was when Avraham fulfilled the mitzvah of Milah in the category of nefesh on his body, that it immediately triggered the necessity to achieve the same action in makom Eretz Yisrael, to circumcise and remove the orlah of Sodom from within it.
Our covenant with Hashem with the Bris Milah is not merely the physical act of removing the orlah from the male reproductive organ. It is the life message for a Yid to remove the orlah that also lies on his heart as the passuk says ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם . The yetzer harah, the evil inclination, blocks the directives of the neshama which emanate from one's intellect, stopping if from entering the heart and the middos which lead to deeds The mitzvah of תבהאו את ה' אלקיך בכל לבבך is nothing less that circumcising the orlah of one's heart thereby subjugating one's desires to those of Hashem.
So in essence the duty of a Yid is that he must remove two orlah's from himself, one physical and the other spiritual. The giving of the Torah and mitzvos to Am Yisraell was to help them achieve this goal as hinted in the gematriah of two times ערלה equaling תורה. When Am Yisrael does not keep the Torah and mitzvos they are chased out of the Land of Eretz Yisrael for although they fulfilled the physical Milah on their bodies they failed to circumcise their hearts from the orlah that resides there. The Navi says ומצאת את לבבו נאמן לפניך וכרות עמו הברית לתת לו ארץ הכנעני וכול'. Hashem found Avraham's heart to be faithful to Him and He made a covenant with him to give Eretz Yisrael to him and to his descendants. Chazal interpret the words וכרות עמו הברית to mean the physical Bris Milah of Avraham but also the Bris of giving him Eretz Yisrael. Both are contingent upon ומצאת את לבבו נאמן לפניך, the avodah of negating the yetzer harah to Hashem the Supreme Power and creator of the universe. The passuk did not say תא תאצמולבו but rather לבבו which refers to the yetzer harah. Note that the word ערלה is gematriah היצר referring to the yetzer harah.
When the final geulah will come Hashem promises ומל ה' אלקיך את לבבך that Hashem will perform a circumcision on our hearts and no more will we desire anything that opposes Hashem's will. This absolute subjugation to Hashem's desires will be heralded in by Moshiach who some learn will the Dovid Hamelech himself. Moshiach will bring everyone to do teshuvah and remove the orlah from their hearts. Dovid was the example of this in his lifetime as he said on himself יברקב ללח יבלו (Tehillim 109,22) that my yetzer harah is dead within me (Baba Basrah 17 Rashi). Chazal also say (Moed Katan 16b) that Dovid הקים עולה של תשובה he personified the power of teshuvah for individuals. Not only was Dovid Hamelech successful in removing the orlah from his heart but he also cut out the היצר הרע that resided there which is also gematriah ערלה.
Dovid even prior to his becoming king in had a deep association with episodes of .ערלה the Pelishtim nation are called by the name of ערלים (Shoftim 14,3,6 15,18 31,2 etc) more than any other nation. The Pelishtim giant Galiyas was the source kelipah of the Pelishtim nation. Dovid who was born without an orlah (Sotah10b) killed Galiays who was the quintessence of ערלה. King Shaul told Dovid that in order to marry his daughter he would have to bring him 100 foreskins of the Pelishtim. Dovid brought to Shaul 200.
Just as Sodom was the orlah of Eretz Yisrael so too the makom of the Mikdash possessed an orlah that covered its holiness. It was owned by the gentile Aravna from the Yevusi nation which Dovid bought from him (Shmuel 2 24) and brought sacrifices there. It was Dovid who removed the לרע Aravna from the holiest place on earth and brought it under the ownership of Am Yisrael דודל תיבה תכונח ריש רומזמ.
Now we can understand why Dovid had to find himself in the orlah city of Eretz Yisrael. Dovid's avodah in life was to remove the orlah and kelipas of evil. He was born without an orlah, he removed the orlah from his heart, he removed his yetzer harah, he defeated the root of Orlah of the Pelishtim nation by killing Galiyas, he removed two hundred orlahs from the Pelishtim, and he removed the orlah of makom which was covering all these years the future makom of the Beis Hamikdash. He will be the Moshiach who will remove the orlah from all Yisrael by arousing them to do teshuvah shelaimah and build the Third Beis Hamikdash.
Gut Shabbos,
Rav Brazil
