The Eri B. Sitt Edition, an audio series of the Talmud Bavli. This learning is dedicated to Shaul, Hay, Gabriel, Ben Sarah, and Shlomo ben Neryam. May their souls and bodies be blessed and protected. Amen.
We are holding at page 31a, three, four, five, and six lines from the bottom, beginning with the Gemara.
The Gemara begins: We learned in a beraita that Rabbi Yehoshua said, “Great is the mitzvah of circumcision. All the merits that Moshe Rabbeinu accumulated throughout his lifetime did not stand by him when he became negligent regarding circumcision.” This refers not to his own circumcision, but to the circumcision of his son, as it says in the verse that the angel of Hashem wanted to kill Moshe Rabbeinu.
Rabbi said that one should not think Moshe Rabbeinu was negligent about the mitzvah of circumcision. His calculation was as follows. We have to understand the context of the story. After the Creator told Moshe Rabbeinu to go and take the Jewish people out of Egypt, Moshe was in Midian. He now had to travel to Egypt and take his children with him, but he had just had another son. The question was: When should he circumcise the child?
The Gemara says that this was Moshe Rabbeinu’s reasoning: If I circumcise him and then leave, it will be dangerous for the child. We remember the story of Shimon and Levi, when they went to Shechem and killed the people of the city. They waited until the third day after the circumcision, when the people were weak. The Ran explains that the third day is not necessarily more dangerous than the first or second day. The first and second days are also dangerous, because they are close to the operation. They waited until the third day because, by then, the people had already been weakened for three days, and they would therefore be vulnerable.
What do we see from this? The third day after circumcision is dangerous, and certainly the days immediately preceding it can also place a child in danger. Moshe therefore reasoned: If I leave Midian immediately after circumcising the child, I will be putting him in danger, and God does not want me to do that.
But perhaps he could circumcise the child and then wait three days before traveling to Egypt? That was not possible either, because God had told him to leave immediately. He had to go without delay. Moshe Rabbeinu was therefore in a dilemma. If he waited three days after the circumcision, he would not be fulfilling God’s command to leave immediately. If he circumcised the child and then left, he would be placing the child in danger.
For what, then, was Moshe Rabbeinu punished? The Gemara answers that he became involved first with the lodging where they stopped. While traveling, they stopped at a lodging, and Moshe became occupied with preparing it. At that point, he should immediately have circumcised his son. The criticism was that when he arrived at the lodging, he dealt with the lodging before performing the circumcision.
The question is still raised: How could he have circumcised the child at the lodging? He was not yet in Egypt, so the danger still existed. Even if he circumcised the child on the road, he would face the same dilemma. The Ran brings the verse, “On the way, at the lodging,” and explains that it implies that as soon as Moshe came from the road to the lodging, he became involved with it. He should have circumcised the child first. But how could he have done so when he had not yet reached Egypt?
The Ran answers that this lodging was very close to Egypt. At that point, the remaining journey was short, and there was no longer a concern of danger. The criticism against Moshe Rabbeinu was therefore that when he arrived at the lodging, he effectively unpacked and dealt with the lodging before circumcising his son. That brief delay was considered significant.
One might ask: Even if circumcision is a very great mitzvah, is a person punished with death for failing to perform a positive commandment immediately? It is a positive mitzvah. I do not mean to minimize it—it is a tremendous mitzvah—but generally a person is not punished with death for failing to perform a positive commandment.
The common answer is that the righteous are judged with extraordinary precision. At Moshe Rabbeinu’s level, this was considered a grave sin. In any event, the Gemara continues with another opinion.
Resh Lakish has a different view. He says that Moshe Rabbeinu himself was never in danger. The Satan did not intend to kill Moshe Rabbeinu; the danger concerned the baby, Eliezer. The verse calls the situation “a bridegroom of blood.” A bridegroom is called a bridegroom, but who is the bridegroom in this story? Moshe Rabbeinu was already married; he was not a bridegroom. It must therefore refer to the child. Since the child had not been circumcised, he was in danger, but Moshe Rabbeinu was not.
The Shita Mekubetzet explains that the child is called a bridegroom because, through entering the covenant, he becomes joined and close to the Holy One, blessed be He. That is why the child being circumcised is referred to as a bridegroom.
Rabbi Yehuda bar Bizna said that when Moshe Rabbeinu became negligent for even a short time in circumcising his son, two destructive angels came against him. One was called Af, meaning anger, and the other was called Hema, meaning rage. They swallowed Moshe Rabbeinu, and all that remained visible was his feet.
