Brit Mila

The first individual mitzva that the first Jew was commanded was the mitzva of brit mila (circumcision). It is true that before everything else came the mitzva to go up to the Land, as it is stated (Bereishit 12:1): "And the Lord said to Avram: Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you." But the mitzva of settling the Land is a general mitzva that encompasses the entire life of the nation as a whole and the life of every individual Jew in particular; as an individual mitzva, however, the mitzva of brit mila is the first. There is a connection between the mitzva of settling the Land and brit mila: through these two mitzvot, holiness is revealed also in the body and in the material. Through settling the Land it becomes clear that all the work involved in building the Land has value, and through brit mila it becomes clear that the body has sacred value, and therefore the foreskin must be removed from it.

It is worth noting that even before the mitzva of brit mila, the Torah mentions the mitzva of peru u-revu (be fruitful and multiply), and it is indeed fundamental and precedes brit mila. But it was not said specifically to the Jewish people; rather, it is shared by all living species in the world, from fish and animals to man. But brit mila is the first mitzva designated for the Jewish people, and through it the mitzva of peru u-revu also receives a deeper meaning. And so we find that when God commanded Avraham our father regarding brit mila, He promised him the Land and the blessing of offspring, for these three fundamental mitzvot are connected to one another, as it is stated (Bereishit 17:1-11): "And the Lord appeared to Avram and said to him: I am El Shaddai; walk before Me and be perfect. And I will set My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. And Avram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying: As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. And your name shall no longer be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. And God said to Avraham: And as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you."

Just as the first mitzva that Avraham our father was commanded was brit mila, so too the first mitzva that every Jew fulfills, at the age of eight days, is brit mila. Indeed, this mitzva symbolizes, more than all the other mitzvot, the eternal bond between the Jewish people and its God, a bond sealed in our flesh.

An important principle that emerges from the mitzva of brit mila is that being a Jew is not easy. Jewish life involves self-sacrifice, and through this, true life is revealed, carrying a message for tikkun olam. As it is stated in the verse that we recite at the brit mila: "And I said to you: In your blood, live; and I said to you: In your blood, live" (Yeḥezkel 16:6). The exalted destiny that the Jewish people took upon itself, to reveal within a world of darkness and denial that there is a Creator and Ruler, to tell nations steeped in lust, murder and violence that the destiny is to pursue righteousness and kindness, and to live, within a world of falsehood and hypocrisy, a life of purity and morality, is not an easy destiny. It is a task that will be completed only with the completion of the repair of the world, and the path is strewn with difficulties and sacrifices. The removal of the foreskin, which expresses the moral flaw that clings to the world, involves suffering and blood. But there is no other way, for the second option is to compromise and wallow in the impurity of the nations steeped in murder and violence, while losing our values and our national identity. From every page of Jewish history, from the destruction of the Temple to the Holocaust, we learn that our task is difficult and involves actual self-sacrifice; this is our fate and our destiny.

In brit mila we make a covenant to continue clinging to our faith, with a readiness to give our lives, until we reach the realization of all the aspirations for goodness and justice of the Jewish people.