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. 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?
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.
Last time, we quoted from Roy S. Neuberger’s captivating work “Worldstorm” (chapter 2, “The Family”), where he discusses Sarah perceiving Ishmael’s violent nature and G-d telling Abraham (Genesis 21:12), “Whatever Sarah tells you, heed her voice, since through Isaac will offspring be considered yours.” The Torah states that the legacy of Abraham goes through Isaac and not Ishmael, and that legacy includes the deed to the Land of Israel. While the children of Ishmael have tried to claim they are the recipients of the spiritual heritage of Abraham – and have argued that the child brought to the Akeida was in fact Ishmael – this claim is based on falsehood. They are trying to deny us our spiritual and geographical heritage.
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Let us see how the Torah (Genesis 17:23-27) details Abraham’s fulfillment of G-d’s command: “Vayikach Avraham et Yishmael bno v’eit kol yelidei beito v’eit kol miknat kaspo kol zachar b’anshei beit Avraham vayomol et bsar orlotom b’etyzem hayom hazeh kka’asher diber ito Elokim – Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those servants born in his household and all those he had purchased for money, all the male members of Abraham’s household, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day as G-d had spoken to him. V’Avraham ben tishim va’tesha shana b’himolo eit besar orloto – And Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised on the flesh of his foreskin. V’Yishmael bno ben slosh Esreh shana b’himolo eit besar orloto – And his son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised on the flesh of his foreskin. B’etzem hayom hazeh nimol Avraham v’Yishmael bno – On that very day Abraham was circumcised with his son Ishmael. V’chol anshei beito yelid bayit u’miknat kesef me’eit ben neichar nimolu ito – And all the people of his household, born in his household and purchased for money from a stranger, were circumcised with him.”