I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. This is the seventh part of this series of sharing this article here.
Rabbi Avi Billet, Mohel in South Florida
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Welcome to mohelinsouthflorida.com - the most comprehensive and up to date mohel blog on the internet . My name is Avi Billet, and I am so ...
Monday, May 29, 2023
Thanks for Bris Milah (7 of 8)
Monday, May 15, 2023
Thanks For Bris Milah (6 of 8)
I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. This is the sixth part of this series of sharing this article here.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Thanks For Bris Milah (5 of 8)
I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. This is the fifth part of this series of sharing this article here.
A fifth reason to be thankful is for being His servants, as if branded like a slave for his master (Maharal Parshas Bo, Ch 12). Maharal reminds us that servitude only exists when there are people who serve. Pesach, which is only available as an “Avodah” to males who are circumcised, is a singular form of “service.” But Pesach alone doesn’t a servitude make. Milah is the key which demonstrates our being servants of the Almighty. It is how we fulfill being His servants (per Vayikra 25:55), and not servants of servants (Kiddushin 22b), that makes us worthy of redemption and of receiving the land – two of the promises associated with this Covenant.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Thanks for Bris Milah (4 of 8)
I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. This is the fourth part of this series of sharing this article here.
Monday, April 3, 2023
Thanks for Bris Milah (3 of 8)
I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. This is the third part of this series of sharing this article here.
Monday, March 20, 2023
Thanks for Bris Milah (2 of 8)
I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. This is the second part of this series of sharing this article here.
Another reason for gratitude is because Milah lifts us out of a status of being Arelim. Yirmiyahu referred to all gentiles as uncircumcised, ki khol hagoyim arelim (9:25). There, in being critical of Israel, Israelites are accused of being of uncircumcised heart: v’khol beis Yisrael Erlei Lev, their bad behavior causing them to be worthy of punishment (Radak). Thus the metaphorical (heart-)foreskin prevents us from getting close to God, when doing the wrong thing. Presumably when we do right, we can never be called or compared to “Arelim.”
Monday, March 6, 2023
Thanks for Bris Milah (1 of 8)
I wrote an article for this book about Bris Milah, on the subject of 8 reasons for our having gratitude for this Mitzvah. Over the next eight posts I will share the article in pieces.
“[F]or Jews circumcision … is not a detail of hygiene, [but] the seal of the pledge between Abraham and his Creator… The Jews have followed the Mosaic law with a confidence which modern medicine progressively ratifies. The medical endorsement is not, however, the glory of Judaism. It is a footnote.” – Herman Wouk, “This is My God”
The celebrated author’s insightful comment about circumcision speaks of the Covenant, but not of the painful experience the child (or the converting adult) undergoes in order to have that “seal of the pledge…” Interestingly, there are at least two expressions of thanks over the act of circumcising. One is the verse “Hodu LaHashem Ki Tov Ki L’Olam Chasdo” – Give thanks to God for He is good, for His kindness endures forever – included in the baby-naming-paragraph recited seconds after the Milah (circumcision). The second is on a more regular basis, in the “thanks” blessing of birkas hamazon, we mention “briskha she’chasamta bivsareinu,” the Covenant You sealed in our flesh.
While it is reasonable to give thanks for the Covenant, which defines our relationship with God, why note that it is “sealed in our flesh”? Are we thanking God for a painful experience?
