Second Temple period interpreters understood circumcision as an act of purification, but they debated whether it was physical or spiritual.
Dr.
David Bernat
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Prima facie, circumcision maims a body. Genesis Rabbah, however, argues that it actually perfects the body, and the book of Jubilees says it makes Jewish men like angels.
Dr.
David Bernat
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Before circumcision was a mitzvah, it was a cultural marker: Thus Joshua introduces circumcision to Israel at Gilgal (Joshua 5:2-9), Jacob’s sons insist that the Shechemites circumcise before Shechem marries their sister (Genesis 34), and the Israelites scorn the Philistines for being uncircumcised (Judges 14:3).
Dr. Rabbi
David Frankel
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A Surprising Midrashic Portrait of Abraham
Dr.
Malka Z. Simkovich
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Who gets to name the child? Priestly and non-Priestly texts give two different answers.
Dr. Hacham
Isaac S. D. Sassoon
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Conflicting traditions come to a head in an exchange between two cantors and a congregant in a 13th century Egyptian synagogue.[1]
Dr.
Moshe Lavee
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