Parashat Lekh Lekha 5784

A D’var Torah for Parashat Lekh Lekha
By Rabbi Marge Wise, AJR ‘21

A major theme in parashat Lekh Lekha is the account of God’s covenant with Abraham and with the generations which will follow him.

The parashah opens with God appearing to Abram and telling him to leave his home, his family and his familiar surroundings and start a new life along with Sarai, his wife. They head for Canaan but are re-routed to Egypt due to a famine in the region. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, goes with them but soon after, they part ways. An encounter with Pharaoh and various wars befall Abram and his entourage. God then comes to Abram in a powerful dream telling him that he will be the leader of a people which will face harsh slavery but will be redeemed. God promises Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and He changes Abram’s name to Abraham.

Meanwhile, Sarai is not able to bear a child and so she urges Abraham to take her maid Hagar and have a child with her. Thirteen years later – and one year before the birth of Isaac – God commands Abraham to circumcise himself and all the males of his household. After he does this, a messenger from God comes to Abraham to tell him that Sarai – now re-named Sarah – will bear a child in a year’s time.

The commandment of circumcision, brit milah, is arguably one of the most well-known, and is a widely-practiced mitzvah.

How do we understand the meaning behind circumcision and how does this act bind us to God?

וְאֶתְּנָ֥ה בְרִיתִ֖י בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֑ךָ וְאַרְבֶּ֥ה אֽוֹתְךָ֖ בִּמְאֹ֥ד מְאֹֽד:
אֲנִ֕י הִנֵּ֥ה בְרִיתִ֖י אִתָּ֑ךְ וְהָיִ֕יתָ לְאַ֖ב הֲמ֥וֹן גּוֹיִֽם:
וְהִפְרֵתִ֤י אֹֽתְךָ֙ בִּמְאֹ֣ד מְאֹ֔ד וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ לְגוֹיִ֑ם וּמְלָכִ֖ים מִמְּךָ֥ יֵצֵֽאוּ:

“I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous… You shall be the father of a multitude of nations…I will make you exceedingly fertile”. (v. 2, 4, 6).

According to Rabbi Ruth H. Sohn, the crucial element of the brit is the promise that Abraham will be fruitful and become the father of nations. Women’s role as child bearers is therefore central to the covenant. Although God doesn’t address Sarah directly in Genesis 17, He refers to her when He changes her name as he does Abraham’s, with a parallel explanation: “she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her” (17:16).

Even when Abraham doubts Sarah’s ability to bear children, God reassures him that the covenant will pass through Sarah’s son, Isaac. Thus, God makes it clear that not all of Abraham’s descendants are part of this covenant, only Sarah’s. This emphasizes Sarah’s crucial role; it makes Sarah and Abraham, physically speaking, equal partners in the covenant.

In this way, Sarah and all women, as the ones bearing life, carry on the covenant between God and Abraham and Sarah’s descendants in the most basic, physical way. Circumcision, then, is a ritual for men as they physically embrace the covenant as it is for women, when they physically bear – or raise through adoption, surrogacy, etc., – the next generation.

The connection between circumcision, fertility and our covenantal relationship with God becomes even clearer if we look at the term orlah, “foreskin,” in other biblical passages.  In the book of Exodus, Moses refers to his speech impediment as the “foreskin” on his lips with the words “aral sefatayim” (Exodus 6:30). In addition, in the book of Deuteronomy, in order for the Israelites to love and serve God, they are asked to remove the “foreskin” of their hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16). In the book of Jeremiah, the people are unable to receive and hear the prophetic message because of the “foreskin” on their ears (Jeremiah 6:10). In each of these cases, “foreskin” represents an impediment to the functioning of the organ named. In that light, God commands Abraham to remove the foreskin of the males in his household in order to more successfully reach the goal of fertility and of partnering with God.

Midrash Tanhuma also speaks to the partnership between God and between us humans. It suggests that our role in the covenant with God is to help perfect our world. Therefore, we turn grain into bread and flax into garments as we strive to build just and peaceful societies (sadly, an elusive goal), and we bring God’s presence into the world through our prayers and through doing mitzvot. Circumcision is the empowering reminder that we are charged with the awesome responsibility of perfecting God’s creation – even the creation of our own selves! God’s creation of the world is completed in seven days. On the eighth day, we begin where God has left off. On the eighth day, we assume our role in the covenant with God, as partners in making a better world.

For Dr. Ismar Schorsch, past Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the key to the meaning of circumcision is the insistence on performing it on the eighth day.

The significance of the eighth day is found in Leviticus: “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall stay seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to the Lord (Lev. 22:27).” No sacrificial animal is to be removed from its mother for the first seven days of its life.

Until the eighth day the child is without its own identity, being largely overshadowed by its mother. The partnership with God is not forged until the first tentative signs of viability and independence appear.

The Torah has thereby transitioned circumcision into a major symbol of Jewish destiny – a Divine promise of national fertility coupled with a human commitment to live by God’s laws.

In parashat Eikev (Deut. 10:16-19), we find the speech that Moses delivered before his death, and just before the Israelites enter the Promised Land:

“Circumcise, therefore, the thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more. For the LORD your God is God supreme and Lord supreme, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger”.

Rabbi Samuel David Luzzato (known as “Shadal” -19^th century scholar), teaches that these verses invoke two important elements: justice and compassion. If one of these two principles is removed, it is impossible to maintain a moral human society.

We see, then, that Divine morality stems not only from firm judgment, but also from compassion, love and empathy for the vulnerable among us (“You shall love the stranger for you were a stranger in the land of Egypt”).

Created in God’s image, we also need to show both justice and compassion. In verse 16, Moses reminds us that in addition to the 8^th-day circumcision rite, there is also a “circumcision of the heart.” To fulfill our moral mandate we must circumcise the foreskin of our hearts. Why? Because often there is a symbolic mask on our hearts which prevents us from understanding the suffering of others.

Ramban, Nahmanides, 13^th century scholar, taught that the generation that wandered in the desert had uncircumcised hearts in that they were not open to the Torah and its commandments. He wrote that to circumcise one’s heart also means to side with those marginalized, who need justice. It is easy to identify with the rich and/or the famous. It’s much harder to side with those who are destitute, to help the people who live on the streets. That’s where the principle of circumcising one’s heart comes in, cutting away the rigid, cynical layers and getting to the more flexible layers which are open to helping those in need.

Rabbi Ben Herman also holds there is a parallel between brit milah and milat halev, circumcision of the foreskin and of the heart. The former is a sign of a male entering the covenant of the Jewish people. The latter is a sign of both males and females taking their place in the covenant through doing  gemilut hasadim, acts of loving kindness. While a brit milah or a simhat bat is a celebratory sign of one’s Judaism, these rituals are done when we’re very young. When we’re grown, how can we demonstrate our commitment to Judaism? The answer is through an open heart as a means of helping those who are in need.

Let’s resolve that we will each take the time to reflect and to act on how we might model an open heart, with any of its rough edges smoothed, so that we can serve others “whole-heartedly”. In so doing, let’s strive to make a difference for good in our world.  Amen.
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Rabbi Marge Wise, AJR ’21, is also known as the Journey Rabbi. Her passion is outreach, including teaching prospective Jews by choice and accompanying them on their journey to formal conversion. She teaches in person and on Zoom.