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Friday, October 23, 2026

Lech-Lecha 6

This finishes Parshas Lech Lecha. It opens with a review of Avram's life so far, from Ur Kasdim through Egypt, the war of the kings, the Bris Bein HaBesarim and the birth of Yishmael. Then it covers all of Bereshis 17: Hashem appears as Kel Shakai, commands milah (circumcision), changes Avram's and Sarai's names, promises Yitzchak and blesses Yishmael, and Avraham circumcises himself and his whole household. Two ideas keep coming back. First, the Jewish people are not ruled by the stars: Hashem runs every part of our lives directly. Second, milah is the sign of a Jew's covenant with Hashem, and its meaning is that the mind is in charge of the body's desires. It ends with the story of Rebbi and Antoninus.

The pesukim

Bereshis 17:1–2

וַיְהִ֣י אַבְרָ֔ם בֶּן־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְתֵ֣שַׁע שָׁנִ֑ים וַיֵּרָ֨א יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ אֲנִי־אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים׃

Abram was 99 years old. God appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be perfect."

וְאֶתְּנָ֥ה בְרִיתִ֖י בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֑ךָ וְאַרְבֶּ֥ה אוֹתְךָ֖ בִּמְאֹ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃

I will make a covenant between Me and you, and I will increase your numbers very much."

When Avram is 99, Hashem appears to him and says, "I am Kel Shakai. Walk before Me and be perfect," and promises a covenant and many descendants. The name Shakai comes from the word dai, "enough": Hashem is saying He is fully capable of anything, including changing what the stars seem to decree and giving Avram children in his old age. The Ramban explains that this is why Hashem uses this name here: Avram must not rely on astrology for his destiny. The covenant itself is that Avram is no longer under the stars, because Hashem guides every detail of his life. "Be perfect" means having perfect trust in that. It also hints at milah, since being uncircumcised was the one imperfection Avram still had.
Bereshis 17:3–6

וַיִּפֹּ֥ל אַבְרָ֖ם עַל־פָּנָ֑יו וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אִתּ֛וֹ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹֽר׃

Abram fell on his face. God spoke to him [again], saying,

אֲנִ֕י הִנֵּ֥ה בְרִיתִ֖י אִתָּ֑ךְ וְהָיִ֕יתָ לְאַ֖ב הֲמ֥וֹן גּוֹיִֽם׃

"As far as I am concerned, here is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a horde of nations.

וְלֹא־יִקָּרֵ֥א ע֛וֹד אֶת־שִׁמְךָ֖ אַבְרָ֑ם וְהָיָ֤ה שִׁמְךָ֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם כִּ֛י אַב־הֲמ֥וֹן גּוֹיִ֖ם נְתַתִּֽיךָ׃

No longer shall you be called Abram. Your name shall become Abraham, for I have set you up as the father of a horde of nations.

וְהִפְרֵתִ֤י אֹֽתְךָ֙ בִּמְאֹ֣ד מְאֹ֔ד וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ לְגוֹיִ֑ם וּמְלָכִ֖ים מִמְּךָ֥ יֵצֵֽאוּ׃

I will increase your numbers very, very much, and I will make you into nations-kings will be your descendants.

Avram falls on his face, and Hashem tells him he will be the father of many nations. From now on his name is no longer Avram but Avraham. With the added letter hei, his name changes in meaning. Av-Aram meant the master of Aram, one region. Av hamon goyim means the father of a multitude of nations, a leader of the whole world. A name expresses a person's essence, so the new name is a new identity.
Bereshis 17:7–8

וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֜י בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֗ךָ וּבֵ֨ין זַרְעֲךָ֧ אַחֲרֶ֛יךָ לְדֹרֹתָ֖ם לִבְרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֑ם לִהְי֤וֹת לְךָ֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים וּֽלְזַרְעֲךָ֖ אַחֲרֶֽיךָ׃

I will sustain My covenant between Me and between you and your descendants after you throughout their generations, an eternal covenant; I will be a God to you and to your offspring after you.

