17:23 “וימל את בשר ערלתם בעצם היום הזה כאשר דבר אתו אלקים”
“And he circumcised the flesh of their Orlah; on that very day as Hashem had spoken with him.” Avrohom circumcised Yishmael and all of his servants. What does the Posuk mean when it says, “בעצם היום הזה ” – “On that very day”? The following Divrei Torah will expound on this topic, and support the P’shat offered in the closing paragraph.
Rashi – 17:23,26
“וימל את בשר ערלתם בעצם היום הזה... בעצם היום הזה נמול אברהם” – “And he circumcised their Orlahs on that very day... On that very day Avrohom was circumcised.” The first time it says “בעצם היום הזה”, it comes to teach us that on the very day that Avrohom Avinu was commanded of the Mitzvah of Milah, he performed it. He did it during the day, and not during the night, for he was not afraid of Goyim (perhaps trying to stop him) or of Laitzanim, scoffers. The second time it says “בעצם היום הזה”, it teaches us that Avrohom turned ninety-nine and Yishmael turned thirteen on that very day that they were circumcised.
Ramban - 17:23,26
“וימל את בשר ערלתם בעצם היום הזה... בעצם היום הזה נמול אברהם” – “On that very day” teaches us that Avrohom and his entire household were all dedicated people who hurried to perform Hashem’s commandments.
Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer – Perek 29
“בעצם היום הזה” – What does it mean, “בעצם היום הזה” regarding the time of Avrohom Avinu’s Bris Milah? It means the strength of the day, at midday. We learn out “עצם - עצם” from Yom Hakippurim. Here by the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu it says, “בעצם היום הזה” – that is when the Bris Milah took place, and by Yom Hakippurim it says in Vayikra 23:28, “וכל מלאכה לא תעשו בעצם היום הזה, כי יום כפורים הוא לכפר עלכם לפני ד' אלקיכם”. Just like the Posuk says בעצם by Yom Hakippurim, so too the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu, where the Posuk says, “בעצם” took place on Yom Hakippurim. Each and every year Hakodosh Boruch Hu sees the blood of the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu that occurred on this holy day of Yom Hakippurim, and Hakodosh Boruch Hu gives us a Kapparah for all of our sins, as the Posuk says, “כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם” – and at that place where there was a Bris Milah and blood was left there, there He built the Mizbe’ach. Chazal tell us that from the Akeidas Yitzchok ashes remained, and Hakodosh Boruch Hu looks at those ashes, and remembers the Akeidas Yitzchok. Similarly, there was blood left over from the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu, and every year, Hakodosh Boruch Hu looks at that blood, and with that He gives Klal Yisroel Selicha and Mechilah.
Ra’avad - Nedarim 3:10
“רבי ישמעאל אומר: גדולה מילה שנכרתו עליה שלש עשרה בריתות” – “Rebbe Yishmael says: Great is circumcision, since thirteen Brisos, covenants, were made upon it.” In regards to the Bris Milah of Avrohom in Parshas Lech Lecha, the word, “ברית” is written thirteen times – which alludes to the thirteen Brisos.
Tosafos Yom Tov – Nedarim 3:10
“רבי ישמעאל אומר: גדולה מילה שנכרתו עליה שלש עשרה בריתות” – “Rebbe Yishmael says: Great is circumcision, since thirteen Brisos, covenants, were made upon it.” Even if the Torah wrote the word, “ברית” thirteen times – wasn’t there only one Bris? The reason that it says thirteen times, “ברית” in the Parshah of Milah is because Hakodosh Boruch Hu made the covenant with Avrohom Avinu in the Zechus of the Bris Milah, that we were Zoche to the י"ג מדות הרחמים, 13 Middos Harachamim. Hakodosh Boruch Hu made a Bris with Avrohom Avinu 13 times, one Bris with each of the Yud Gimel Middos Harachamim. Each and every one of the Middos has a Bris, and thus with each and every one, Hakodosh Boruch Hu will answer us – give us a Kapparah.
