Question: If Abraham was commanded to circumcise his descendants on the eighth day, why do Arabs – who claim to descend from Abraham through Yishmael – wait until their children are 13 to circumcise them? I am aware that this is a matter of little consequence to our people. Nevertheless, this inconsistency is one that piques my curiosity.
M. Goldman
(Via E-mail)
Summary of our response up to this point: We started our discussion by citing the source for the commandment to circumcise a baby boy – Genesis 17:9-14. We noted that Abraham was 99 years old when G-d commanded him to circumcise himself and his household. His son Ishmael was 13 at the time. The Torah specifies that a circumcision should be performed on the eighth day of a boy’s life.
The Abrabanel notes that the covenant of milah includes inheriting the land of Canaan. Each Israelite grants this inheritance to his newborn son through brit milah.
We examined who exactly was given the commandment of brit milah. Was it only for Abraham and his children? Were Keturah’s children included? How about their children? Rashi states that Keturah’s grandchildren were not obligated to have a brit. The Rambam disagrees. He maintains that all of Keturah’s descendants must have a brit. Nowadays, though, the descendants of Keturah are interspersed with the descendants of Ishmael; we therefore don’t know who descends from Keturah. We suggested, however, that according to the Rambam the descendants of Keturah, plus the descendants of Ishmael, might together comprise the Arab nations.
We reviewed Bereishit Rabbah 64:3, which explains that following the akeidah, Isaac was considered a “sacrifice” by G-d and so could not leave the geographical limits of the Holy Land. We wondered why G-d tested Abraham with the akeidah after he had already passed so many other tests, thus proving his loyalty. Why would He ask him to sacrifice the son whom He had promised would be his heir?
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 89b) relates that Satan tried to convince G-d that Abraham was not sufficiently thankful for the birth of Isaac since he prepared a feast for guests but did not prepare any sacrifices for G-d. G-d told Satan that Abraham was so devoted to Him that he would sacrifice Isaac if instructed to do so by G-d. Satan then approached Abraham and tried to dissuade him from going ahead with the aikedah, but to no avail.
We discussed an alternative sequence of events leading up to the akeidah. The Gemara states that Ishmael boasted to Isaac that he was greater than him since he was circumcised at age 13, when he was old enough to protest, yet he did not. G-d wanted to show that Isaac, who was circumcised at eight days, was ready to be sacrificed and would not object even though he was an adult now.
Last week, we discussed the great degree of self-sacrifice Abraham demonstrated by submitting to circumcision. The Midrash (Tanchoma, Vayera 4) recounts that Abraham had three trusted friends, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. When G-d instructed Abraham to circumcise himself and the members of his household, he asked them how best to fulfill G-d’s command. Aner was concerned about the publicizing the command because Abraham’s enemies might take advantage of his crippled state. Eshkol feared that Abraham would be unable to withstand the surgery and die. Clearly, circumcising himself was no simple matter for Abraham. But Mamre reminded Abraham that G-d repeatedly saved all of Abraham’s limbs, so when He asked for him to perform a ritual on a part of one of them, he should certainly listen.
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I am fortunate to have the fine and captivating work Worldstorm by noted author and frequent contributor to the pages of The Jewish Press, Roy S. (Yisrael) Neuberger. His chapter “The Family” (#2) is very meaningful and relevant to our discussion. Thus, we shall quote from it:
“The verse (Genesis 21:9) states: ‘Vatereh Sarah et ben Hagar haMitzrit… mi’tzacheik – Sarah saw [Ishmael] the son of Hagar the Egyptian…mocking.’ Our Sages (Bereishit Rabbah 53:15) tell us that mocking means violence and bloodshed: ‘Ishmael said to Isaac, “Let us go and see our portions in the field.”’ Then Ishmael would take a bow and arrow and shoot in Isaac’s direction, while pretending to be playing. Ishmael pretended to play, but his game was murder….
“[Thereupon] our Mother Sarah told our Father Abraham (Genesis 21:10), ‘Gareish ha’amah hazot, v’et binah, ki lo yirash ben ha’amah hazot im bini im Yitzchok – Drive out this slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave-woman shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac.’ 3,600 years ago Sarah perceived Ishmael’s nature and expelled him from her home. Immediately after this, G-d told Abraham (Genesis 21:12), ‘Kol asher tomar eilechah Sarah, sh’ma bikolah, ki b’Yitzchok yikareih l’cha zara – Whatever Sarah tells you, heed her voice, since through Isaac will offspring be considered yours.’
“This is the passage in which the Torah states that the legacy of Abraham goes through Isaac and not Ishmael, and that legacy of course includes the deed to the Land of Israel for his descendants for all time.
“The children of Ishmael have invented a scenario to justify the fantasy that they are the recipients of the spiritual heritage of our Father Abraham. Let us examine, for example, their claim that the child brought to the ‘binding of Isaac’ was not Isaac at all, but Ishmael.
“This is clearly impossible. How do we know? The same Bible that tells us there was a ‘binding’ in the first place goes to great lengths to state explicitly that Isaac was the one who was bound. Secondly, the Bible also explicitly says (as we stated above), ‘through Isaac will offspring be considered yours,’ Isaac and not Ishmael!
“Even if the Moslems were correct in saying that Abraham brought Ishmael and not Isaac up to the ‘binding of Isaac,’ why did it take them 2,300 years to say so?
“The binding of Isaac occurred in the year 2085 from Creation. The founding of Islam occurred approximately 2,297 years later! If the children of Ishmael are correct about this, then why did no one say anything for 23 centuries? This is what is called ‘re-writing history.’ It is like telling someone who lived through Auschwitz that there was no Holocaust.
“There is clearly no way to believe that Ishmael is Abraham’s spiritual or legal heir. If you want to try to rewrite your uncle’s will so you will inherit his estate, you had better be sure no one else has an authentic copy of the original. But in this case, the entire world had read ‘the will’ since the time thousands of years earlier when it had been promulgated at Mount Sinai.
“Is it not amazing that Mount Moriah, the site at which Isaac was bound, is the subject of the original dispute between the children of Ishmael and the children of Isaac? It is amazing because the center of our contemporary conflict between the children of Ishmael [and] the children of Isaac is that very same mountain (which is today called the Temple Mount, the site of our Holy Temple). From this we can readily understand that the origin of the present conflict can only be understood with reference to the earliest origins of the conflicts between Ishmael and Isaac.
“The Temple Mount, Mount Moriah: the same place.
“The children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael: the same players.
“Who is the legitimate heir of Abraham? The same question!
“It is clear when you see this behavior why Mother Sarah was so anxious to have Ishmael removed from her household, a household in which Isaac was to be raised in purity with the aim of ending mankind’s rebellion against G-d and restoring tranquility to the world.
“As we said above, the Torah clearly states that the lineage of the servants of G-d goes through Isaac and not through Ishmael. The Arab peoples have a legacy, but it should not be confused with our legacy. Their claim to the spiritual heritage of Abraham and the geographical heritage of the Land of Israel is based on falsehood.
“We say to the children of Ishmael: by all means, live out your heritage! You are our cousins, the children of Abraham.
“But you are NOT the children of Isaac and Jacob, nor are you the children of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.
“You are NOT the Nation to whom G-d spoke directly at Mount Sinai.
“You were NOT given the Deed to the Land of Israel!
“The children of Israel do not attempt to deny to any nation the right to their heritage. It is rather they who try to deny us the right to our heritage!
“This has been our struggle for over 2,000 years!”
(To be continued)