From the Disproofs of the Oral Law series.
12. A baby must be circumcised on the eighth day [Gen. 17:12]. What if the eighth day falls out on the sabbath? Can a circumcision take place on a sabbath or is that considered work? The Passover sacrifice must be brought by every Jew [Ex. 12:47] on the day before Passover [Num. 9:5]. What happens if that day falls out on the sabbath? Surely, slaughtering and offering a sacrifice is work. Which takes precedence -- the sabbath or the paschal sacrifice? There must be an oral law to explain this if these laws were intended to be put into practice [Kuzari, ibid; Rashbatz, ibid.].
1. Sacrifice and Shabbat: I must write on this issue first because it is so preposterous. It appears that, in this objection, Student is relying on the complete ignorance of his readers. "Surely, slaughtering and offering a sacrifice is [an activity forbidden on Shabbat]." The reality is that this "objection" has no feet to stand on. We clearly see from Numbers 28 that offering a sacrifice is not forbidden on Shabbat.
Say to them: These are the offerings by fire that you are to present to YHWH:As a regular burnt offering every day, two yearling lambs without blemish. You shall offer one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. And as a meal offering, there shall be a tenth of an ephah of choice flour with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil mixed in -- the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai -- an offering by fire of pleasing odor to YHWH.
The libation with it shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb, to be poured in the sacred precinct as an offering of fermented drink to YHWH. The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, preparing the same meal offering and libation as in the morning -- an offering by fire of pleasing odor to YHWH.
On Shabbat day: two yearling lambs without blemish, together with two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in as a meal offering, and with the proper libation -- a burnt offering for every Shabbat, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its libation.
In fact, on Shabbat, the regular amount of sacrifices is increased. Student attributes this objection to R. Yehudah HaLevi and Rashbatz. I am surprised to learn that they actually supported such a shoddy argument in favor of the Oral Torah. I would have to actually see it in their writings to believe it.
2. Circumcision and melacha: I know of no indication that circumcision is melacha, that is, an activity forbidden on Shabbat. Of course, it is forbidden to conduct business of Shabbat. So, on Shabbat, a mohel (a professional who performs circumcisions) cannot circumcise for money or otherwise as part of his business. If the only person who can safely perform a circumcision does so as part of his business, or has to be paid, then the circumcision is delayed until the next day. This is not because of the circumcision itself but because business cannot be conducted on Shabbat. But if someone can safely perform the circumcision without it being a business transaction, then it can be done on Shabbat.
How do we know that, when there is a conflict between circumcision and Shabbat, we favor Shabbat and delay the circumcision? This is another case in which two commandments are in conflict, and we must understand their intent, and use our God-given intellect, to see how the conflict is resolved.
This is the commandment from Genesis 17 regarding brit milah:
God further said to Abraham, "As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant. Such shall be the covenant between Me and you and your offspring to follow which you shall keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days. As for the homeborn slave and the one bought from an outsider who is not of your offspring, they must be circumcised, homeborn, and purchased alike. Thus shall My covenant be marked in your flesh as an everlasting pact. And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his kin; he has broken My covenant."
From this, we see that the purpose of circumcision is to mark "in the flesh" the covenant between God and the Jews. Delaying the circumcision by a day does not change much: in the end, the covenant is still marked in the flesh. The purpose of the commandment is achieved. In fact, the passage says that if someone has not been circumcised, that is easily fixable; the man must simply undergo circumcision. In other words, the main point is not that the person be circumcised on a particular day, but that he be circumcised.
Delaying circumcision by a day makes little difference, since the sign of the circumcision lasts a whole lifetime. But a particular Shabbat lasts only a day -- if you break it, you never get it back. Thus, if there is a situation in which one has to choose between circumcision and Shabbat, one chooses to perform the circumcision on the next day.
Why, when there is a conflict between circumcision and Shabbat, do we delay the circumcision instead of performing it a day earlier? Because on the seventh day, it is still possible that someone will be able to perform it on the eighth day without violating Shabbat; but on the ninth day, that possibility has already passed.
Posted by Ami at January 29, 2004 08:42 AM | TrackBackLet's discuss this in one place:
http://www.amhaaretz.org/2004/07/circumcision_medical_risks_and_shabbat.html
Ami,
Better you should restrict yourself to areas where you know the law. Read Rambam M"T hil' milah -- it's not long.
Milah *bizemanah* (in its proper time, e.g. ON the 8th day) overrides shabbat or yom-tov, and is done -- regardless of whether the mohel eventually gets paid or not.
If it's not in the proper time -- then it *never* overrides shabbat or yom-tov.
Posted by: ron at July 26, 2004 07:20 PMNo.
1. I am not talking about delay for convenience, but delay for necessity. Please don't twist my words. There are times when two commandments are in conflict, and one has to take precedence over another. This is what we were talking about, not "convenience".
2. I expained why, in a conflict, circumcision can be delayed. (a) The sign in the flesh is still the same even if the circumcision is delayed. (b) The Tanakh makes provision for circumcision at a later date.
If you celebrate Shabbat every eighth day, is it still the same Shabbat? I think not.
3. As for delaying the holidays, please ask a specific question in which a holiday conflicts with something else. Then, I might be able to think about it and answer it.
4. As you know, Tanakh *does* make a provision for delaying holidays. Passover can be delayed by a month if it cannot be celebrated in its proper time.
5. As you also know, our ancestors, when they could not celebrate a holiday during its proper time, celebrated it later. For example, during the Maccabee revolt, the people could not celebrate Sukkot in its time during the seventh month (because of the war), so they celebrated it during the ninth month. This gave rise to the holiday of Hanukkah.
Posted by: Ami at July 24, 2004 05:36 AM**From this, we see that the purpose of circumcision is to mark "in the flesh" the covenant between God and the Jews. Delaying the circumcision by a day does not change much: in the end, the covenant is still marked in the flesh. The purpose of the commandment is achieved. In fact, the passage says that if someone has not been circumcised, that is easily fixable; the man must simply undergo circumcision. In other words, the main point is not that the person be circumcised on a particular day, but that he be circumcised.**
So the Holy Days and Sabbath can be 'delayed' and celebrated when it is convenient as well?
Posted by: surer daily at July 23, 2004 01:58 PMI don't know if the doctor got paid. Even if he did, that's a different issue since it involves saving / preserving a life. Circumcision has nothing to do with preserving a life though.
Right, the Torah says nothing about a professional mohel. What I'm saying is that *today* most mohels in the Western world are professionals. These people have to be paid, but conducting business on Shabbat is forbidden. Therefore, under these circumstances, the circumcision is delayed by a day.
Posted by: Ami at February 25, 2004 07:55 PMIf the sabbath is the 8th day of your life the First day must have also been the sabbath. Did the doctor/midwife get paid? The Torah says nothing about a professional circumcision or a mohel unless Moses wife was a mohel.
Posted by: LRS at February 25, 2004 04:28 PM