Sfas Emes
“שס"ה ימים בשנה, כנגד שס"ה גידין בכל אדם” – Each and every Gid, sinew, corresponds to a different day of the year – one sinew, K’neged one day – 365 each. Which Gid is K’neged the day of Yom Hakippurim? The Milah is what corresponds to the day of Yom Hakippurim, as we know that the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu was on Yom Hakippurim, and from that, Klal Yisroel are Zoche to be connected to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and achieve a Kapparah. In the Zechus of Avrohom Avinu removing the Orlah, which is Tamei, on this day of Yom Hakippurim, the Satan is removed from Klal Yisroel on this day. Yom Hakippurim is only for Klal Yisroel, for only they have a connection to the Bris Milah – have the Mitzvah of Bris Milah. If a Goy performs this, it is still not called that he had a Bris Milah.
Torat HaMincha – Parshas Lech Lecha
Hakodosh Boruch Hu commanded Avrohom Avinu to give himself a Bris Milah, close to Shkias Hachamah, the time that the sun sets, at the time of Ne’ilah. Hakodosh Boruch Hu sealed the judgment for life for Avrohom Avinu and for his household, as the Posuk says, “על בריתך שחתמת בבשרינו”, Bris Milah is called a חתימה, and at Ne’ilah, we ask for a חתימה of life. We say, “וחתום לחיים טובים כל בני בריתיך” – that we ask for a Chasimah of life for all the children of Avrohom Avinu, in the Zechus of the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu.
Kol Ram – 32:48
“וידבר ד' אל משה בעצם היום הזה לאמר” – “Hashem spoke to Moshe on that very day, saying.” In three places the Torah says, “בעצם היום הזה”. It says it by Noach, that Noach entered the Teivah midday, by the appearance of the light of the day, when the day is brightest, because the people of the generation were saying that if they even think that Noach will enter the Teivah, they will not allow him to. They went further to say that not only will they not allow Noach to enter, but they will break it. Hakodosh Boruch Hu had Noach enter the Teivah in sight of all, so that all should know that they can’t go against Rotzon Hashem, and He wants it – so they will not be able to stop Noach from entering, nor will they be able to break the Teivah. In Mitzrayim, when Klal Yisroel were leaving Mitzrayim, Hakodosh Boruch Hu took them out at midday, because the Mitzriyim were saying that we will not allow the Jews to leave, and we will even kill some of them. Hakodosh Boruch Hu took them out at midday – the Mitzriyim couldn’t stop them, nor harm them. Similarly, here too, by the death of Moshe Rabbeinu, it says these words, because Klal Yisroel were saying: By such and such we swear that if we perceive that Moshe Rabbeinu is about to die, we will not let him. A man who took us out of Mitzrayim, parted the Sea for us, brought down the Mon for us, made the S’lav fly to us, brought the well to us, and gave us the Torah – we will not let him die. Hakodosh Boruch Hu responded, “Behold I will take him in at midday.” One must wonder, why didn’t Rashi say a fourth one that is in the Torah, by Avrohom Avinu, as it says in Bereishis 17:23 “בעצם היום הזה” when Avrohom Avinu did his Bris Milah? The message of the Torah was not the same by Avrohom’s Bris Milah, as by these three cases mentioned by Rashi. While it is the same words – it is a different message and thus Rashi does not mention it. The Torah wasn’t seeking to demonstrate that someone would try to restrain Avrohom Avinu from performing the Bris Milah – for that was not the case. Avrohom Avinu’s life mission was to bring people in the world to the recognition of the Ribbono Shel Olam. Avrohom Avinu wasn’t sure if it should be made public that he was performing a Bris Milah on himself, by the command of Hashem. Perhaps some would say that being that it is only Avrohom Avinu who received the command from Hashem to perform a Bris Milah – it is he who needs to follow the other commands of Hashem, while they, who did not receive the command of Milah – they don’t have to follow anything Hashem says. This was Avrohom Avinu’s concern – and thus he was in a quandary as to whether he should do the Bris Milah in private, so that no one should know, or should he do it in public, for it is a great Mitzvah to be publicized, and not worry about the ramifications of doing so. The Torah tells us that Avrohom Avinu did it, “בעצם היום הזה” – he did it in public, for all to see. He asked Mamrei for advice, and Mamrei told him not to make any calculations of the potential negative falling out that might happen – rather what is most important is to do Rotzon Hashem, in the most optimal manner.
