Why Aren’t We Scared That The Mohel Will Carry?
‘His Hand Is Not At Rest’
(Shabbos 3a)
When Rosh Hashanah falls out on Shabbos, we don’t blow shofar since we’re worried that someone will carry a shofar in the public domain. Likewise, if Sukkos falls out on Shabbos, we don’t shake lulav and esrog since we’re worried that someone will carry these items in the public domain. When the eighth day of a boy’s life, however, falls out on Shabbos, we do enter him into the bris of Avraham Avinu, and we aren’t worried that the mohel will carry his equipment in the public domain. Why not?
The Mohel
Rishonim address this question in various places throughout Shas and offer a variety of answers. Tosafos (Megillah 4b) explains that the mitzvah of bris milah has preeminent importance since Hashem sealed 13 covenants with Avraham Avinu in its merit.
Furthermore, every Jew – including unlearned Jews – must perform the mitzvos of shofar and lulav. Only one man, however, must perform a bris – the mohel. Our Sages were concerned that an unlearned Jew would accidentally carry on Shabbos. They weren’t scared that a skilled mohel (who is presumably knowledgeable) would.
Communal vs. Individual
The Ran (Rosh Hashanah, on the Rif 8a) writes that every Jew is busy performing the mitzvos of Yom Tov and therefore cannot be expected to keep an eye on each other to make sure no one accidentally carries. However, when a bris milah occurs, only the mohel is distracted; other Jews aren’t and will ensure that he doesn’t accidentally carry.
An Overriding Mitzvah
Other Rishonim (Ritva, Succah 43a; Meiri, Megillah 4b) explain that in contrast to performing the mitzvos of shofar and lulav on Shabbos, performing a bris milah on Shabbos theoretically involves a Torah prohibition: doing meleches choveil. Since the Torah instructs us to perform a bris milah on Shabbos nonetheless, our Sages did not forbid it.
An Eight-Day Count
The Ritva (ibid.) offers another explanation. As we know, people outside Eretz Yisrael observe two days of Yom Tov since, in the Temple era, messengers of the beis din in Yerushalayim were unable to reach chutz la’aretz in time to inform people living there when the new month began and, therefore, on which day to observe Yom Tov.
As a result, people outside Eretz Yisrael observed two days just in case. Our Sages forbade performing the mitzvos of shofar and lulav on Shabbos since it wasn’t always clear which day was really Yom Tov. The certainty of Shabbos observance took precedence over the possibility of Yom Tov observance. It’s true that people living near the central beis din knew when Yom Tov was, but our Sages didn’t make an exception. They wished to preserve one consistent set of rules for all Jewish communities throughout the world.
A bris milah, on the other hand, does not depend on any particular date in the calendar. It takes place on the eighth day after birth. Thus, we know for certain on what day to perform the bris and we therefore perform it on Shabbos despite the risk that the mohel might accidentally carry in the public domain.
Doubt and Negligible Doubt
The Chasam Sofer (in his commentary on Shabbos 131b) notes that a bris on Shabbos also involves an element of uncertainty since, unbeknownst to us, the child may have been born with health complications, G-d forbid, that would classify him as a neifel, whose bris doesn’t preempt Shabbos.
He concludes, however, that only a small minority of babies are neifels; therefore, the doubt involved is negligible and does not justify postponing the bris.