JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • APRIL 1 - 7, 2022 7 obvious and tragic expression of our physicality is that, as is the case with all creatures of the uni- verse, humans are doomed to be born, disintegrate and die. There- fore, the most extreme example of ritual impurity is a human corpse ( avi avot hatuma ). An animal car- cass, a dead reptile, and the blood of the menstrual cycle (the fall- out of the failed fertilization) also cause ritual impurity. A woman in childbirth has a very close brush with death—both in terms of her own mortality and during the pain- ful anguished period preceding the moment when she hears the cry of her healthy, living baby. God’s gift to the human being created in the Divine image, how- ever, is that in addition to physi- cality there is also spirituality; in Of Purity And Circumcision Parshat Tazria Leviticus: 12:1-13:59 By SHLOMO RISKIN T he main subject of this week’s as well as next week’s Torah portions is rit- ual purity and impurity ( tuma and tahara ), to the modern mind two of the most esoteric and puzzling concepts in the Torah. In the middle of the Biblical dis- cussion of a child-bearer’s state of impurity comes the commandment of circumcision—a subject that has little to do with the matter at hand. It seems that it should logically appear in the book of Genesis, when the Almighty entered into a covenant with Abraham via circumcision. Yet the Bible here records: “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, she shall be ritually impure for seven days, just as she is impure during the time of separation when she has her period. On the eighth day (the child’s) foreskin shall be circumcised, then, for 33 additional days, [the mother] shall sit on blood of purity.” ( Lev. 12:2-4). relations until she immerses her- self in a mikveh. Obviously, this restriction demands a great deal of self-control and inner discipline. The major symbol which graphi- cally expresses the importance of mastering one’s physical instincts is the command of circumcision: even the sexual organ itself, the physical manifestation of the male potency and the unbridled id, must be tempered and sanctified by the stamp of the Divine. A well-known midrash takes this one step farther: “Turnus Rufus the wicked once asked Rabbi Akiva: Whose works are better, the works of God or the works of human be- ings? He answered him, the works of human beings... (Turnus Rufus) said to him, why do you circum- cise? (Rabbi Akiva) said, I knew you were asking about that, and therefore I anticipated (the ques- tion) and told you that the works of human beings are better. Turnus Rufus said to him: But if God wants men to be circumcised, why does He not see to it that male babies are born already circumcised? Rabbi Why is the commandment of circumcision introduced here? Our sages specifically derive from this ordinance that the ritual of circum- cision overrides the Sabbath: “On the eighth day, [the child’s] fore- skin shall be circumcised—even if it falls out on the Sabbath” ( B.T. Shabbat 132a ). Why express this within the context of ritual impuri- ty? Is there a connection? TargumYonatan Ben Uziel links the two issues thusly: “And on the eighth day, when (she) is permitted (to have sexual relations with her husband), on that (day) is (the baby) to be circumcised.” He thereby cites the view of our sages in the Talmud, who understand that the circumci- sion must be on the eighth day fol- lowing the birth “so that everyone will not be happy while the parents will be sad” if they cannot properly express their affection towards one another ( B.T. Niddah 31b ). It seems to me that there is a more profound connection. When a woman is in a state of ritual im- purity, she and her husband are forbidden from engaging in sexual Akiva said to him...It is because the Holy One Blessed be He only gave the commandments to Israel so that we may be purified through them” ( Midrash Tanhuma, Tazria 5 ). Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, author of the Biblical commentary Akedat Yitzchak , explains this to mean that there are no specific advantages or necessary rationalizations for ob- serving the commandments; they are simply the will of God, and we must see that as being more than sufficient to justify our performing them. I t seems to me, however, that the words of the midrash and the context of the commandment re- veal a very different message. The human being is part of the physical creation of the world, a world sub- ject to Earthly rules of health and illness, life and death. The most The human being has the power to overcome his imperfections and ennoble and sanctify his animal instincts. DVAR TORAH continued on page 25