2019/5780

In Parashat Chayei Sarah, the lives of Avraham Avinu and Sarah Imeinu come to a close. But even as these towering figures pass away, having spent only fifteen Perakim on the stage of Tanach, their legacy remains timeless; fully one thousand years later, Yeshayahu declares, “Shimu Eilai Rodefei Tzedek Mevakkeshei Hashem... Habitu El Avraham Avichem Ve’El Sarah Techolelchem,” “Listen to me, pursuers of justice, seekers of God… Look at Avraham your father and at Sarah, who bore you” (Yeshayahu 51:1-2). The picture of Avraham and Sarah painted by this exhortation is buttressed by the Torah’s summation of Avraham’s legacy: “Ki Yedativ LeMa’an Asher Yetzaveh Et Banav Ve’et Beito Acharav VeShammeru Derech Hashem La’asot Tzedakah UMishpat,” “For I have known him, that he will command his children and household after him, so that they will keep the way of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice” (BeReishit 18:19). We find Avraham and Sarah11 to be just and righteous; perhaps more importantly, we find them to be engaged in educating others to be just and righteous. One more descriptor is necessary to complete this image: “Atah Yadati Ki Yerei Elokim Atah,” “Now, I know that you are reverent of God” (BeReishit 22:12), Hashem’s praise of Avraham in the wake of Akeidat Yitzchak. The ideological legacy of Avraham and Sarah may be summed up in four terms: Tzedek, Mishpat, Yirat Elokim, and Chinuch.

Chazal, however, were not content to leave the contributions of Avraham and Sarah to the meta-halachic realm; they insisted, despite the objection, “ULemeidin Davar Kodem LeMatan Torah,” “And do we [really] learn something from before Matan Torah?” (Yerushalmi Mo’eid Katan 3:5),12 that the lives of Avraham and Sarah be a fertile soil for scriptural exposition (even if no direct commands from before Har Sinai could be counted as Mitzvot without later repetition in the Torah). We find a host of Mitzvot and halachic concepts grounded in the conduct of Avraham and Sarah: Hachnassat Orchim (from BeReishit 18:2), Hespeid (from BeReishit 22:2), a husband’s obligation to provide for his wife’s comfort at either her former level of comfort or his level, whichever is higher (from BeReishit 20:3; see Ketubot 61a), and Berit Milah (from BeReishit Perek 17).

Among these four commandments, the first three are clearly within the realm of Bein Adam LaChaveiro. This is to be expected, as the four lofty ideals ascribed to Avraham and Sarah are mainly interpersonal virtues.13 Berit Milah, ostensibly a Mitzvah Bein Adam LaMakom, appears out of place. What can explain its inclusion?

Perhaps the answer lies in the structure of the Mitzvah of Berit Milah. Fundamentally, “Mitzvah Al Ha’Av Lamul Et HaBen,” “It is a commandment upon the father to circumcise his son” (Rambam Hilchot Milah 1:1), and this directive devolves only upon the son and the Beit Din if the father neglects his obligation. However, “Ein HaKareit Talui Ela Be’Areil Atzmo,” “The [punishment of] spiritual excision applies only to the uncircumcised one himself” (ibid. 1:2). If the father neglects his halachic duty, then the uncircumcised child himself, at age thirteen, is faced with a daunting choice: submit himself to undergo a painful procedure, or suffer spiritual excision from the Jewish people. Thus, the father’s circumcision of his son at eight days old is a Chessed towards the son, minimizing his pain while granting him spiritual entry into the Jewish People. With this conception of Berit Milah, we can now understand the essential unity of Avraham and Sarah’s halachic legacy: the performance of interpersonal kindness in service of Hashem.

10 This article was adapted by a project that my Chavrutah, Shai Rosenberg, and I worked on in Rabbi Nachbar’s Chumash Shiur in TABC.

11 While BeReishit 18:19 only refers to Avraham, Yeshayahu still speaks of Sarah as a paragon of Tzedek and Mishpat; furthermore, Chazal were quick to point out that Avraham and Sarah were partners in their educational mission (Rashi on BeReishit 12:5).

12 This is the source for Rambam’s celebrated rule, “Nitnah Torah VeNitchadshah Halachah,” “The Torah was given and Halachah was renewed” (Hilchot Aveil 1:1), which is used in context to invalidate Yoseif’s mourning of Ya’akov as the source for Hilchot Aveilut.