“This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your offspring after you: For every male among you to be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. At the age of eight days every male among you shall be circumcised, throughout your generations – he who is born in the household or purchased with money from any stranger who is not of your offspring”
(Bereishit 17:10-12)
“On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised”
(Vayikra 12:3)
>Brit milah is especially cherished by Hakadosh Baruch Hu. All creatures, man and beast, and even birds and reptiles, stand in fear of the circumcised Jew (Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 14).
A philosopher once asked Rebbi, “If the mitzvah of brit milah is so beloved, why wasn’t it given to Adam Harishon?”
He replied, “Everything that was created in the six days of Creation must undergo rectification. For example, certain plants need to be sweetened, and wheat must be ground into flour. Mankind, too, was not created perfect.”
Akilus the convert asked Rabbi Eliezer why the mitzvah of brit milah is not included in the Ten Commandments. Rabbi Eliezer replied that this mitzvah was given before the luchot were brought down, as the pasuk states (Shemot 19:5), “If you hearken to Me and observe My covenant.” The Midrash explains that covenant (brit) refers to Shabbat as well as brit milah (Pesikta Rabbati 23).
“We have not been false to your covenant”
(Tehillim 44:18)
The Menorat Hama’or (Chapter 6) explains that this refers to brit milah, the covenant Hashem has implanted into our flesh, as the pasuk states (Bereishit 17:13), “My covenant shall be in your flesh.” Whoever is unfaithful to his brit milah is considered betraying Hashem, Whose Name is impressed upon Am Yisrael. Whoever guards his brit milah is considered as guarding the entire Torah.
Avraham Avinu was not considered “perfect” until he circumcised himself. Before he did so, Hashem told him (ibid. 1), “Walk before Me and be perfect.” After he circumcised himself, the pasuk says (ibid. 5), “Because Avraham obeyed My voice, and observed My safeguards, My commandments, My decrees, and My Torah.” By observing the mitzvah of brit milah, Avraham was considered as observing the entire Torah. Regarding Yitzchak, the Torah says (ibid. 21), “But I will maintain My covenant through Yitzchak.” This is the covenant of brit milah. Yitzchak was thereby considered having observed the entire Torah, since the Torah is called brit, as the pasuk says (Devarim 9:9), “The Tablets of stone, the tablets of the brit – covenant.”
The Menorat Hama’or continues that Yosef Hatzaddik, who guarded his brit milah and did not desecrate it with the wife of Potiphar, merited great honor both in this world and the Next. Hashem placed His Name inside that of Yosef, as the pasuk attests (Tehillim 81:6), “עדות ביהוסף שמו – He appointed it as a testimony for Joseph,” which can also be read as “He placed His Name within that of Yehosef.” The letter ה' inserted in the name יהוסף alludes to Hashem’s Name.
Brit milah contains all the mitzvot within it. The gematria of the word ברית is 612. Adding one for a person’s body upon which the mitzvah is done gives a total of 613, the number of all the mitzvot (Torat Haminchah, Parashat Lech Lecha, Derashah 4).
