B"H

Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 14, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / November 8, 2022

The mitzvah of circumcision (Brit), about which we read at the end of last week’s Parsha, Lech Lecha, and in this week’s Parsha, Vayeira, was banned many times throughout Jewish history. Circumcision was one of the mitzvot for which the Maccabees fought for and thus we have the miracle of Chanukah.

It has been one of the mitzvot which Jews throughout the generations strictly adhered to. It was upheld and performed even under the greatest of threats. Even in the concentration camps, there are stories of Jews who made sure that their infants had a Brit.

My maternal grandfather was a Mohel, who performed the ritual of circumcision, in the city of Gomel, Russia.  Under the Stalin reign of terror in Russia in the 1930’s, when the performance of Judaism was prohibited and anyone caught performing a Brit could be sentenced to be shot or sent away to Siberia, my grandfather, of blessed memory, was happy to perform this mitzvah for those who were willing to have their children circumcised.  He knew the sacrifice he was making, but that didn’t stop him.  In the end, he was caught and tried for his “crime” and shot.  He wasn’t even 40 years old at the time.

Q.   Why is this mitzvah so unique and so special?

A.  It was the first mitzvah given to our forefather, Abraham.  It is the only mitzvah which is performed in our body and stays with us until the day we die. It is the only mitzvah through which G-d made 13 covenants between Himself and the Jewish people.

The Talmud says that King David was at all times careful to perform mitzvot and study Torah.  He was completely connected to G-d every minute of the day.  Once, when King David was in the bathhouse, he realized that he was not only physically naked, but also naked of Mitzvot, for in the bathhouse one is prohibited to study Torah, and he had no mitzvah to perform there.  He felt bad.  But then he remembered that he was circumcised and knew that no matter where he was, he was always connected to G-d through the mitzvah of Brit Milah!  This is why this mitzvah is so unique.  It is the only mitzvah which is with us all the time.

The Talmud tells the following story: The wicked Roman governor, Turnusrufus, once asked Rabbi Akiva, “Whose deeds are more beautiful, G-d’s doings or that of man?

“That of man,” replied Rabbi Akiva, for man improves on the work of G-d.”  To prove his point, Rabbi Akiva brought him wheat and barley and baked bread and asked him, “Is not the man-made bread, better than the grains?  You see, man can improve on G-d’s work.”

“But if G-d desires for you to be circumcised, why didn’t he make the infant born circumcised?” he challenged. Rabbi Akiva replied, “G-d gave the Jewish people the commandments in order that we shall be purified through them.”  Circumcision, like all other mitzvot, is not for health benefits.  It may have that too, but that’s only secondary.  The true benefit is that it connects us with G-d in an everlasting bond.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY