The Torah Portion Tazria spells out an essential commandment. It is one that rivals the Decalogue in import. The portion commands that “on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumsized.” Leviticus 12:3. In Hebrew, the ceremony for that event is called “Brit Milah”. With this, we have our Ten Commandments’ moment: what happens when the circumcision date falls on the Sabbath?
The query takes us to two interpretative approaches- legal and scriptural. In law, the word “shall” is definite. Many interpret “shall” to mean mandatory and inflexible. With scripture, there is additional room for analysis. There is the need to explore other parts of the Torah to gain understanding.
Circumcision’s importance pre-dates the Exodus, Mt. Sinai and the Ten Commandments. The The Brit Milah ceremony dates back to the Children of Israel’s first covenant with their deity. It was their great grandfather Abraham who entered into the accord.
In Genesis 17: 1-11, the Lord entered into a covenant with Abraham. The covenant was to be with Abraham and his seed. The land of Canaan was given to Abraham as his eternal possession and that the Lord would be God to Abraham’s descendants. Within this accord, circumcision would be performed as a sign of the covenant.
There are two things to be considered from Genesis. Legally, there was no specific reference that there was a Sabbath exception for circumcisions. Scripturally, the Brit Milah also, as noted above, brings much significance. The act’s product was a sign of the covenant which pre-dated covenant that occurred at Mt. Sinai. With Sabbath being considered a sign of a Decalogue, to make a determination, the weight of the signs needed to be considered. Thus, this issue of signs’ significance raises questions: should a Brit Milah take precedence over the Sabbath prohibition of work? If so, Why?
With the language of “shall,” and the fact of this provision dated back to a pre-Decalogue status, the Rabbinical authorities found that conducting the Brit Milah to precedent over the Sabbath. This allowance, however, was done with certain limitations. Sabbath circumcisions are not indicated in all cases.
In sum, Tazria offers an instance in which a commandment outside of the Decalogue took precedent. Both the language surrounding the law as with as the act’s significance make the case for this position.
Be well!!
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