B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica
We do not come to this world just to imitate
The precept of the Brit Milah, the pact of circumcision, is found at the beginning of Parashat Tazria, the first of the two parashiot we read this week. This is one of the most ancient and important mitzvot of all Israel’s tradition, one of its most characteristic features.
Regarding this commandment, there is a midrash that describes a very interesting discussion between Rabbi Akiva and Turnusrufus the Evil. Turnusrufus asked Rabbi Akiva, "If G-d wants man to be circumcised, why doesn’t he make him be born that way?" Rabbi Akiva responded, "It happens that He wants to give people the merit of fulfilling the mitzvah of the milah, since the Lord, blessed be He, only ordered the commandments so that mankind could refine and purify itself.”
Check out how interesting it is: according to Rabbi Akiva, the reason why man is not born circumcised is because God wants them to perform the circumcision themselves. That is, God is not interested on giving human beings the world “on a plate”, but rather wants them to take responsibility for their life, their society, and the world in general.
I like to think that this midrash reflects the trend of the most advanced education. In ancient times, children were taught through imitation: each child had to copy what his/her teacher did, and the more similarly they did it, the better student they were considered. Creativity or intelligence were not interesting, but rather the capacity to reproduce whatever others had done. On the basis of this conception lies the idea that teachers are an infinite and perfect source of knowledge, and therefore, the best that students can do is to repeat what their teachers say, know and do.
In modern teaching, which by the way has existed for many years, students are not only expected to copy their teacher but to be creative as well, capable of suggesting new solutions, of finding their own way: repeating is not synonymous of learning. On the basis of this other conception, both the teacher and the student are intelligent people, with the potential to explore and discover the world. What matters is not hierarchy but rather the willingness and effort put into researching, learning, and explaining.
In my opinion, Rabbi Akiva’s opinion in the above midrash identifies itself perfectly with the second position, the modern posture. According to Rabbi Akiva, God could have created man circumcised, but none the less, He preferred to let him fulfill the mitzvah himself.
It is well-known that the milah precept is to be performed on the eighth day after the baby’s birth. Many believe this forms a parallel with the creation of the world: God created the world in six days, the seventh He consecrated for rest, whereas the eighth he expected mankind to begin to act. That is why we introduce our babies to Abraham’s covenant on the eighth day as well, the day which marks the beginning of humanity’s creative action.
Moreover, there is a traditional Jewish conception (see, for example, Sefer HaChinuch on Brit Milah) that affirms that the male body is not totally developed until the circumcision is performed. In other words, nature cannot complete human development, but rather man is in charge of doing it. Under this understanding, if the parents do not perform the Brit Milah on their son, it is as if the baby’s growth was not completely finished by the time he was born, as if there was something missing from his development.
Then, following this idea and Rabbi Akiva’s midrash, circumcision is a way to demonstrate that we are active in the building of this world. As of the eighth day of our lives, God expects us to start acting, exploring, discovering. He is not asking us to preserve what He already gave us. Rather the opposite, He wants us to take responsibility so as to develop a better world, more perfect and fair.
The task of man and woman in this world is not simply to imitate, as if everything that exists is perfect and optimum; not at all. To the contrary, Jewish tradition has always acknowledged that the world is imperfect, and that we must continuously work toward its repair. Not only this, but that every human being who is born into the world, in Buber’s words, brings with him/herself something to offer, to give, unique and unrepeatable. Once again, we are not expected to simply copy and imitate, but rather that each one of us comes to this world with something original that only we can bring. To discover what that is, is in fact, part of our task.
As Rabbi Akiva explained, if God had wanted to create us perfect, in a perfect world, He could have done so. If that was the case, our mission would simply be to preserve all things, since it would be impossible to try to improve them. But apparently, God made us imperfect, in an imperfect world, on purpose. Actually, this makes things much more interesting, for we must accept responsibility for the construction of a better world; a more righteous, sensitive, humanitarian world; more committed to the truth… a world that is ever closer to perfection.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica
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