{"id":14039,"date":"2026-01-06T19:42:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kabbalah.info\/?post_type=book&#038;p=14039"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:42:44","slug":"before-i-was-circumcised-2","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/before-i-was-circumcised-2\/","title":{"rendered":"752. Before I Was Circumcised \u2013 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cAnd he ran toward them.\u201d In the&nbsp;<em>Midrash<\/em>: \u201cAbraham said, \u2018Before I was circumcised, passersby would come to me. Now that I am circumcised, they do not come.\u2019 The Creator said to him, \u2018Before you were circumcised, uncircumcised would come to you. Now, I and My entourage are revealed to you,\u2019 as it is written, \u2018And he lifted up,\u2019 \u2018And he saw.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We should ask in the manner of ethics, since the matter of the circumcision is the cutting of the&nbsp;<em>Lo<\/em>&nbsp;<em>Lishma<\/em>&nbsp;[not for Her sake], and only his work after the circumcision was&nbsp;<em>Lishma<\/em>&nbsp;[for Her sake]. There is a rule that where there are always ascents and descents, a person is called \u201cwalking\u201d and not \u201cstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is what he asked, why, before he was circumcised, he always had ascents and descents. This is the meaning of the word&nbsp;<em>Ovrim<\/em>&nbsp;[passersby], from the word&nbsp;<em>Averah<\/em>&nbsp;[transgression], which is a descent, and&nbsp;<em>Shavim<\/em>&nbsp;[returning] meaning returning in&nbsp;<em>Teshuva<\/em>&nbsp;[repentance], would come to me, and he was busy all day with ascents and descents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But now that he has been circumcised, he could not always be in a state of passing and returning. If he had a descent, he was in that state for a long time until he could pick himself up, while it should have been to the contrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Creator told him that before he was circumcised, uncircumcised would come to him. Even when he repented and began the Torah and work, it was in a state of&nbsp;<em>Lo<\/em>&nbsp;<em>Lishma<\/em>&nbsp;[not for Her sake], for this reason (this is not very important).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You had many causes to repent and return to Torah and work. But now in&nbsp;<em>Lishma<\/em>&nbsp;[for Her sake], which is the truth, there is resistance from the evil inclination. Hence, it is inconsistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We should also say that he asked, Why before he was circumcised, he was in a state of work and choice, which is the quality of passing and returning, and now that he has been circumcised, he does not have the work of passing and returning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He replied to this, \u201cPreviously, uncircumcised would come to you,\u201d meaning thoughts and desires of the uncircumcised, so that you would make a choice. This is in order for you to be rewarded with&nbsp;<em>Lishma<\/em>, meaning the instilling of the&nbsp;<em>Shechina<\/em>&nbsp;[Divinity]. But now that you have achieved this and there is no longer a need for choice, meaning that the previous work caused you to now be rewarded with rest. Terah begot Abraham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAnd he ran toward them.\u201d In the&nbsp;Midrash: \u201cAbraham said, \u2018Before I was circumcised, passersby would come to me. Now that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6246,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[26],"class_list":["post-14039","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kabbalah | 752. 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