Rabbi Hiya opened [his discourse with]: "G‑d, when You came out from Se'ir, when You marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dripped." (Judges 5:4) Come and see, worthy are Israel in this world and in the World to Come since G‑d desired them and they cleave to Him and they are called holy, a holy nation. He even raised them to a supernal level called holiness, as is written, "Israel is holiness to G‑d, the first fruits of His grain." (Jeremiah 2:3) As we explained, that since Israel cleave to Him through His name after eight days [by circumcision], are marked by His name and are His, as written, "And what one nation in the earth is like Your people, like Israel?" (II Samuel 7:23) The nations do not cleave to Him nor follow His commands and the holy imprint [circumcision] is absent from them, so they cleave to the unholy Other Side.

Come and see, when G‑d wished to give the Torah to Israel, He summoned the children of Esau and asked them, 'Do you wish to receive the Torah?' At that moment, the earth trembled and wanted to enter a chasm in the great abyss. It said before Him, 'Master of the Universe, shall the delights of Your joy since 2,000 years prior to the creation of the world be received before the uncircumcised who are not imprinted with Your covenant?'

G‑d said to it, 'Throne, throne [malchut], may a thousand such nations perish, the covenant of the Torah shall not appear before them.' This is the meaning of, "G‑d, when You did go out of Se'ir, when You did march out of the field of Edom, the earth [the Shechinah] trembled" surely, for the Torah is given only to him who has the holy covenant [of circumcision] in him. Whoever teaches the Torah to the uncircumcised is false to two covenants — the covenant of the Torah and the covenant of the righteous [yesod, represented by the organ of circumcision] and the Congregation of Israel. For the Torah was given to that place and to no other.

Rabbi Aba said [concerning those who teach Torah to the non-circumcised], he is false to three high places. He is false to the Torah, false to the Prophets, false to the Writings. He is false to the Torah as written, "And this is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Israel." (Deut. 4:44) He is false to the Prophets as written, "And all your children shall be taught of G‑d," (Isaiah 54:13) not others. It is also written, "seal the Torah among My disciples," (Isaiah 8:16) among them and not among others. He is false to the Writings as written, "For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a Torah in Israel," (Psalms 78:5) and, "Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name." (Psalms 140:14) Who are the righteous? They are the righteous and the Congregation of Israel. For whoever is not circumcised or has not entered their covenant, will not give thanks to His Holy Name, which is the Torah. Rabbi Chiya said, Once G‑d was revealed on Mount Sinai to give the Torah to Israel, the earth abated and was quiet. Hence, "the earth feared and [then] was still." [(Psalms 76:9), as explained in Avodah Zara 3a]

Come and see , when one is born, no supernal force is appointed over him until he is circumcised. Once he is circumcised, the awakening of the spirit [nefesh of Asiya] is aroused over him from above. If he merits to be occupied with the Torah, an additional awakening [ruach of Yetzira] is stirred over him. If he merits to perform the commandments of the Torah, an additional awakening [neshama of Beriya] is roused over him. If he is worthy to marry, begets children and teaches them the ways of the Holy King, then he is complete [he merits a nefesh, ruach and neshama of Atzilut] in every respect, [in all 4 aspects – nefesh, ruach, neshama and chaya].

BeRahamim LeHayyim: What does the above mean to you, and why is it revealed to you now?

How much Torah are we permitted to share with our non-Jewish friends? After all, everything from Rashi to Gemara to the Holy Zohar are available in complete translation either in print or on-line. It is a difficult and sensitive call. One who fears G‑d needs to be circumspect in such areas.

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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