Bibbia Ebraica
Bibbia Ebraica

Chasidut su Genesi 17:12

וּבֶן־שְׁמֹנַ֣ת יָמִ֗ים יִמּ֥וֹל לָכֶ֛ם כָּל־זָכָ֖ר לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶ֑ם יְלִ֣יד בָּ֔יִת וּמִקְנַת־כֶּ֙סֶף֙ מִכֹּ֣ל בֶּן־נֵכָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹ֥א מִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֖ הֽוּא׃

Nell’età di otto giorni verrà circonciso tra voi ogni maschio, per tutte le generazioni avvenire; tanto il natovi in casa, quanto l’acquistato col danaro da qualsiasi straniero, il quale non sia della tua discendenza.

Kedushat Levi

Genesis ‎17,13., “to be circumcised, etc.:” [what follows is not ‎documented although the author quotes Bereshit Rabbah, ‎‎49. It is not found there, nor in Bereshit Rabbah 47, where it ‎ought to be, if at all. The author himself appears to have had his ‎doubts, and this is why he attributes the so-called “quote” ‎די לעבד ‏להיות כרבו‎, “it is appropriate for a servant to emulate his master,” ‎to a statement in the Levush. The authenticity of the ‎statement has been questioned as it implies that just as G’d is ‎‎“circumcised,” so His favourite creatures must be. I will content ‎myself with paraphrasing the thoughts of the author. We know ‎that in order to create a physical world, G’d had to “reduce” the ‎impact of His emanations, or to be ‎מצמצם‎, “to understate the ‎extent of His brilliance.” In order for G’d to conclude a covenant ‎with Avraham in his capacity as the founder of the Jewish people, ‎G’d’s “junior” partner on earth, he and the people under his ‎authority had to perform a symbolic act on their body, i.e. the ‎removal of their foreskin. By doing this they emulated an ‎attribute used by their Creator. This explanation may answer the ‎question that if G’d created everything in His universe in a ‎perfect state, (compare Genesis 1,31) why would it be necessary at ‎this stage for Avraham to remove a G’d given part of his body? ‎Ed.]‎
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