Vayeira: Three Reactions to Circumcision

Description

is it Humane? Is it barbaric? is it logical?

What is the difference between circumcision and self-mutilation? What is the difference between sanctifying yourself and scarring yourself? Many ask, especially lately, how is circumcising an innocent eight-day-old baby different from the cruelty of child abuse throughout the world?

The difference is the source.

If a doctor instructs you to remove a threatening growth you do so. You may ask for a second opinion – and you should – and then you follow the consensus.

Now imagine if this doctor actually created you?

Abraham consulted with three of his friends. One of them gave him this advice: “Don’t you think the Creator of all your body parts knows how to best utilize them?”

Obeying the command, fulfilling the mitzvah – any mitzvah – is the most logical course of action. It is simply following the music of the Ultimate Composer.

Brit mila, circumcision, a seemingly “inhumane” act, in fact teaches us what it means to be truly human.

And to be truly human is to be divine.