Positive Possibilities
HASHEM spoke to Moshe, saying: “Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male…On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (Vayikra 12:1-2)
We all know what this is referring to; A Bris Mila! It’s a wonderful occasion and a great celebration, but we must ask a fundamental question. He is a beautiful and perfectly formed Jewish baby boy that has just arrived on the scene. After 9 months of miraculous development from a single cell replicating to a 2 trillion cell miniature human being, with all the required organs and capillaries, eyelashes, and pituitary glands and everything working harmoniously and without any real human intervention.
This is all a clear demonstration of what the Talmud in Tractate Brochos tells us, “AIN TZIAR K’ELOKEINU” – “There is no artist like our G-d!” HASHEM is truly the greatest artist by far! Now, after 8 days we are commanded to submit this child to a circumcision. What’s that about!? The conventional wisdom is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” In addition to that, we declare aloud at the time of the event, “Just as this child entered the Bris, so he should enter to Torah, to the Chupa (marriage), and Maasim Tovim – Good deeds!” What are we wishing for this child and his future life? What is the Torah teaching us through this exercise?
Let us go all the way back to the creation of man. HASHEM said, when creating humanity, “Let us make man in our image!” On the surface, this is a troubling statement. Who is this “we”? To whom is HASHEM addressing His words? We are certainly not accepting the notion that HASHEM is a duality and there is a partnership. That cannot be! In the immediate verses that follow the Torah tells us that HASHEM (singularly) created man! So, who is or was HASHEM speaking to?
The Nefesh HaChaim tells us that HASHEM was inviting the higher and lower worlds to invest themselves in this free-willed and foible-filled creature. Man is, therefore, a composite of the both Heaven and Earth, and the fate of the world rests on his success or failure. Rabbi Mendel Weinbach ztl. added another very important factor into this already complex equation. He said that HASHEM was and is speaking to man. Man must participate in this cosmic project by fixing and curing himself.
Trust is the highest form of motivation. Give someone the keys to a major project and tell them that you know they will do a great job and watch what happens. It may not be perfect at first but that’s ok. It can only get better. It’s very empowering.
How great is the trust invested in mankind by HASHEM that he handed us the keys to the creation, to make it or break it, to be part of the solution or to be part of the problem. Every day we say at the end of “MODEH ANI…”, “Rabba Emunasecha”- “how great is YOUR trust?” This requires a lifetime of self-improvement to remove whatever blockages and impediments keep us from being worthy shepherds and stewards of ourselves and the world around. The Bris is just the beginning of a lifelong process of becoming a partner with HASHEM.
The Maharal gives a brief distinction for each of the 6 questions a person is asked after 120 years. By “Tzipisa L’Yoshuah” – “did you anticipate the redemption?” He says it’s a test between Koach and Poel – Potentiality versus Actualization. What does this mean? Life is a self-portrait. If a person does not develop him-self he despairs and becomes cynical. He begins to look at the world as a stuck place filled with hopelessness and despair. The moment he feels that he is experiencing, through effort, some measure of success, he sees himself and others as “not yet”. He perceives the whole world as a hopeful place of positive possibilities!
Go to Torah.org
Date: May 2, 2025