R' Samson Raphael Hirsch – 17:23
“וימל את בשר ערלתם בעצם היום הזה כאשר דבר אתו אלקים” – “And he (Avrohom Avinu) circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as Hashem had spoken with him.” Avrohom Avinu performed the circumcisions, “בעצם היום הזה” – on that very day, without delay or deliberation. Avrohom Avinu was the first to fulfill the Mitzvah, and all of the men of his household followed his example. It says in Bereishis Rabbah 47:9 that בעצם היום הזה means “In the full power of the day” – meaning in broad daylight. The use of this expression here emphasizes that Avrohom Avinu performed this act, by which he places himself in sharp contrast to the rest of mankind – not in secret, but openly and in full public view. In any case, Milah is invalid at night; the prescribed time for its performance is during the day, in the daylight of man’s wakeful life. Milah is not an offering to the powers of nature, which rule at night over the dark side of life; Milah does not relate to the physical aspects of man, which are fettered in thick darkness. Rather, Milah consecrates man to Kail Shakai, Who rules freely over the dark powers He Himself created; Milah summons man and his darkest urges to the luminous heights of freedom of will. Milah is not a completion of, or supplement to, physical birth, but the beginning of a higher octave. It marks the second, higher, birthday, man’s entry into the Divine level of free and moral action. Physical birth belongs to the night, as the Gemara in Nedarim 16b says, “מלאך הממונה על ההריון לילה שמו” – that the angel is appointed over pregnancy is called, “night.” However, Milah, which is the birth of a Yid, belongs to the daytime.
Now we can understand what the Posuk means by, “בעצם” and why Klal Yisroel were Zoche to the י"ג מדות הרחמים, 13 Middos Harachamim. The Torah is connecting the time that Avrohom Avinu performed his Bris Milah and the time of Yom Hakippurim. Hakodosh Boruch Hu sees the blood of the Bris Milah of Avrohom Avinu every year on Yom Hakippurim, and in that Zechus Hakodosh Boruch Hu is Mochel Klal Yisroel. There were thirteen Brisos then – a Bris for each and every one of the י"ג מדות הרחמים, 13 Middos Harachamim. What was so special about Avrohom Avinu performing the Bris Milah, בעצם היום הזה? Avrohom Avinu was almost a hundred years old. He had spent a good portion of his life seeking to get others to the recognition of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. This was his life’s work. Then Hakodosh Boruch Hu tells Avrohom Avinu that He wants Avrohom to have a Bris Milah. Avrohom had a question as to how he should he do it? Should he do it quietly or in public? Why should he have done it privately? If people were to know that Avrohom Avinu had a Bris Milah, perhaps many people would say that they would no longer listen to Avrohom Avinu. How could Avrohom, the person who calls himself a man of G-d, harm himself by cutting himself for the Bris Milah? Or perhaps, they would say that it is only he who needs to know Hashem and follow Hashem, as it is only he who needs to perform a Bris Milah, and they have no need for it. Thus, Avrohom’s entire life’s work may have disappeared in an instant. Avrohom Avinu asked a few of his friends, ענר, אשכול, ממרה, this question. Only Mamrei got the right answer, to do it in public. Doing it in public was showing that he was proud to be doing the command of Hashem and nothing else mattered. It was in the Zechus that Mamrei gave the correct advice, that the Posuk tells us, “וירא אליו ד' באלוני ממרה” – that Hakodosh Boruch Hu revealed Himself to Avrohom Avinu on his land. Certainly, Avrohom Avinu knew the correct answer as well – he just wanted to see who else knew the right answer – so that he knew who he should be friends with and who he should take advice from in other matters. What did Avrohom Avinu do? He disregarded his entire past, all that he accomplished, all for the sake of Hashem. Hakodosh Boruch Hu commanded him to perform a Bris Milah and he wanted to do it in the most optimal manner. Even if it would have meant losing his life’s work, he was ready to do it so that he could fulfill the command of Hashem and come close to Him. Hakodosh Boruch Hu looks at the blood of the Bris Milah, and Midah K’neged Midah, He says that as long as one seeks to come close to Him, on Yom Hakippurim, then Hakodosh Boruch Hu will “forget” the past. He will be Mochel one for his sins, so that he has a new fresh start – and can be close to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Although Yom Hakippurim has passed, Chazal tell us that the י"ג מדות הרחמים, 13 Middos Harachamim always work. We need to be sincere in our Teshuva, and Hakodosh Boruch Hu awaits our Teshuva. Through the י"ג מדות הרחמים, 13 Middos Harachamim, may we be Zoche to achieve a full Kapparah and be Zoche to be truly close to Hashem.