וְנָתַתִּ֣י לְ֠ךָ֠ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ֨ אַחֲרֶ֜יךָ אֵ֣ת ׀ אֶ֣רֶץ מְגֻרֶ֗יךָ אֵ֚ת כׇּל־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן לַאֲחֻזַּ֖ת עוֹלָ֑ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָהֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִֽים׃

To you and your offspring I will give the land where you are now living as a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan shall be [your] eternal heritage, and I will be a God to [your descendants]."

Hashem promises an eternal covenant with Avraham and his descendants: He will be their God and give them the whole land of Canaan as an everlasting heritage. "I will be a God to you" is conditional. If Avraham's descendants accept Hashem as their God, He will act as their God, and if they do not, He will not show His care for them. They accept His authority by choosing, of their own free will, to live in Eretz Yisrael, and by keeping two commandments. One of these is milah, and if the Jewish people as a whole are not circumcised, they are not worthy of the land.
Bereshis 17:9–14

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֔ם וְאַתָּ֖ה אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֣י תִשְׁמֹ֑ר אַתָּ֛ה וְזַרְעֲךָ֥ אַֽחֲרֶ֖יךָ לְדֹרֹתָֽם׃

God [then] said to Abraham, "As far as you are concerned, you must keep My covenant—you and your offspring throughout their generations.

זֹ֣את בְּרִיתִ֞י אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְר֗וּ בֵּינִי֙ וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעֲךָ֖ אַחֲרֶ֑יךָ הִמּ֥וֹל לָכֶ֖ם כׇּל־זָכָֽר׃

This is My covenant between Me, and between you and your offspring that you must keep: You must circumcise every male.

וּנְמַלְתֶּ֕ם אֵ֖ת בְּשַׂ֣ר עׇרְלַתְכֶ֑ם וְהָיָה֙ לְא֣וֹת בְּרִ֔ית בֵּינִ֖י וּבֵינֵיכֶֽם׃

You shall be circumcised through the flesh of your foreskin. This shall be the mark of the covenant between Me and you.

וּבֶן־שְׁמֹנַ֣ת יָמִ֗ים יִמּ֥וֹל לָכֶ֛ם כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶ֑ם יְלִ֣יד בָּ֔יִת וּמִקְנַת־כֶּ֙סֶף֙ מִכֹּ֣ל בֶּן־נֵכָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹ֥א מִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֖ הֽוּא׃

"Throughout all generations, every male shall be circumcised when he is eight days old." [This shall include] those born in your house, as well as [slaves] bought with cash from an outsider, who is not your descendant.

הִמּ֧וֹל ׀ יִמּ֛וֹל יְלִ֥יד בֵּֽיתְךָ֖ וּמִקְנַ֣ת כַּסְפֶּ֑ךָ וְהָיְתָ֧ה בְרִיתִ֛י בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֖ם לִבְרִ֥ית עוֹלָֽם׃

[All slaves,] both houseborn and purchased with your money must be circumcised. This shall be My covenant in your flesh, an eternal covenant.

וְעָרֵ֣ל ׀ זָכָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יִמּוֹל֙ אֶת־בְּשַׂ֣ר עׇרְלָת֔וֹ וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מֵעַמֶּ֑יהָ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י הֵפַֽר׃

The uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, shall have his soul cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

Hashem commands Avraham and his descendants to keep His covenant. Every male is circumcised at eight days old, including slaves born in the house or bought, as a sign of the covenant in their flesh. An uncircumcised male is cut off from his people. The Rambam writes in the laws of milah that it is the weightiest of mitzvos and that all of Judaism depends on it. The word "covenant" appears thirteen times in this passage, hinting at thirteen covenants Hashem made with Avraham over it.
Bereshis 17:15–21

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֔ם שָׂרַ֣י אִשְׁתְּךָ֔ לֹא־תִקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמָ֖הּ שָׂרָ֑י כִּ֥י שָׂרָ֖ה שְׁמָֽהּ׃

God said to Abraham, "Sarai your wife-do not call her by the name Sarai, for Sarah is her name.

