[Download] "Witness to the Covenant of Circumcision" by Dale Lieberman # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Witness to the Covenant of Circumcision
- Author : Dale Lieberman
- Release Date : January 01, 1997
- Genre: Religion & Spirituality,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 56425 KB
Description
“And He said, ‘Take your son ... whom you love ....’ ”
Abraham received God’s commandment to circumcise himself and every male of his family throughout the generations, as part of the covenant between them, and it is, accordingly, the Jewish father who is primarily obligated to have his son circumcised. However, the female members of the family customarily have original jurisdiction of the infant and surrender him as the first step of the bris.
Just as in biblical times animals to be sacrificed were to remain with their dam for seven days, a child to be circumcised may be considered to have dwelled with and been nurtured by his mother for seven days and must be given up and presented for the bris on the eighth day after his birth.
Joy and anxiety coexist in these moments, as the child is delivered in princely fashion through the community, which welcomes him with the greeting: “Baruch Ha-Ba! Blessed is the one who comes. Blessed is the one who comes to be circumcised on the eighth day!”
The “older generation” takes great pleasure in shepherding one of the newest members of the community to his place on the bimah.
As this infant is to be initiated in the “Covenant of Abraham”, he is both a symbol of God’s promise to Abraham that his line would be fruitful and multiply and proof of the ongoing fulfillment of their covenant.
Many synagogues have a special “Chair of Elijah”, upon which a child to be circumcised is placed by an honored participant prior to delivery to the sandek. In homes, too, a chair is customarily designated and set aside for this purpose.
According to the rabbis, God granted the prophet Elijah the privilege of attending every bris. Elijah is also expected at every Passover seder, as the herald of the Messiah and the world-to-come.
A bris is a communal, religious occasion, and attendance is itself a mitzvah. The bris affords the opportunity for education, communication, thanksgiving, and celebration. Here, the father of the child delivers remarks he has prepared for the ceremony.