From Parsha to Halakha Tazria: Brit Mila on Shabbat

 

In Parshat Tazria the Torah shifts from the laws of external sources of tum’a (ritual impurity) to focus on tum’a that originates from the human body itself. These laws begin at the beginning of life – the ritual impurity of a woman after giving birth. There are two stages of tum’at yoledet (post-childbirth ritual impurity), the length of each differs based on the baby’s sex; at the end of the designated period, she brings offerings to the Mishkan (Tabernacle).^[1] The laws begin simply enough:

“When a woman conceives (tzaria, lit. plants a seed) and gives birth to a male, she is ritually impure for seven days, she shall be ritually impure like the days of her menstrual separation (nidda). And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”^[2]

Brit mila (circumcision) on the eighth day

There are few who claim to understand the mechanics and details of tum’a and tahara, and the meaning and significance of these laws.^[3] Yet even a novice student should question: why mention circumcision in the middle of the laws of a mother’s ritual impurity? Since Jews of faith do not believe there is such thing as a “casual reference” in the Torah, what is the significance of brit mila in this context?

Several generations prior, God forged brit mila (the covenant of circumcision) with Avraham, commanding him to circumcise all males currently in his household, and all future male children on the eighth day:

“God said to Avraham: You shall keep My covenant, you and your children after you, throughout the generations. This is My covenant, between Me and you and your offspring after you, that you shall keep – circumcise every male. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Every male throughout the generations shall be circumcised on the eighth day, those born to the household and bought from foreigners that are not of your offspring…”^[4]

If there is already a commandment for circumcision, why mention it again?

Some explain that Israel needed to be commanded after the giving of the Torah as well, as the commandment to Avraham was for his household specifically – which includes all his children and is therefore not exclusive to the Jewish people.^[5] Others learn new aspects of the mitzvah from the repetition.

Both these answers bring us back to our original question – why is milaa specifically mentioned in relation to post-childbirth impurity? Is there a connection between the mother’s tum’a and a baby boy’s mila?

The connection between the mother’s tum’a and her son’s circumcision

Rav Asi states that the laws are interdependent; a boy is only circumcised on the eighth day if the birth mother is ritually impure after giving birth.^[6] Abaye challenges this connection, since the command to circumcise boys on the eighth day preceded the laws of tum’a – it goes back to the times of Avraham. Rav Asi counters that the laws were remade (nitkhadsha) when the Torah was given.

The gemara questions this halakha based on another dispute between Rav Huna and Rabbi Chiya bar Rav. One said a boy born of a cesarean section or with two foreskins is not circumcised on Shabbat, the other that he is.^[7] But even if the boy isn’t circumcised on the eight day if it falls on Shabbat, shouldn’t the brit be held on the eighth day in general? The gemara answers that these laws are interdependent. Only a brit performed in its proper time – meaning the mitzvah to circumcise this boy is on the eighth day and that eighth day is Shabbat – can supersede Shabbat.

Rashi explains that the three are interdependent. The mitzvah to perform the brit mila on the eighth day only applies when the birth renders the mother ritually impure. This tum’a only applies to a Jewish mother (or female slave in a Jewish household) who gives birth vaginally, so if the boy was not born to a Jewish household or born via c-section, the brit is not performed on the eighth day. According to Rashi it is performed immediately.

Accordingly, a brit that is not specifically performed on the eighth day does not supersede Shabbat. Examples include the brit of a boy who was not born to a Jewish mother but is adopted by a Jewish family, or a boy whose brit was delayed because of health issues. Even if Shabbat is the earliest time the boy can undergo the procedure and we do not like to delay mitzvot, the brit is delayed until Sunday.

There is some debate as to the halakha concerning a c-section. While all agree that brit mila only supersedes Shabbat when there’s a mitzvah on “the eighth day,” the gemara above cited a dispute as to the interdependence between the mother’s tum’a and brit on the eighth day. Since there’s safek, doubt, the brit is not performed on Shabbat.^[8]

The gemara notes another woman who is not rendered tmei’a after childbirth – a woman who conceives without sexual relations, for example from semen in bath water.^[9] Rabbeinu Chananel explains that such a conception is miraculous and doesn’t fulfill the Torah’s standard of “a woman who conceives and gives birth.”^[10]

Some learn from here that a child conceived through IUI is not circumcised on Shabbat, as it is “unusual” or “miraculous.”^[11] Rav Moshe Sternbuch differentiates between conception through IUI and IVF. He states that the brit is performed on the eighth day when conception is the result of IUI, as this is no longer that unusual. We might add that in this case the fertilization (tazria) happens within the woman’s womb, whereas in the case of IVF the fertilization is external.^[12]

Others disagree and rule that there is a mitzvah to circumcise this boy on the eighth day.^[13] Among other reasons, the woman must still conceive (tazria), and the gemara discussing circumcision on the eighth day is focused on vaginal birth and the child’s condition rather than conception.

