Mila and Ascending to Heaven

It is not in heaven, saying “who will ascend heavenward for us (mi yaaleh lanu hashamayma) and take it for us, that we may hear it and do it.” 

                                               Deuteronomy 30:12

Ba’al haTurim finds a hint of the mitzva of mila (circumcision) in the fact that the initial letters of the words “mi yaaleh lanu hashamayma“ spell the word mila, and adds the observation that the final letters of the phrase spell the four letter name of God (considered the holiest of His names), commenting that the lesson is that one cannot reach God, unless he has been circumcised.

My father elucidated Ba’al haTurim’s comment: it is through mila that a Jew ascends to heaven, as our Sages taught: Abraham sits at the gates of Gehinom (Hell), and does not allow the circumcised to enter. Further, it is through mila that the Nation of Israel is sanctified and transcends the other nations, for mila is the sign of the special covenant between God and Israel. Thus, the final letters of the words “mi yaaleh lanu hashamayma” spell God’s name, for it is through mila that His name is connected to Israel. Indeed, through mila, a Jew achieves partnership with the Creator.

A further implication of the fact that the initial letters of the phrase spell mila and the final letters God’s name is that when mortal man begins a mitzva, God helps him complete it, as our Sages taught: “one who comes to purify himself will be helped (by God).”