וּבֵרַכְתִּ֣י אֹתָ֔הּ וְגַ֨ם נָתַ֧תִּי מִמֶּ֛נָּה לְךָ֖ בֵּ֑ן וּבֵֽרַכְתִּ֙יהָ֙ וְהָֽיְתָ֣ה לְגוֹיִ֔ם מַלְכֵ֥י עַמִּ֖ים מִמֶּ֥נָּה יִהְיֽוּ׃

I will bless her, and make her bear you a son. I will bless her so that she will be [the mother] of entire nations-kings will be her descendants."

וַיִּפֹּ֧ל אַבְרָהָ֛ם עַל־פָּנָ֖יו וַיִּצְחָ֑ק וַיֹּ֣אמֶר בְּלִבּ֗וֹ הַלְּבֶ֤ן מֵאָֽה־שָׁנָה֙ יִוָּלֵ֔ד וְאִ֨ם־שָׂרָ֔ה הֲבַת־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה תֵּלֵֽד׃

Abraham fell on his face and he laughed. He said to himself, "Can a hundred-year-old man have children? Can Sarah, who is ninety, give birth?"

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ל֥וּ יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל יִחְיֶ֥ה לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃

To God, Abraham said, "May it be granted that Ishmael live before you!"

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲבָל֙ שָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתְּךָ֗ יֹלֶ֤דֶת לְךָ֙ בֵּ֔ן וְקָרָ֥אתָ אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ יִצְחָ֑ק וַהֲקִמֹתִ֨י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֥י אִתּ֛וֹ לִבְרִ֥ית עוֹלָ֖ם לְזַרְע֥וֹ אַחֲרָֽיו׃

God said, "Still, your wife Sarah will give birth to a son. You must name him Isaac. I will keep My covenant with him as an eternal treaty, for his descendants after him.

וּֽלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל֮ שְׁמַעְתִּ֒יךָ֒ הִנֵּ֣ה ׀ בֵּרַ֣כְתִּי אֹת֗וֹ וְהִפְרֵיתִ֥י אֹת֛וֹ וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֥י אֹת֖וֹ בִּמְאֹ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂ֤ר נְשִׂיאִם֙ יוֹלִ֔יד וּנְתַתִּ֖יו לְג֥וֹי גָּדֽוֹל׃

I have also heard you with regard to Ishmael. I will bless him, and make him fruitful, increasing his numbers very greatly. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.

וְאֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י אָקִ֣ים אֶת־יִצְחָ֑ק אֲשֶׁר֩ תֵּלֵ֨ד לְךָ֤ שָׂרָה֙ לַמּוֹעֵ֣ד הַזֶּ֔ה בַּשָּׁנָ֖ה הָאַחֶֽרֶת׃

But I will keep my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you this time next year. "

Hashem tells Avraham that his wife is no longer to be called Sarai but Sarah, and that she will bear him a son. Avraham falls on his face and laughs, out of joy and not in mockery, at the idea of a son for a man of 100 and a woman of 90. He prays that Yishmael too may live before Hashem. Hashem answers that Sarah will bear Yitzchak and that the covenant will continue through him, while Yishmael will be blessed with twelve princes and become a great nation. The blessing of Yishmael is real, but the covenant and the land pass through Yitzchak: "I will keep My covenant with Yitzchak" (17:21) states clearly to whom the land belongs.
Bereshis 17:22

וַיְכַ֖ל לְדַבֵּ֣ר אִתּ֑וֹ וַיַּ֣עַל אֱלֹהִ֔ים מֵעַ֖ל אַבְרָהָֽם׃

When He finished speaking to him, God went up, [leaving] Abraham.

When Hashem finishes speaking, He "went up from upon Avraham." Hashem needs no one's permission to leave, yet the Torah shows Him taking leave. This teaches manners: even someone greater should ask leave of the person below him before he goes.
Bereshis 17:23–24

וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל בְּנ֗וֹ וְאֵ֨ת כׇּל־יְלִידֵ֤י בֵיתוֹ֙ וְאֵת֙ כׇּל־מִקְנַ֣ת כַּסְפּ֔וֹ כׇּל־זָכָ֕ר בְּאַנְשֵׁ֖י בֵּ֣ית אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיָּ֜מׇל אֶת־בְּשַׂ֣ר עׇרְלָתָ֗ם בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אִתּ֖וֹ אֱלֹהִֽים׃

Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his house, and every [slave] bought for money—every male in his household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins. [It was] on the very day that God had spoken to him.

