וּבַיּ֖וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֑י יִמּ֖וֹל בְּשַׂ֥ר עָרְלָתֽוֹ׃”
On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”
(12:3)
Why does the Torah specify the word “וביום” when talking about circumcision? What can we learn from this?
Chizkuni says that the Torah is clarifying that even if a Brit Milah has to be postponed, it has to happen during the day, as opposed to the night, no matter what.
What do other meforshim say about the word וביום?
Where else do we see this word and how could it relate to this idea?
Where are other places in the Torah that Brit Milah is mentioned?
What is the symbolism of Brit Milah?
The Sforno says 8 days because by that time the mothers blood has dried up and dry blood doesn’t represent being impure this can result to the baby becoming cleansed. I don’t like this answer because we are all impure so wouldn’t the mom be impure anyways.
ReplyDeleteIbn Ezra says that It says on the day, and not at night because a boy born a half hour before sunset can be circumsized six and a half days later because a day in the torah does not need to be 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteI like this answer because it is simple and to the point and makes sense.
What is the symbolism of a Brit Milah? Why do we wait eight days?
ReplyDeleteTwo major meanings are that it symbolizes that we are born Jews despite choice, and that religion requires sometimes painful sacrifice, and honor and holiness.
We wait eight days because we want the baby to experience one Shabbat before being circumcised. Before the baby enters Judaism, we want him to meet the shabbos “queen”, aka celebrate Shabbat, and experience it’s holiness first hand.
I like this answer because it provides a menacing full background to this Mitzvah.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/some-meanings-of-brit-milah/
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/527084/jewish/Why-Wait-Eight-Days-for-the-Circumcision.htm
Rivka Krause
ReplyDeleteBrit Milah is first mentioned in the story of Abraham. He was the first person to be circumcised. He was very old and took initiative into his own hand to complete the will of God. I think Brit Milah is symbolic is of humans understanding that they can never achieve perfection.
The Torah Temimah says that וביום implies that one must have a ברית מילה even on Shabbat. I think this shows the importance of ברית מילה that it must also be done in Shabbat when there are things that can’t be done. (גמרא שבת)
ReplyDeleteאַךְ־בְּזֹ֖את נֵא֣וֹת לָכֶ֑ם אִ֚ם תִּהְי֣וּ כָמֹ֔נוּ לְהִמֹּ֥ל לָכֶ֖ם כָּל־זָכָֽר׃
ReplyDeleteWhen Shchem Ben Chamor wanted to marry Dina, Shimon and Levi said no because he didn’t have a Brit Milah. They said he could only marry her if he and his people got a Brit Milah. I think this teaches us the importance of Brit Milah that Shimon and Levi would say no to a king in order to make sure their sister married someone with one.
Neima:
ReplyDeleteRabbeinu Bechya says that the word וביום means that even if that day, of the bris, happens to be on a shabbos, the brit millah should still be performed. This holds true only when one is absolutely certain that shabbos is indeed the 8th day after the baby was born. When they is any doubt about this, like in a case where a baby was born after sunset but before dark, the circumcision is postponed as we do not want to violate shabbos unless we have to and it is the correct thing to do. I found this rule to be very relatable becuase when my little brother was born we had this issue of having to figure out when the bris would be, either on shabbos or pushed off to Sunday.