The Previous Rebbe related that on the Rebbe Rashab’s 4 or 5 birthday his mother, Rebbetzin Rivka, took him to receive a blessing from his grandfather the Tzemach Tzedek. That day, the 20 Cheshvan, was in the th th th Torah portion Vayera.
Upon entering his holy grandfather’s study, the boy burst into tears. When asked why he was crying, The future Rebbe Rashab answered, “Hashem appeared to our forefather Avraham, why doesn’t He appear to me?”
There are two versions of the Tzemach Tzedek’s answer. The first is that “When a Jew of 99 years resolves to give himself a bris, he deserves that Hashem should reveal Himself.”
In the second version, the Tzemach Tzedek answered, “When a ‘Tzadik’ of 99 years resolves to circumcise himself, he deserves that Hashem should reveal Himself.”
Even a Jew who served completely for 99 years like Avraham Avinu, i.e., one “whose days were complete” must circumcise himself. He must remove the worldly covering which hides G-d’s omnipresence. By comparison, a person who is 100 is compared to someone who has left the world. At that level, the world no longer hides the G-dly light and life within the creation.
It’s not that Avraham Avinu wanted to add something to his earlier service, or that he realized the primary thing –the mitzvah of circumcision – was missing. Rather, Avraham’s whole service was to prepare for his children to receive the Torah, and the mitzvah of circumcision served as the foundation of that service. So, in essence, Avraham Avinu’s whole previous service had been incomplete and to perfect it, he needed to be circumcised.
The lesson is that however great our service was until now; we have not reached the level of a “son of 100 years.” Therefore, not only is our current service incomplete, but we also have to perfect all our earlier service by removing the covering which obscures the truth of existence-- the G-dly light and life force.
Since both versions of this story were related by the Previous Rebbe, they are both significant and each contains a teaching that the other lacks. [over]
The answer that a “Jew” of 99 who resolves to become circumcised deserves a revelation of Hashem teaches us the essential point of the story.
The mitzvah of mila is the preparation for the mitzvos we do after receiving the Torah¹. These mitzvos are done with the strength of the Creator. The Mitzvos done by the Avos before we received the Torah, were performed through the strength of the creations. From the Creator’s perspective, all levels of Jewish souls are equal, therefore, the first version speaks of a “Jew” who is 99.
The second version of the Tzemach Tzedek’s answer is from our perspective, that there are levels of service. The message is that even one on the high level of a Tzadik also has to uncover G-dliness hidden in nature by removing that thick cover.
The general lesson in the story and the Tzemach Tzedek’s answer is that by doing mitzvahs, a person becomes unified with Hashem. Even Jewish sinners are filled with mitzvahs like seeds fill a pomegranate. The word “mitzvah,” itself means connection.
Therefore, when a Jew does a mitzvah, he or she makes the blessing, “who has made us holy connecting us [to Him] through his commandments.” This could cause a Jew to think that he has perfected himself. Therefore, we have the primary lesson from our story--the work of perfecting our service is continuous.
So, whenever a person resolves to “circumcise himself” to reveal his connection to Hashem continuously he becomes worthy for Hashem to reveal Himself to him in the same way as he revealed himself to Avraham Avinu—in a prophetic vision.
[Lekuti Sichos Vol 5 page 86]
1 The objects utilized in doing a mitzvah after we received the Torah retain their holiness, so too, Avraham’s circumcision. The objects utilized in all the other Mitzvos of the Avos, on the other hand, did not retain their holiness.