Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Our parashah teaches that when a Jewish baby boy is eight days old, he gets a בְּרִית מִילָה (brit milah, circumcision) (Vayikra 12:3).
In this midrash, R. Akiva is having a conversation with a Roman general named Tineius Rufus. R. Akiva explains to him a lesson that circumcision teaches: God creates us incomplete, and we have to finish the job!
מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁשָּׁאַל טוֹרְנוּסְרוּפוּס הָרָשָׁע אֶת רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: אֵיזוֹ מַעֲשִׂים נָאִים, שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אוֹ שֶׁל בָּשָׂר וָדָם?
אָמַר לוֹ: שֶׁל בָּשָׂר וָדָם נָאִים.
אָמַר לוֹ טוֹרְנוּסְרוּפוּס: הֲרֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ יָכוֹל אָדָם לַעֲשׂוֹת כַּיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם?!
…אָמַר לוֹ: לָמָּה אַתֶּם מוּלִין?
...הֵבִיא לוֹ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא שִׁבֳּלִים וּגְלֻסְקָאוֹת. אָמַר לוֹ: אֵלּוּ מַעֲשֵׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְאֵלּוּ מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָדָם.
אָמַר לוֹ: אֵין אֵלּוּ נָאִים יוֹתֵר מִן הַשִּׁבֳּלִים?!
אָמַר לוֹ טוֹרְנוּסְרוּפוּס: אִם הוּא חָפֵץ בְּמִילָה, לָמָּה אֵינוֹ יוֹצֵא הַוָּלָד מָהוּל מִמְּעֵי אִמּוֹ?
אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: …לְפִי שֶׁלֹּא נָתַן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת הַמִּצְוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶלָּא לְצָרֵף אוֹתָם בָּהֶם.
The wicked Tineius Rufus asked R. Akiva: “Which is better—the works of God or the works of human beings?”
R. Akiva said to him: “Human beings!”
Tineius Rufus said to him: “Can a person make anything like heaven and earth?!”
…Tineius Rufus said to him: “Why are you Jews circumcised?”
…R. Akiva brought him sheaves of wheat and loaves of bread, saying, “These sheaves are the work of God, and these loaves are the work of people. Aren’t these loaves of bread better than the sheaves?!”
Tineius Rufus said to him: “If circumcision is something God wants, why aren’t babies born circumcised?”
R. Akiva said to him: “...It’s because God gave the mitzvot to Jews in order for us to be refined through them.”
If we don’t have God’s powers to create heaven and earth, what power do we have? In what way is bread better than wheat? How does that represent what’s special about what human beings can do in the world?
According to R. Akiva, we are created incomplete—on purpose! The brit milah is a model for all mitzvot: Just like a baby boy has to be “improved” through that mitzvah, we all have to improve and refine ourselves with mitzvot throughout our lives.
- How does it feel to know that nobody is perfect? Can this help you accept the imperfections of others? Can this help you face your own imperfections without being afraid or embarrassed about them? How so?
- How can mitzvot help us improve ourselves?
-------------------