Why does mila take precedence over Shabbat?

There is no rabbinic dispute that brit mila supersedes Shabbat – probably because it was a universally accepted practice. Although several midrashim state that “the eighth day” in this week’s parsha means “even on shabbat,” it’s doesn’t seem this halakha is derived from the words. The gemara brings several opinions concerning the source of the halakha, but ultimately indicates that it is “halakha,” meaning “halakha l’Moshe mi’Sinai” – a law given to Moshe verbally on Mount Sinai, and thus incontrovertible. The verse in this week’s parsha is not the source, but an “asmakhta,” a textual allusion.

Why does mila supersede Shabbat?

Rabbi Yossi taught that brit mila superseding Shabbat teaches us how beloved the mitzvah is.

Shulkhan Arukh quotes the Tur who says: “There is a positive commandment for a father to circumcise his son, and this commandment is greater than other positive commandments.”^[14] Tur provides several reasons for this value statement. Brit mila, along with the Paskhal lamb, are the only two positive mitzvot that incur karet (“cutting off,” early death or no portion in the World to Come) if not performed.^[15] Furthermore, it is the basis of the covenant God forged with Avraham, where the word “brit” (covenant) is repeated thirteen times. Avraham was also incomplete until he was circumcised at the age of ninety-nine, as this is when God changed his name from Avram to Avraham.

After several other reasons Tur concludes with the idea that circumcision is a mitzvah that becomes part of the man’s flesh. In that case, why does mila only supersede Shabbat when it falls on the eighth day?

Semak explains succinctly: “If the mitzvah of mila is certain and the timing is certain, it supersedes Shabbat.” In cases where the timing is uncertain, such as a child born Friday evening bein hashmashot – when it is unclear if it’s Friday or Shabbat, the brit is delayed until Sunday. Likewise, if there is debate whether the brit should be performed on the eighth day or not – such as a boy born from a c-section – the brit is similarly delayed.

Why do we wait until day eight?

One midrash relates that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s students asked him why brit mila was on the eighth day, and he answered that it was delayed until the mother was no longer ritually impure and the parents were allowed to be physical with each other, “so that everyone wouldn’t be happy while his father and mother were sad.”^[16]

Several midrashim connect the law of a brit on the eighth day with the law that the first seven days after an animal is born it spends with its mother, it may not be sacrificed until the eighth day:

“When an ox, sheep or goat is born, it shall be with its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day on it will be desired as an offering by fire to the Eternal.”

Vayikra Rabba indicates that the week’s delay ensures the newborn will survive and was not born with serious physical defects.^[17]

The midrash then brings a more spiritual reason for the similarity, based on a parable brought by Rabbi Yehoshua of Sukhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi. Like a king who declares that no one is allowed to appear before him seeking quarter before they appear before the lady of the house; so too, no one should bring an offering to God before it has lived through a Shabbat, which is ensured by the eighth day. ^[18]  Rabbi Yitzchak concludes that the law for animals and people are the same, which is why brit mila is on the eighth day.

Rabbi Yitzchak’s analogy is unclear. Perhaps he claims that in relation to God there is not much difference between humans and animals, all of us must dedicate ourselves to God’s service. Alternatively, it’s possible he believes that one must experience the sanctity of Shabbat to prepare for the greater sanctity – of an offering to God or of a covenant with God.

In another version Rabbi Yitzchak’s statement is followed by another connection:

“From the eighth day on ‘it is desired.’ As if to say: if you bring an offering before Me willingly and positively it is My offering, but if you do so unwillingly, I do not consider it an offering before Me… it is for my fire…”^[19]

It’s unclear if this is a continuation of Rabbi Yitzchak’s midrash or a separate one. If connected, this midrash may indicate that the decision to dedicate a being to God – a person or even an animal – cannot be made rashly, immediately after the being enters the world. It must be a conscious and willing decision once the person has a week to be accustomed to the creature’s existence. The person must view the being as their own before they can willingly offer it to God.

