BRIT MILAH

As I write, I am in the midst of preparations for Shabbat services and the upcoming BRIT celebration for our new baby. It is now close to midnight on Thursday and I decided to pause, sit in front of the computer and share with you why these days of preparations for the BRIT are some of the happiest days in my life.
On the same note, I cannot ignore the fact that for Avia, the day of the BRIT is considered among the worst. She doesn’t accept most of what I’m going to write, or as she used to respond when I talk about the BRIT – “Amram, you’re talking nonsense. The only reason I allow you to observe it is because HASHEM, unfortunately, commanded us to do so”. For that, I guess Avia’s share in Gan Aden is greater than mine (fulfilling the commandment although it’s so hard for her).

That being said, let me begin:

The first commandment

Whereas the first Mitzvah (commandment) in the Bible, to all living creatures is to procreate “And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply upon the earth.”, BRIT MILAH is the first commandment given to the Jewish people and the first one a Jewish boy observes- on his eighth day.

More than anything else, the BRIT, this covenant of the flesh, symbolizes our eternal relationship with HASHEM our G-d.

It’s not easy to fight for the good

The foreskin symbolizes the Yetzer HaRa – evil inclinations, human urges and cravings. The BRIT symbolizes our will to follow what is beyond that. (See “Why interfere with  G-D’s perfect creation?”, below).

By observing the BRIT, we are actually saying it is not easy to be Jewish, not easy to be part of this big role given to us. In a world that so easily gives in to desires and mischief, we, as Jews, are to chase after Tzedakah (Righteousness) and Chessed (Acts of Compassion), and live a moral life of sanctity.

During the ceremony we recite the verse from Ezekiel: ’and I said to you, with your blood, live,’ and I said to you, ‘With your blood, live.‘ It is not easy to fight for a better world; never in our history has it been easy, it’s just that there is no other way.

Significance of the BRIT, especially at the 8^th day

Let’s clarify something first: one’s Jewish identity is determined according to the mother. Jewish mother = Jewish babies….. with or without the BRIT.

Shulchan Aruch, the guide of Jewish practical laws, adds an additional description over the clause of BRIT: “It is a Mitzvah of the father to perform the BRIT over his son, and this Mitzvah is greater than any other positive commandment”. (Yo”de 160, 1)

Can we wait a little until the baby is older?
It is said in the Torah: “And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (Vayikra 12,3). It is so important to observe the BRIT on the eighth day, that we will even break the rules of Shabbat and Yom Kippur in order to perform the BRIT on time.
Q. What happens if an important family member cannot make it on time? A. Even if the one absent is the father, we will not delay the BRIT, not even by one single day.

There is one exception: PIKU’ACH NEFESH. This Jewish law is very strict about endangering lives. So if the BRIT might be even slightly dangerous for the baby (most often it is a baby that has jaundice), although it is only a small risk, we are not allowed to take that risk. The baby can have BRIT some other time, whereas a lost soul cannot be replaced. (Shulchan Aruch Yo’de 163, 1-2)

Why interfere with G-D’s perfect creation?

Why are we interfering with nature?! HASHEM created this beautiful baby with this piece of foreskin, why not leave it there? If HASHEM really didn’t like it, He shouldn’t have created boys with foreskins in the first place.

A similar question was asked by the Roman Tornus Rofus to Rabbi Akiva (Babylonian Talmud, Batra 10):  ‘If your God loves the poor, why does He not support them?’ He replied: ‘So that we may be saved through them from the punishment of Gehinnom.’… ‘I will illustrate by a parable. Suppose an earthly king was angry with his son, and put him in prison and ordered that no food or drink should be given to him, and someone went and gave him food and drink. If the king heard of it, would he not send him (the one who provided the food) a present? And we are called “sons”, as it is written, ‘Sons are ye to the Lord your God.’

It is the same with the BRIT MILA. Certainly, HASHEM could have created baby boys without the foreskin and thus without any bad urges. But this was not the purpose of the Creator in this world. Our duty is to co-partner with HASHEM in perfecting the world; to complete the non-perfect world, to do good deeds like tzedekah, while removing and avoiding the bad urges.

The orlah (foreskin) symbolizes the evil inclinations that we naturally have. It is an extra piece of skin that expresses the temporary luxuries of life – the opposite of true and non-conditional love – the foundation of life. By removing the foreskin, we start the process of purifying ourselves, accepting the true morals of life, and we reinforce our eternal covenant with HASHEM.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction to FAQs: In every generation there are those who fight against Judaism and its traditional ways. The fact that they oppose specific commandments may as well indicate that somehow these forces foreshadow some intrinsic spiritual flaw in them. Along with the objection to BRIT MILAH usually comes the objection to Shechitah (Kosher slaughtering).
As the former chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yisrael Lau, the youngest survivor of Buchenwald said, “…it is somewhat absurd to see that nowadays, the leaders of this battle against Judaism, are no less than European countries such as Germany, who just cannot tolerate the sight of ‘blood shed in vain’…”

Q. Why do we place this new born at risk?

A. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend circumcising every baby boy. Circumcision reduces the chances of contracting Aids and other infectious diseases. Babies circumcised closer to their date of birth have been found to have a smaller risk of penile cancer later in life.

Although the medical benefits are not why we observe BRIT MILAH, still, they are good to know…

Q. Isn’t it a form of abuse?

A. The foreskin is an extra and unnecessary skin with relatively low innervations. Over the years, I have observed two things about the procedure: 1) the baby crys less than when he gets an injection, and he cries for a shorter time. 2) Earlier BRIT babies recover more quickly than when it is performed at an older age.

Q. Does the BRIT harm the future sexual functioning?

A. No. (Some research even indicates the total opposite)

Q. Why not let the boy decide for himself?

A. We do not let children decide most important things. Do you ask your children if they want to get vaccinated? Do you ask if they want to go to school? Do you ask what language they would like to speak? Do you let them choose their siblings or parents? Do you ask if they would like to be born Jewish? Do you ask the most basic thing that we did without consulting them – would you like to be born at all and live in this world?
The covenant of the flesh is part of our identity; we should not get rid of it, or make them go through a more complicated and painful procedure later in life.

Q. How to choose the Mohel? 

A. There are two variables: First, the mohel should be a most experienced and efficient man with the procedure. Second, he should be as observant and righteous as possible.
Experience gets priority over level of observance and righteousness. Of course, we speak that both are important to the procedure according to the traditional Hallacha (see further question).

Q. A Mohel or a Doctor?

A. The level of efficiency comes mostly with experience. In most cases, this being his job, a Mohel is more experienced than a Doctor.

If a Mohel was chosen over the royal physician to perform the procedure on Prince Charles, what more can we say?

Notice that most circumcisions performed by Doctors are not considered Kosher at all!

There are three minimum requirements for a Jewish BRIT MILAH. (The medical procedure, usually done in the hospitals, meets only one of the three.) Doing the BRIT for religious reasons, but not in the proper Hallachik way – is simply baby abuse! (the only decision would between a Mohel and a Doctor, who performs the ritual according to the tradition)

WE THANK YOU FOR SHARING IN OUR SIMCHA

AND THE RITUAL OF BRIT MILAH

Amram and Avia Maccabi