וְאַ֨בְרָהָ֔ם בֶּן־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים וָתֵ֖שַׁע שָׁנָ֑ה בְּהִמֹּל֖וֹ בְּשַׂ֥ר עׇרְלָתֽוֹ׃

Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised on the flesh of his foreskin.

Avraham circumcises Yishmael and every male of his household, and himself at 99, "on that very day" (be'etzem hayom hazeh). That very day was Yom Kippur, the 10th of Tishrei in the year 2047 (1715 BCE). The words "that very day" also teach that he did it in broad daylight, where everyone could see. He did not do it at night, so that no one would think he was ashamed of Hashem's command.
Bereshis 17:25–27

וְיִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל בְּנ֔וֹ בֶּן־שְׁלֹ֥שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה בְּהִ֨מֹּל֔וֹ אֵ֖ת בְּשַׂ֥ר עׇרְלָתֽוֹ׃

His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised.

בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה נִמּ֖וֹל אַבְרָהָ֑ם וְיִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל בְּנֽוֹ׃

On the very day that Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised,

וְכׇל־אַנְשֵׁ֤י בֵיתוֹ֙ יְלִ֣יד בָּ֔יִת וּמִקְנַת־כֶּ֖סֶף מֵאֵ֣ת בֶּן־נֵכָ֑ר נִמֹּ֖לוּ אִתּֽוֹ׃

all the men of the household, both homeborn and bought for cash from a stranger, were circumcised with him.

Yishmael is 13 when he is circumcised, and on that same day every man of Avraham's household is circumcised with him, both those born in the house and those bought for money. Avraham made sure that everyone around him was circumcised, including his 318 men and the people who came to learn about Hashem from him. The Midrash Tanchuma says a river of blood ran from his house. The lesson is to make sure everyone in our home keeps the Torah's standards, and to bring the people we surround ourselves with closer to it, because those around us affect us.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • Hashem runs a Jew's life directly, not the stars, so don't let what looks like fate decide what you believe is possible.
  • The heart of milah is self-mastery: the mind rules the body's desires, and that is where holiness is built.
  • It is never too late to start: Avraham took on milah at 99.
  • A name is a person's essence, so let yourself be called by your Hebrew name now and then.
  • When you make a celebration, invite the poor, and make sure the people around you are living by the Torah too.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Review: Avram's journey from Ur Kasdim through Egypt and the war of the kings

  • Avram escaped Nimrod's furnace in Ur Kasdim. When his servant Eliezer warned him that Nimrod was sending men to kill him, he fled to the yeshiva of Noach and Shem and told his father Terach to leave as well.
  • Terach set out for Canaan with Avram and Lot but stopped in Charan. The parsha opens with the second time Avram leaves Charan, at 75. The Bris Bein HaBesarim in chapter 15 goes back in time to his first departure, at 70.
  • Wherever Avram stopped on his way back from Egypt, he stayed in the same lodgings as before. The lesson is to keep returning to the same host: if you switch, people may suspect something was wrong with the host, or that the host threw you out.
  • Avram went out with only 318 men against Nimrod's army of 800,000 and routed them with psychological warfare, throwing sand and straw. He freed Lot and the people of Sodom and refused to keep even a thread or a shoelace of the spoils, so that no one could say the king of Sodom had made him rich.
  • Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem (Yerushalayim), is Shem the son of Noach. Because he blessed Avram before he blessed Hashem, the high priesthood was taken from him and given to Avram and his descendants.

