352. Before I Was Circumcised – 1
Heshvan
It is written in the Midrash, “Before I was circumcised, passersby would come to me. Now that I am circumcised, they do not come to me.” The Creator said to him, “Before you were circumcised, the uncircumcised would come to you. Now, I and My entourage come to you.”
We should understand what the Creator replied to him, that He and His entourage come to him, since Abraham’s wish was to observe the commandment to have guests.
We should interpret that in ethics, “circumcision” means acceptance of the kingdom of heaven, and its purpose is to detach him from the Klipa [shell/peel]. This is called “severing and circumcising from the Klipot [pl. of Klipa].”
A person sees that before this, before he takes upon himself to work only for the sake of the Creator, the guests would come to him in a manner of “coming and going.” A “guest” means the good inclination, since it comes after the evil inclination has already been residing with him for thirteen years. The custom was that the good inclination would advise him to engage in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] in a manner of ups and downs.
This is called “having guests,” that many times a day he had states of ascent, admitting the guest many times. This is why it is referred to in plural from, “having guests.”
He said, “Before I was circumcised, passersby would come to me,” meaning they were always in a state of coming and going. Now that he has been circumcised, he waits for the guests to come but they do not come. To this the Creator replied, “Now, I and My entourage come to you.”
That is, when we work Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], we do not need so much preparation in order to obtain ascents. With a small effort, we can observe Torah and Mitzvot, since the Lo Lishma is regarded as working along with the will to receive, and this work is natural, meaning it is human nature to work for himself.
But when he comes to work in a manner of bestowal, since this work is against nature, the work that he was used to doing before is no longer enough for him, and he needs reinforcement. As long as he does not add in the work, he sees himself as worse than in his previous state. Therefore, he cries out, “Why have You done harm to this people?” since now he has no guests.
And the Creator replied to him, “Now,” when he begins to work in bestowal, called “for My sake,” “I am calling on you the verse, ‘Wherever I mention My name, I will come to you and bless you.’” Blessing means that he will be rewarded with the installing of the Shechina [Divinity]. This is called “I and My entourage come to you.”
For this reason, you should know that you are now at a higher degree, so you need to make greater efforts in order to be worthy of having Me and My entourage, since “According to the sorrow, so is the reward,” for when we should receive a higher degree, we must make more efforts.
However, it is not as you think, that you are in a worse state when you took upon yourself to work in bestowal, called work Lishma [for Her sake].