The commentators explain that the two angels swallowed him from opposite directions, and the only part they left exposed was the place of circumcision. This was intended to show Moshe Rabbeinu the reason for his punishment. In a refined way, the Gemara is saying that they did not swallow the part connected with circumcision because they wanted to indicate that the accusation against him concerned the circumcision.
When Moshe Rabbeinu’s wife saw that he was being punished because of this, she took a stone, sharpened it, and immediately circumcised her son. The verse then says that the angel left him. In other words, the angels released him.
At that point, Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to kill Af and Hema. God told him to leave them alone—to leave Af alone and Hema alone as well. Some say that Hema was in fact killed after this episode, and that later, when Moshe Rabbeinu said, “For I was afraid of the anger and the rage,” Hema was still present because there were two beings called Hema. Moshe killed one Hema, while the other remained. Alternatively, the expression refers to Hema’s legions. There was the angel himself and an army that followed him. Moshe killed Hema, but the legions and his company remained, and they still had to be dealt with at a later time.
We learned in another beraita that Rabbi said: Great is the mitzvah of circumcision. No one performed mitzvot like Avraham Avinu, yet he was not called complete until he received the mitzvah of circumcision. Before the command of circumcision, God told him, “Walk before Me and be complete.” Thus, circumcision was a prerequisite for Avraham Avinu’s completeness.
The mitzvah of circumcision is so great that it is equal to all the mitzvot in the Torah. The verse says, “For these words are the covenant,” and we know that “these words” refers to the Torah. Since the same passage mentions the covenant, the Gemara derives that circumcision is compared to the entire Torah.
The mitzvah of circumcision is so great that heaven and earth would not exist without it. This teaches that circumcision is responsible for the continued existence of the world. Rabbi Elazar disagrees with this interpretation. He derives the existence of heaven and earth from Torah study. Were it not for Torah study, heaven and earth could not continue to exist.
What is the covenant of day and night? It is Torah study, because Torah study applies day and night, twenty-four hours a day, throughout the year. As the verse says, if not for the covenant of day and night, the world would not exist. According to Rabbi Elazar, the covenant of day and night refers to Torah study.
The Zohar HaKadosh explains in Parashat Shemini that this is why the Creator made the world with different time zones. If everyone lived in the same time zone, there could be a moment when everyone in the world was asleep, leaving no one engaged in Torah study. The world would then be destroyed. Therefore, when people in the east go to sleep, people in the west are waking up, and the reverse is true as well. There is always some community in the world greeting the sun in order to study Torah and maintain the existence of the world.
We return to Avraham Avinu. God told him, “Walk before Me and be complete.” Avraham was filled with fear and trepidation. Perhaps God had found something negative in him. He thought: If God is telling me that I am not complete, perhaps I have committed some sin. He was upset and nervous. Once he understood that the verse referred to circumcision, he realized that the issue was not something he had done. Rather, he still had the foreskin, and once it was removed, his completeness would be achieved.
The Kabbalah now presents several interpretations of the conversation between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Avraham Avinu. God told Avraham to go outside. Avraham said that he had examined his astrology and the stars, and according to what he saw in the stars, he would not have a son. God answered him, “Go out from your astrology. There is no astrological determination for Israel.”
This means that God took him outside his astrology. What Avraham saw in the stars was correct; there is a concept of astrology and there is a concept of destiny. A person’s events and circumstances can be based on his destiny. However, when it comes to the Jewish people, there is no fixed astrological determination. A Jew can rise above his destiny and override it; it is not absolutely locked in.
Tosafot explains in Massechet Shabbat that through prayer, or through great merits and mitzvot, a person can change his destiny. God was telling Avraham Avinu, “Go outside.” In other words, you can leave the destiny that was assigned to you. Avraham Avinu had great merits, and he had prayed for many years. Therefore, he was able to change the destiny indicated by the stars.
The Midrash writes that God did not merely show Avraham the stars. He lifted him above the stars, showing him that he was above them. The stars did not control him; he controlled the stars.
Rabbi Yitzchak continues in the Gemara: Anyone who conducts himself with complete trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, will be treated with complete trust by God. To act with completeness means to fulfill the mitzvot with faith and trust, without questioning what will happen in the future and without needing to know what the outcome will be. As the verse says, “Be complete with Hashem your God.” Such a person does not seek out astrology or try to discover the future. He fulfills the mitzvot as he was commanded.
The Gemara asks: Does the Holy One, blessed be He, deal with a person in the same manner? The answer is that God treats him with completeness as well. Since the person places his faith in God, God protects him from harmful things and comes through for him.
The Gemara also says that if a person acts with kindness, God will treat him with kindness. Rabbi Avin says that anyone who serves God with complete trust, fulfilling the mitzvot without questioning and without constantly searching for what the future holds, will ultimately rise to great heights.