Review: Don't fear the stars, exile versus Gehinom, and Hagar

  • After the war Avram was afraid: he might have killed people from whom good descendants would have come, and their families might take revenge. Hashem took him outside and showed him the stars, telling him to step out of the world of astrology. Hashem has not handed the destiny of the Jewish people to any angel or star. He is involved in every Jew's life directly (hashgacha pratis, personal Divine providence).
  • At the Bris Bein HaBesarim, Avram split the animals in half. This was how a treaty was made: two halves are really one living thing, and once they are separated neither half lives. So too the two parties to the pact cannot be separated without loss of life.
  • Hashem let Avram choose the punishment for descendants who sin: exile or Gehinom (purgatory). Gehinom is shorter, but its angels show no mercy. Exile is long, but it can be eased. Avram chose exile. Some say he actually chose Gehinom, and Hashem switched it to exile out of love for his children. Either way, the lesson is not to complain about exile.
  • Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter. Pharaoh gave her to Sarah, saying it was better to be a maidservant in Avram's house than a princess in Egypt. Sarah thought her childlessness might come from a sin, and that the pain of giving Hagar to Avram would atone for it.
  • Sarah was hurt that when Avram prayed for children he said "You have not given me" instead of "us." One reading of the Torah's word that Sarah afflicted Hagar is that Sarah was not actually abusing her. Hagar had decided she was greater than Sarah, so she experienced everything Sarah did as abuse, and she ran away.
  • Four angels met Hagar, each with a message: go back, submit to Sarah, and you will have a son named Yishmael. Some say Hagar miscarried the first pregnancy and conceived again after she returned.

Why Avraham asked his friends about a command from Hashem

  • Avraham feared milah at 99. The danger was not only the pain: being different from everyone around him might make people hate him and attack him while he was too weak to fight.
  • According to the Bereshis Rabbah, he asked his three friends. Aner said: why endanger yourself at your age? Eshkol said: you will make enemies you cannot fight. Mamre said: Hashem saved you from the furnace, gave you victory over the four kings and kept you alive in the famine, so obey Him.
  • Why would Avraham ask advice about a direct command from Hashem at all? The Mishpetei Shmuel gives three answers. The first, from the Chizkuni: that he was testing his friends, to see whether they truly believed and whether he should keep them as friends.
  • The Mizrachi answers that he wanted to sanctify Hashem's name publicly: everyone would see that even when his best friends told him it was dangerous, he did it anyway because Hashem commanded it.
  • The Yefeh To'ar says Avraham never doubted that he would do it. His question was whether to do it at night, so his enemies would not launch a surprise attack the way Shimon and Levi later did to Shechem, or in public. Mamre said to do it in public, because the God who had done so many miracles for him would not let anyone hurt him.
  • The Binah L'Ittim holds that Avraham would never have had friends who were not righteous, so Aner and Eshkol were not trying to talk him out of it. The question was whether he should circumcise himself or have someone else do it, and Mamre, the strongest in faith, told him to do it himself and Hashem would help. Whichever reading is right, each one teaches a strong lesson.

How Avraham knew where to cut

  • The Torah never says "circumcise." It says to cut the orlah, and in Tanach that word is used for four body parts: the ear (Yirmiyahu 6:10), the lips (Moshe calls himself aral sefasayim in Shemos), the heart (Devarim), and the male organ.
  • First proof: Avraham was now the kohen gadol (high priest), and a kohen may not have a blemish. Cutting the ear, mouth or heart would leave a blemish, so none of those could be meant.
  • Second proof: the command is tied to "I will increase your numbers very much" (17:2), so the cut must be in the place that produces descendants.
  • Third and clearest proof: verse 14 speaks of an uncircumcised zachar, a male. The orlah must be in a place a male has and a female does not.

Falling on his face

  • Rashi explains that before his milah Avraham was not yet on the level to look at the face of the Shechinah (Hashem's presence), so he fell on his face when Hashem spoke to him.
  • Another reason is that he was in the middle of a prophecy and wanted to take in every detail. Lying face down, he did not have to think about keeping his balance.
  • He falls on his face twice in this chapter, here and in verse 17. This hints at the two times in history the Jewish people neglected milah: in Egypt, and during the forty years in the desert, until Yehoshua circumcised them before they entered the land.