The one thing all these midrashim have in common is that all emphasize the week that must pass before the brit mila. The eighth day does not seem to have particular significance. In this case, why not delay the brit until after Shabbat? As the gemara points out, all other mitzvot that supersede Shabbat are limited in time, they may only be performed on that day, such as the Paschal sacrifice.^[20] The brit can be performed the next day, does it really make a difference?

Shabbat is a time to rest, a time to put aside the physical world and focus on the spiritual. Brit mila, on the other hand, is about elevating the physical. Rav Kook spoke of three levels of sanctity. There is the chol – mundane – the physical that is relatively devoid of sanctity, there is kodesh – sanctity – which is not physical at all. Many people think that this is the highest level, but Rav Kook explains that there is one higher, the level of kodesh kedoshim, the sanctified of sanctified. This final level is achieved when something physical becomes sanctified.

For many Jewish people, the six days of the work week are mostly mundane. Shabbat is a time for sanctity. And then we start the seven day cycle all over again. But for some, there is day eight, after Shabbat when we are able to take the sanctity of Shabbat into the week, and use it to infuse even mundane activities.

The mundane is not evil, neither is tum’a. Tuma is a barrier that separates us from sanctity, but otherwise physicality and spirituality may not be mutually exclusive. A person can be moral and good if they follow the Seven Noahide Laws. We can connect to sanctity by separating from the physical and mundane, and it’s possible that one does not need mitzvot to do so. But it is specifically the mitzvot that sanctify us, “Blessed are You… who sanctified us through His commandments.”

Perhaps a male Jew must undergo circumcision and have the mitzvah and covenant as part of his body before he is able to progress beyond the binary of physical and spiritual, to raise the physical to the level of kodesh kedoshim.

[1] Vayikra Chapter 12. During the initial stage of post-birth tum’a – seven days for a boy, fourteen days for a girl – the woman must physically separate both from sanctity – the Temple and sanctified foods, etc. – as well as her husband. After this time, she may immerse in the mikvah and resume a physical relationship with her husband, but she must maintain her distance from sanctity throughout the ensuing period – thirty-three days for a male child, sixty-sex for a female. This stage is known as yemei-tohar. If she has uteran/vaginal bleeding at this time, it’s considered “dam tohar” – blood of ritual purity – and the married couple is not commanded to physically separate from one another.

At the end of these two stages – totaling forty days for a boy and eighty days for a girl – the woman completes her period of ritual impurity and recommences her relationship with sanctity by bringing offerings at the Mishkan.

[2] Vayikra 12:2-3

[3] Please God, we will explore the laws of tum’a and tahara further next week

[4] Bereishit 17:9-24

[5] For example, Rambam Mishneh Torah Mitzvot Aseh 215.

It’s also possible that the original commandment does not include converts who are not descended directly from Avraham, if they do not join a Jewish household.

[6] TB Shabbat 135a-b

[7] The gemara uses the term “yotsei dofen,” which literally means “came out of the wall” and colloquially means “unusual.” Both historians and commentaries indicate that, although it was unusual to cut a child from the mother’s womb, this was done occasionally – most likely after the mother had died or when a vaginal birth was impossible – in which case the child rarely survived.

[8] Shulkhan Arukh YD 266:10.

There is a minority opinion that a child born with the assistance of forceps is also not circumcised on Shabbat, since there is something separating the birth canal and the child. This is not accepted halakhic practice and such boys are circumcised on Shabbat. (Tzofnat Paneach 6 and Ginat Egoz 20)

[9] TB Chagiga 16a. Though highly unlikely, given very exacting conditions this is theoretically possible.

[10] See opinions in Nishmat Avraham and Rabbi Hershel Schachter and Rabbi J. David Bleich in Tradition 35:2, Summer 2001.

[11]

[12] Teshuvot v’Hanhagot 2:224

[13] Nishmat Avraham Vol 4; Yabia Omer YD VII 24:5; Shevet HaLevi IX YD 209)

[14] YD 260

[15] TB Nedarim 31b-32a. The other is the Paskhal offering.

[16] Midrash Lekach Tov Vayikra 12:3:2

[17] Vayikra 22:27 and Vayikra Rabba 27:1.

[18] See also Tanchuma Emor 12:1 based on Vayikra 12:13 and 22:27.

[19] Vayikra Rabba 27:10

[20] Or possibly within the next few days.