Maimonides on the Reasons For Circumcising

There is one reason why we circumcise our sons: Because it is a mitzvah in the Torah.

We don't do it because Abraham did it. He certainly set a precedent and we follow his example. But

as the Rambam (Maimonides) explains in his commentary to the Mishnah Hullin at the end of Chapter 7, EVERY MITZVAH STEMS FROM WHAT MOSES TAUGHT AT SINAI BASED ON GOD'S COMMAND.

פירוש המשנה לרמב"ם מסכת חולין פרק ז 

[ו] לדעת ר' יהודה האוכל כזית מגיד הנשה של בהמה טמאה חייב שתי מלקיות משום בהמה טמאה ומשום גיד הנשה. ואין הלכה כר' יהודה. ושים לבך לכלל הגדול הזה המובא במשנה זו והוא אמרם מסיני נאסר, והוא, שאתה צריך לדעת שכל מה שאנו נזהרים ממנו או עושים אותו היום אין אנו עושים זאת אלא מפני צווי ה' על ידי משה, לא מפני שה' צוה בכך לנביאים שקדמוהו, דוגמא לכך, אין אנו אוכלים אבר מן החי לא מפני שה' אסר על בני נח אבר מן החי, אלא מפני שמשה אסר עלינו אבר מן החי במה שנצטווה בסיני שישאר אבר מן החי אסור. וכן אין אנו מלים בגלל שאברהם מל את עצמו ואנשי ביתו, אלא מפני שה' צונו על ידי משה להמול כמו שמל אברהם עליו השלום, וכן גיד הנשה אין אנו נמשכים בו אחרי אסור יעקב אבינו אלא צווי משה רבינו, הלא תראה אמרם שש מאות ושלש עשרה מצות נאמרו לו למשה בסיני, וכל אלה מכלל המצות. 

Translation of the two bolded statements:

"You must know that everything we are careful about or do today, we only do it because of a commandment of God [delivered] through the hand of Moshe."
"And we do not circumcise because Abraham circumcised himself and the men of his household. But because God commanded us, through Moshe's hand, to circumcise, just as Avraham, Peace upon him, circumcised..."

So Maimonides makes it quite clear that we have a mitzvah to circumcise. And that the only reason we do so is because of the mitzvah.  

This is an important set up to the next posting, which will specifically target the Jews who are anti-circumcision, who like to take a quote of Maimonides out of context to argue why we should not circumcise.

They do not listen to anything else Maimonides says. They don't read Maimonides at all. And they don't understand what Maimonides writes. But they champion him as the anti-circumcision advocate because of something he wrote, when applying such a moniker to him could not be any further from the truth - stay tuned... for part II

Why we stand at a bris

The mishnah in Bikkurim 3:3 says that when the first fruits were brought to Jerusalem during the holiday season in the times of Temple, workers would stop what they were doing to greet those carrying the fruit.

Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura asks why they did this. While there is a custom/law to stand out of respect for scholars, the rule is inapplicable to workers who are busy at their trade. If one need not stand for scholars, one certainly should not have to interrupt work to stand for regular people carrying fruit!

He answers that we are not standing out of respect for the persons or for the fruits. We are standing because at the moment the actual mitzvah is being performed, it is beloved. Thus we stand out of respect for the loving feeling we have for the mitzvah at the time it is being fulfilled.

This is why there is also a custom to stand for the pallbearers who carry the deceased past us and [on the opposite end of the circle of life] to stand for those who carry a baby into his bris.

Those who participate in a bris know the joy of the moment, the special feeling in the room. Emotions run extremely high when those attending have a deep understanding of the special significance of the bris, and have a feeling that the mitzvah being fulfilled is indeed beloved to all who are present.

One way to express respect garnered from the love emotion is to stand when subject of that love, the item or person, passes by.

As this is certainly the case for the baby at a bris, and hopefully for the mitzvah being fulfilled through the baby, we have the custom to stand for the bris itself.