A name is a person's essence

  • The Gemara in Berachos 13a brings two opinions: Bar Kappara says calling Avraham "Avram" violates a positive commandment ("your name shall be Avraham"), and Rabbi Eliezer says it violates a negative one ("your name shall no longer be called Avram").
  • So in davening, be careful to say "Elokei Avraham" and "Magen Avraham," never "Avram."
  • The Torah takes names seriously and discourages nicknames, especially ones with a negative meaning, because a name expresses who a person is.
  • Someone who goes by an English name, man or woman, should still be called by their Hebrew name from time to time, because the Hebrew name is their essence and reaches the neshama (soul). A man is called to the Torah by his Hebrew name.

Karis, and who is responsible for a bris

  • The punishment for not being circumcised is karis, being cut off. It means being cut off from one's spiritual source, and in some cases dying before one's time without children.
  • A person may not circumcise someone else's baby without the parents' permission. But if Jewish parents refuse to circumcise their son, the leader of the community should have it done even against their will.
  • A boy who reaches 13 uncircumcised becomes responsible for it himself, and every day he puts it off he is liable for karis.
  • The Shloh says that Hashem taught Avraham all the laws of milah at this time.

The blood of the bris

  • The sandak, the person who holds the baby, is like an altar, and the blood of the milah is like the blood of an offering going up to Hashem. Speaking from our side, it brings Hashem nachas ruach (satisfaction), even though Hashem has no emotions.
  • The Shloh says special angels collect the blood of every bris and store it, and whenever Hashem is angry at the Jewish people He looks at it and has mercy.

Milah as the sign that the mind rules the body

  • Milah is not just cutting off a small piece of skin. It is a sign of the covenant with Hashem, and a sign not to defile that covenant through sexual immorality.
  • Sexual desire is a strong inborn drive, and the sign is placed exactly there. Overcoming that instinct is equal to all the mitzvos combined. It is the foundation of being a Jew: my intellect is in charge of my instincts.
  • The Midrash Tanchuma says Hashem swore that none of Avraham's circumcised descendants would go down to Gehinom, and Avraham sits at its entrance to keep them out. But if a man sinned sexually and died without teshuva (repentance), the angels sew his foreskin back on, and Avraham does not stop him. So be careful in this area, and if you were not careful in the past, do teshuva.
  • Mesillas Yesharim by the Ramchal begins with zehirus, watchfulness about the big sins. If a person keeps falling in a major area, it keeps knocking him down, and he cannot start climbing the ladder of character growth.
  • The Maharal teaches that this is the area where holiness is built. Controlling oneself here increases kedusha (holiness), and defiling oneself here loses it. The other mitzvos do not build kedusha in the same way; they maintain it.

More meanings of milah

  • The Levush: masters used to brand their servants so everyone would know whom they belonged to. Milah brands us as servants of Hashem and of no one else.
  • The Sefer HaChinuch: a person is born imperfect and becomes complete through the act of milah. So too, a person is born with flawed character and can perfect it through free will, by choosing good and not sinning.
  • The Rambam in the Moreh Nevuchim: a man's seed is his strength, and too much use weakens the body. The Shloh brings Shlomo's words, "Do not give your strength to women" (Mishlei 31:3). Milah keeps a person from following his desires, marking this strength as something to guard: it is his drive to accomplish, and wasting it leaves life bland, so it should be channeled only into what is constructive.

Why the eighth day

  • The reward for milah is enormous, and Hashem in His love made it as painless as possible: the eighth day is when it hurts least, and an older person feels far more pain. It is minimum pain for maximum reward.
  • Seven, like Shabbos, stands for the completeness of nature, and eight is above nature. That is why a bris on the eighth day is done even on Shabbos: eight is higher than the completeness of seven.

