Lech Lecha - 5773

Regarding the covenant of Bris Milah, which is introduced in Parshas Lech Lecha, I believe that two important points can be made:

1.  The practice of Bris Milah is rooted in the conviction that the natural forms have no presumptive claim of superiority over the works of man. To the contrary: The world was fashioned in an incomplete and imperfect way to create opportunities for man to perfect creation.

This point is made in the well known Midrash (Tanchumah, Tazria 5):

The wicked Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva, “Which are more beautiful, the works of the Holy One, Blessed be He, or those of flesh and blood. Rabbi Akiva replied, “The works of flesh and blood are more beautiful.”

Turnus Rufus then asked, “Why are Jews circumcised?” Rabbi Akiva replied, “I knew you would ask this and that is why I told you previously that the works of man are superior.” Rabbi Akiva then brought sheaves of grain and loaves of bread. “These sheaves are the works of the Holy One Blessed be He. These loaves are the works of flesh and blood. Are the loaves not superior?”

The Bais Halevi points out that, in giving the command for Bris Milah, Hashem introduces Himself using the name “Shaddai” (Bereishis 17:1). This name is understood by Chazal (Chagigah 12a) as related to the Hebrew word “Dai”, meaning “Enough”, in that when Hashem created the world, it continued to expand endlessly until Hashem said “Enough” and arrested the process.

This process of expansion was not only quantitative. There was also a process of qualitative development in which everything was striving to higher and higher forms of perfection. Wheat would have evolved into loaves had this process not been stopped. But it was stopped in order to allow man the opportunity for using his ingenuity and talent to produced finished goods through his own efforts. The utterance of “Dai/Enough” creates the potential for bread and for Bris Milah and consequently the name of Hashem derived from this utterance is the name associated with the command.

2. Performing Bris Milah on babies rather then on adults entails a high level of conviction and commitment. If Bris Milah was a mere preference, we would not impose it on our young children; we would allow them to make the decision for themselves upon reaching maturity. (Many critics of Bris Milah do make this point!)

But because Bris Milah is an integral part of the Torah which is ultimate truth, we “impose” this on our children without hesitation. Just as no parent would be faulted for teaching the basic number facts (one plus one equals two etc.) to his children, no parent can be faulted for giving his child Bris Milah. These are not subjective preferences but rather objective truths.

Perhaps this explains the cryptic comment of the Rivash (Teshuvos Rivash 131) that whereas Pidyon Haben is a rite that the father performs on behalf of his young son, Bris Milah is a rite that the father performs for himself. (The Halachic ramifications of this distinction are developed in that Responsum.)

Bris Milah is not merely a service that the father performs to benefit the child with early admission to the covenant. The willingness of the father to peform Bris Milah is a demonstration of the depth of his own conviction. Thus it is a Mitzva he performs for himself.