When I was in Tbilisi, in Georgia, the country of Georgia, it's communist. The communists banned circumcision, so there were a lot of people under that communist regime who had never been circumcised. Well, they got it to happen, not the circumcision. Now it's not as strict anymore, so they allow rabbis to come in.
I went on this trip with Rabbi Matityahu Solomon, zichrono livracha (may his memory be a blessing), the Mashgiach (spiritual supervisor) of Lakewood Yeshiva. I went to a Mohel (circumcision officiant). We went around to all these remote little communist towns, trying to find kids who needed to be circumcised, and they circumcised them.
How do they do it? It's a network. They put out signs two weeks before we come: “Mass circumcision at the shul (synagogue). Who wants to come?” They have guys running around trying to spot people. How do they figure it out? In short, if you get to the shul, there's a line: one guy is 43 years old, one guy is 80 years old. “I'm here. No, sometimes, yes.” It's a funny sandak. You hold the head. You hold the head. “I will crush you guys.” It's on a gurney. It's on a gurney. It's on a table at the hospital. It's a surgery.
Anyway, it's an amazing thing. You're watching these kids come. But there's work that's done before. By the time we get there, they have already proved that they were Jewish. It's not just a simple guy showing up to do a Brit Milah (circumcision). There's a lot of paperwork.
Anyway, one kid shows up for the Brit Milah. He's 13, 14, 15 years old. They ask him, “Do you have a mother?” “Yes.” “Where's your mother?” “I didn't tell her I'm doing this. I'm scared she's going to be against it. I don't want to tell her. It's my mitzvah (commandment). I'm after it. It's my mitzvah.”
It's okay. So the guy doesn't believe him. He's defying his mother. In the middle of the Brit Milah, the mother comes barging into the synagogue. I don't know what she was screaming because she was screaming in Russian. She's screaming at the kid, and the kid's answering back. The Mohel's a Russian guy, screaming back at this. What is going on over there? Delay again now.
The mother's a frantic mother, and the Mohel starts to cry. And the Mohel—do you know what she said? She's telling the kid, “How come you didn't tell me you were going to circumcise yourself? I would have bought a new dress for the occasion. I didn't know you were going to circumcise yourself.” The boy says, “I was scared to tell you the circumcise.” She says, “You're 13 years old. Had I known, I would have bought a new dress.” She's yelling, “You didn't tell me.” She's wearing house clothes.
Now that's praise of a kid, and praise of a mother. That's got me to say, “Listen, whatever you want to say about Yishmael, his father told him at 13 years old, ‘Circumcise yourself,’ and he did it.” And the Zohar HaKadosh says this Zechut (merit) would remain with Yishmael till the end of time.
That brings us to what I heard at that Brit Milah when I was in Tbilisi. The Mohel, after he finished circumcising all these people, said, “Why is this happening?” He says, “Because Yishmael has a claim against the Jews that their circumcision is with more Mesirut Nefesh (self-sacrifice). But before Mashiach (Messiah) comes, God is going to take away that claim. That's why we have all these Jewish adults now who are coming to circumcise themselves. So now Yishmael doesn't have the exclusive claim. Look at me. I did it when I'm 13. He's 40. How about that? This guy didn't even tell his mother. He's 13.”
She wants to buy it. So Borei Olam (Creator of the world) is creating this whole scenario, which is amazing. So why did Hashem deprive all these Russian kids? Rabi Bila. So that, at the time of Mashiach, when Yishmael comes with his claim, there's a counterclaim.