Two bloods, the bris feast, and Eliyahu

  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer explains why "by your blood you shall live" (Yechezkel 16:6) is said twice: two bloods bring the Jewish people out of exile, the blood of milah and the blood of the Pesach lamb. Keeping these two without defiling them is the merit for redemption.
  • A bris is followed by a big feast to show that the Jewish people accept this mitzvah with joy. A feast is made when a mitzvah is completed, like finishing a tractate or the Torah on Simchas Torah, and the mitzvah is not complete until the son is circumcised.
  • The feast should be made mainly for the poor. The Satan accuses a host who does not invite them, because giving charity is not enough on its own: when you make a feast, you must feed the poor.
  • Eliyahu HaNavi comes to every bris, arriving in four sweeps of his wings. He once told Hashem that "the Children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant" (Melachim I 19:10), and Hashem commanded him to see with his own eyes, at every bris, how enthusiastically they keep it.
  • A father who circumcises his son is as if he brought a great offering on the altar, with Eliyahu as his guest. He should rejoice that day and set aside all his other worries, as on Shabbos.

Sarah renewed, and having a child in old age

  • Sarai means "my princess," princess of one household. Sarah means princess of the whole world: everyone will respect her, and no one will laugh at her when she becomes pregnant at 90.
  • Hashem made her young again, so she not only gave birth but nursed the child herself.
  • Earlier generations had children at 500, but by Avraham's time human strength had weakened. Terach lived to 205, and that was already so old that people would say of an elderly man, "He's as old as Terach."

Yishmael's blessing and his nature

  • Yishmael does teshuva at the end of his life, as a later parsha will show.
  • "If only Yishmael would live before You" was Avraham's prayer that Yishmael grow up God-fearing. Hashem answered that the covenant goes through Yitzchak, but because Avraham prayed, Yishmael too would succeed.
  • The Gemara (Berachos 56b) says that someone who sees Yishmael in a dream can be sure his prayers will be accepted.
  • The twelve princes were already promised to Hagar when she ran away. The blessing took 2,333 years to be fulfilled: Hashem spoke to Avraham in 2047 (1715 BCE), and Islam began around 620 CE, when the Arabs became a world power. If Yishmael is blessed this much, how much more Yitzchak. Our own blessings are held back by our sins, and complete teshuva will bring them, together with Eretz Yisrael.
  • A close reading of the words pere adam, which the Torah uses for Yishmael: Hebrew normally puts the noun first and the adjective after, so "a wild man" would be adam pere. The Torah reverses it. Pere, wild, is the noun, his essence, and adam, man, is only the description. He is more beast than man, though he looks like a man.

How Avraham's own milah was done

  • One view is that Avraham did it himself despite his age, because he was commanded, and suffered greatly. Hashem helped him, and his reward was doubled.
  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer says Shem, the son of Noach, circumcised Avraham and Yishmael.
  • The Bereshis Rabbah says Avraham's hand was shaking, and Hashem Himself took the knife and finished the milah.
  • There are two parts to a bris: milah, cutting the foreskin, and priya, folding back the membrane beneath it. Avraham was commanded only milah, and priya was given in Yehoshua's time (Yevamos 71b), yet Avraham did priya too.

The pile of foreskins on the Temple Mount

  • The Ramban says Avraham circumcised everyone else first and himself last, since afterward he would be too weak to circumcise the others.
  • The Bereshis Rabbah says the foreskins formed a pile that rotted and stank in the sun, but to Hashem the smell was the finest incense. Hashem promised that whenever Avraham's descendants sin, He will remember this pile and forgive them.
  • The pile stood in Yerushalayim, on the exact spot where the great altar of the Beis HaMikdash would later be built. Adam and Noach brought offerings there, and Yaakov slept there, because the place holds a special spiritual power.
  • Every Yom Kippur Hashem looks at that blood, and if the Jewish people repent properly, He forgives all their sins.
  • Yishmael merited to "dwell over all his brothers" (16:12), to rule over other nations, because he accepted his milah. The Me'am Loez says he circumcised himself; the Gemara (Sanhedrin 89b) has Yishmael boast that he was circumcised at thirteen with his knowledge and consent.