In a lengthy discussion addressing the thanks in Birkas Hamazon, R Yochanan Luria (Meshivas Nefesh, Shemot 3) notes Milah’s place in the Israelite experience, especially in contrast to other Bnei Avraham (Eisav and Yishmael) who did or currently circumcise, but don’t get the benefits of the Covenant. One can certainly be thankful for Milah that comes with Covenantal benefits, rather than the alternative which merely fulfills a family tradition without Covenantal benefits. In a lengthy discussion addressing the thanks in Birkas Hamazon, R Yochanan Luria (Meshivas Nefesh, Shemot 3) notes Milah’s place in the Israelite experience, especially in contrast to other Bnei Avraham (Eisav and Yishmael) who did or currently circumcise, but don’t get the benefits of the Covenant. One can certainly be thankful for Milah that comes with Covenantal benefits, rather than the alternative which merely fulfills a family tradition without Covenantal benefits.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
A Thought on Blood of Circumcision as it connects to Parshat Bo
There are two positive mitzvos in the Torah that share certain qualities. Aside from being "Mitzvot Asei," both of them are the only mitzvos in the Torah for which if one does not fulfill them, the person’s soul is subject to kareis - a repercussion which has a number of possible definitions, but minimally could mean to be “cut off” from an eternal connection to God (whatever that might mean). Both of them have blood associated with the fulfillment of the mitzvah. Both of them require preparation in advance. One of them cannot be fulfilled without the other one having been fulfilled. (list is not exhaustive)
The two mitzvos? Bris Milah (circumcision) and Korban Pesach (the Paschal Lamb). It is noted that absent a Beis HaMikdash we don’t fulfill the Korban Pesach, so some of the connections are less relevant in our time.
Rashi (12:6) quotes verses from Yechezkel 16 which describe metaphorically God’s turning Jerusalem into a presentable city, including stating “And I passed by you and saw you downtrodden with your blood, and I said to you, 'With your bloods, live,' and I said to you, 'With your bloods, live.'” Many Midrashim say the plural form of ‘bloods’ indicates that blood of the Paschal lamb and circumcision blood were combined and placed on the doorposts in Egypt to serve as a double protection for the Hebrews during the final plague.
Rashi says the circumcisions in Egypt took place at night, seemingly contradicting the Midrash that the bloods were combined. The instruction for the slaughtering of the lamb and putting the blood on the doorpost is in 12:6-7, making clear that not much time passed between the two actions. People were indoors at night; circumcision blood could not be put on the doorpost!
The great irony of this is that the idea that an ערל, an uncircumcised male, can’t partake of the Korban Pesach, seems to be an afterthought first mentioned in 12:48, basically the last instruction given to Moshe to tell over to the Israelites.
Rabbenu Bachaye writes וזה יכלול שנמולו כלן ועשו את הפסח, which can certainly be understood to mean the two actions were done in that order: first Milah and then slaughtering the Pesach. Which could also lead us to suggest that, rather than an afterthought, the last thing Moshe heard – the instruction for Milah – was freshest in his mind, and therefore what he mentioned first to the Bnei Yisrael.
Rashi’s explanation leaves more questions than answers in light of the halakha based on the verse וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו, that a Bris must take place during daylight hours, from sunrise to sunset, even if done after the 8th day. (Pesachim 4a, Yoma 28b). Comes Rabbenu Bachaye with the save… what do you think?
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Bar Mitzvah Related Thought on Vayera
I share this 13 years after this post
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
When to Make the Bris Party?
There are plenty of sources for the idea that the celebration for the Bris should take place at the time of the Bris.
However, I have had the opportunity to preside over brisses where the parents were understandably quite nervous about the whole idea, wanting to give their son undivided attention at the time of the bris, not wanting to "spoil" this incredibly intimate family moment with the challenge of being hosts for a party.
The Bris, of course, was not delayed, as that is described in the Torah as being the 8th day of life (unless there are medical conditions which cause a delay). But the PARTY isn't Biblical... right? Or is it?
The source for having a celebration is the verse that Avraham made a big party on the day that הגמל את יצחק. Is that the bris? Is that a weaning? Is that a 'bar mitzvah'? (All of these are possibilities laid out in Midrashim and commentaries.)
Chasam Sofer writes this:
תורת משה בראשית פרק כא פסוק ח
ועתה כשהי' יצחק בן כ"ד ונגמל מאליו ברי אולם, אז עשה סעודת ברית מילה על יום הגמ"ל את יצחק בנו והיתה סעודת מילתו ביום כ"ד חדש
When Yitzchak weaned himself from his mother at 24 months and was clearly healthy and fully recovered from the Bris, that's when Avraham made the party for the Bris.
I don't know how many people would be interested in waiting 2 years - but this is certainly a novel idea, to wait until the child's second birthday to celebrate his bris!