Circumcision

The Torah declares that circumcision will be a sign of the covenant, but is silent about the significance of the act itself. Some Jewish interpreters filled in this gap by connecting circumcision to the language of טומאה  and טהרה, but is this purification physical or spiritual?

Genesis 17 states that circumcision will be a sign of the covenant, but is silent about the significance of the act itself. Some Jewish interpreters filled this gap by constructing orlah, possession of a foreskin, as a physical defect or disability, and circumcision as an act of healing or perfection. 

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).

A Surprising Midrashic Portrait of Abraham

Conflicting traditions come to a head in an exchange between two cantors and a congregant in a 13th century Egyptian synagogue.^[1]