Why Avraham waited to be commanded

  • Avraham discovered Hashem and the Torah on his own, even working out the purpose of all 613 parts of the body, and he kept every mitzvah except milah. Why did he wait for a command at 99?
  • The Me'am Loez's first reason: a mitzvah done because one is commanded is greater than one done voluntarily. Human nature resists being told what to do, so once a person is commanded the yetzer hara (evil inclination) fights him, and overcoming it brings a far greater reward. Avraham wanted that reward for milah.
  • Second reason: doing it on his own would have made people think he was crazy and lose respect for him. Once they knew Hashem had commanded it, it was a different matter.
  • Third reason: to teach older converts that it is never too late. Anyone who says "I'm too old to start keeping the Torah" has Avraham's answer: he began at 99. The Torah shows extremes like this, along with Rabbi Akiva, who started at 40, and even the worst sinners whose teshuva was accepted, to give everyone hope.
  • The Me'am Loez also says Avraham first thought of milah at 70. Yishmael was conceived before Avraham's milah and Yitzchak after it.
  • Another opinion in the Me'am Loez is that Avraham only began keeping the mitzvos after his milah. Once circumcised, his intelligence and spiritual sensitivity grew, he gained full control over his eyes and ears, and he became tamim, perfect in every way.

Rebbi and Antoninus

  • Under Rome the emperor had outlawed milah. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said, "Hashem Himself commanded milah. How can I break it to obey the law of the land?" and circumcised his newborn son, Yehuda, who would become Rebbi (Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi).
  • The local official, afraid for his own life, sent the mother and baby to the emperor for judgment. At an inn on the way they met the parents of Antoninus, who had just been born too.
  • Antoninus's mother offered to swap babies: they would take her son to the emperor, and she would care for theirs. The emperor saw that the baby was uncircumcised, was furious at the official, repealed the decree and sent them home with great honor.
  • The two families became close, and Rebbi and Antoninus became lifelong friends. In the merit of his mother nursing Rebbi, Antoninus became emperor. He studied Torah, converted in secret, and has a share in the World to Come.
Review questions
  1. Why does Hashem introduce Himself as Kel Shakai before commanding milah, and what does that name say about astrology?
  2. What three proofs did Avraham use to work out where the orlah is?
  3. Give two explanations of why Avraham asked Aner, Eshkol and Mamre for advice about a direct command from Hashem.
  4. What does the word order in pere adam teach about Yishmael?
  5. Why does Eliyahu HaNavi come to every bris?
  6. What are the Me'am Loez's three reasons Avraham waited until he was commanded before doing milah?
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the framework of the class; the three reasons Avraham waited for the command; he first thought of milah at 70; he kept the mitzvos only after his milah
  • Ramban — Kel Shakai as Hashem above the stars; Avraham circumcised the others before himself
  • Bereshis Rabbah — the friends' advice; Hashem finishing the cut when Avraham's hand shook; the pile of foreskins smelling like incense
  • Mishpetei Shmuel, Chizkuni, Mizrachi, Yefeh To'ar, Binah L'Ittim — why Avraham consulted his friends about a command from Hashem
  • Rashi — why Avraham fell on his face before his milah
  • Gemara Berachos 13a — calling Avraham "Avram" violates a positive and a negative commandment
  • Rambam, laws of milah — all of Judaism depends on milah; Moreh Nevuchim — milah and guarding one's strength
  • Shloh — angels store the blood of the bris; "Do not give your strength to women" (Mishlei 31:3)
  • Midrash Tanchuma — Avraham at the entrance to Gehinom; the river of blood from his house
  • Ramchal, Mesillas Yesharim — watchfulness over the big sins comes first
  • Maharal — holiness is built through self-control in this area
  • Levush — milah as the brand of Hashem's servants
  • Sefer HaChinuch — milah as perfecting what is born imperfect, body and character
  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer — the two redeeming bloods of milah and Pesach; Shem performed Avraham's milah
  • Gemara Yevamos 71b — priya was given only in Yehoshua's time
  • Targum — "walk before Me": you are no longer under the stars
  • Gemara Berachos 56b — seeing Yishmael in a dream
  • Gemara Sanhedrin 89b — Yishmael circumcised at thirteen, willingly
  • Bereshis Rabbah 47:6 — Hashem taking leave of Avraham