Judaism
A cutting question: why do we circumcise our sons?
A new book explores the significance of the covenantal inititation rite
September 8, 2024 08:30
A new book explores the significance of the covenantal inititation rite
September 8, 2024 08:30Jewish circumcision is called brit milah and in Yiddish bris. What does milah mean? To answer this, we need to ask what is the grammatical root of milah? There are several possibilities.
One is that the root is mem-lamed-lamed, meaning “to cut”. An example is in the verse: “In the morning grass shines and quickly vanishes into the evening when it is cut and dries up”(Psalm 90:6). The word is related to the word “cut”, as in cutting off the foreskin. This is straightforward and makes sense.
A second possible meaning is “realising the unity”.
The double lamed in the root mem-lamed-lamed presents at least one question which is: why are there two of the same letter? Would not one lamed be enough? The letter lamed spelled as a word means to teach or to learn.
One lamed learns and teaches unity, while the other lamed learns and teaches duality as my teacher Rabbi Stephen Robbins has taught me. Unity is accurate. Duality is inaccurate.
Brit milah cuts off the foreskin. It also cuts off one of the lameds in the root mem-lamed-lamed. It removes the inaccurate one, so that the boy grows up to be a man who learns to focus on living a life of virtue and integrity, and to continue to gain understanding of God and of Torah.
Brit milah removes the conflict of where a man’s learning should be. This is the essence of “The men came with the women; everyone whose heart was motivated [to bring a contribution to build the Mishkan]”(Exodus 35:22). Thus, he learns how to use his “maleness,” his virility, for that which it is intended, to build a place, a container for the sacred, a dwelling place for the Divine Presence.
The true essence of brit milah is learning — limmud — to peel away the outer layers of perception to become aware of the concealed unity of the One Creator. Brit milah is a gift given to learn the wisdom of Torah and to learn how to see God’s reflection in the eyes of each person and to treat them with honour.
A third possible meaning is “opposition”.
Alternatively, the root of milah could be mem-vav-lamed (mul). This is the same root of the word meaning “facing opposite something” such as the architectural detail of openings in doorways facing each other (I Kings 7:5).
The same root is in the word meaning “standing in opposition to something” such as a culture’s sexual immorality. For example, Moses was buried opposite Beth-Peor (Deuteronomy 34:6). Rashi comments that the location of Moses’s burial place was to atone for the incident at Baal-Peor, where men of Israel engaged in sexual profanity with the women of Moab (Numbers 25).
The burial place of our greatest teacher atoned for the people’s sin by being physically opposite the place of the sin. The shared root suggests that the brit symbolises our people’s opposition to sexual abuse, adultery and other forms of immorality.
A fourth potential meaning is “reflecting light”.
The root word mul is used to describe how to light the menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) so that the lights of the candles in the menorah are placed in front of and facing the menorah and are reflected by the mirroring effect of the face of the menorah, shining outward (Numbers 8:2).
Thus, the root of the word milah reflects God’s desire for us to be a “light unto the nations” (Isaiah 49:6). Just as the menorah reflects light and sends it out to the world, God’s light shines in us and is reflected out to the world through our acts of kindness and other mitzvot.
The fifth possible meaning is “to live a sacred life”.
The society that clamours against brit milah for Jewish boys is confusing the limited nature of circumcision with the fullness and richness of brit milah. They are not the same thing.
Circumcision simply cuts the foreskin away. Brit milah, on the other hand, is analogous to the mitzvah to “circumcise our hearts” (Deuteronomy 10:16). We are commanded to have our hearts and minds exposed.
Brit milah is the essence of living a sacred life, including its most physical forms of giving pleasure to his wife first, receiving pleasure, creating children and eliminating bodily waste that is not needed. It is the essence of the mitzvah of walking in the world on behalf of the Creator to be a blessing (Genesis 12:2).
Rashi and Ibn Ezra comment on the word heemol where the commandment for brit milah is given, noting that it is an infinitive rather than an imperative (Genesis 17:10). This suggests it means “He shall certainly be intensely circumcised” in order to live connected to God.
This is as it is written “Attach to me as if I am a seal attached to your heart” (Song of Songs 6:6). It means that we are called upon to be open enough and vulnerable enough to experience God’s attributes of love, justice, truth, beauty and grace.
These are available in the closeness of human relationships. It also means that we are called upon to serve the Creator by taking care of each other so that each soul feels God’s grace.
Rabbi Elihu Gevirtz’s new book, Sacred Insignia: The Spiritual Significance of Brit Milah, Circumcision, and the Sacred Sexual Relationship Between Men and Women Ktav, $29.95 is out now