The verse says, “Walk before Me and be complete,” and immediately afterward God tells Avraham that he will become the father of great nations. The Gemara derives that because Avraham acted with completeness, he would rise to great power. God was not merely telling him to be perfect. He was telling him to possess the quality of complete trust. Avraham already had this quality: he served God without questioning His ways. As a result, God told him that he would rise to greatness.
The Gemara then says that anyone who consults omens or uses magic to discover the future becomes vulnerable to those very forces. One of the prohibitions in the Torah is consulting sorcerers or people who use impure powers to reveal the future. The verse says, “There is no divination in Jacob.” The Gemara reads the verse as implying that a person who pursues these practices becomes subject to them.
In another place, in Massechet Pesachim, the Gemara says that when a person gives significance to such matters, they are given significance concerning him. If a person shows faith in fortune-telling, magic, or similar practices, he becomes vulnerable to them. If he disregards them and says, “I am not interested; this is not for me,” they have no power over him.
The Gemara asks: How can this be derived from the verse? The word is written in a way that can mean, “There will be no divination in Jacob.” The Gemara answers that this is an example of measure for measure. God treats a person according to his conduct. A person who places his trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, is protected from these forces. God says, in effect, “You trust Me, and I will come through for you.” But if a person chooses to place his trust in those other forces, he becomes subject to them and to their fortune-telling, Heaven forbid.
The basic lesson of the Gemara is that we must serve God without looking for shortcuts or trying to control the future. We should serve Him with trust and without constantly questioning what will happen.
The Gemara continues: Anyone who does not involve himself with sorcery or attempts to discover the future will be brought to a spiritual level that even the angels cannot enter. The verse says that there is no divination in Jacob, and Bilam praised the Jewish people for not pursuing such practices. As a result, God would reveal to them the secrets of the world—things that even the angels would not know.
The angels would ask what God was doing, but the Jewish people would know, because they would be brought to spiritual heights inaccessible even to the angels. The Ran explains that since a person does not seek fortune-tellers or try to know the future, but instead places his trust in God, God reveals to him secrets that even the angels do not know. The person did not seek those secrets; he was interested only in serving God. Therefore, God shows him the secrets of the world.
The Gemara now asks why Avraham Avinu was punished in the sense that his descendants had to serve in Egypt for 210 years. What caused that exile?
One explanation is that Avraham Avinu conscripted Torah scholars, as it says, “He armed his trained servants, those born in his house.” When Lot was taken captive, Avraham went out to fight the kings. The Gemara asks who these soldiers were. They were Torah scholars who had been studying Torah. Avraham stopped them from studying and brought them into his army to fight. This was considered an accusation against him, and as a result, it contributed to the exile and servitude in Egypt.
The Ran explains that the word “trained” comes from the language of education. These were people whom Avraham had educated in Torah study. He had established them in learning, but then he removed them from their studies and took them to fight in his battles. This was held against him.
A second explanation is that Avraham questioned God’s ways. God had promised that his descendants would descend to Egypt, leave Egypt, and enter the Land of Israel. Avraham asked for a sign: How would he know that this would happen? By asking for a sign, he was considered to have questioned the guarantee of the Holy One, blessed be He. This was another accusation against him.
A third interpretation is that Avraham prevented certain people from entering under the wings of the Divine Presence. We know that Avraham Avinu was the ultimate person who brought others close. He traveled throughout the world to teach people belief in one God. Nevertheless, the Gemara says that there was a group of people whom he failed to bring back to the Divine Presence. That too was considered an accusation against him and contributed to the exile.
Another explanation relates to what happened after Avraham rescued Sedom and Lot. The king of Sedom said to Avraham, “Give me the people, and you take the spoils.” Avraham replied that he did not want the people, the property, or even a thread or strap. He allowed the king to take everything.
The Gemara’s criticism is that if Avraham had taken the people, he could have converted them and brought them to belief in one God. The captives of a victorious war ordinarily belong to the victor, but Avraham did not demand them. By not taking the people, he lost the opportunity to bring them back. This was another accusation against him.
The Gemara then returns to the verse describing Avraham’s army. The verse literally means that he armed or girded them, taking his household out to war against the kings who had captured Lot. But the Gemara asks what it means that he emptied his household. He was not emptying them; he was taking them to war.
The answer is that he emptied them of Torah. As we learned, these were Torah scholars whom Avraham had educated in Torah. When he took them to fight, they could no longer study. He caused a certain interruption in their Torah learning.
Shmuel gives another interpretation. He says that Avraham had to bribe them in order to go to war. The word can be associated with a verse referring to gold, indicating that he filled them with gold and gave them substantial wealth. According to this interpretation, the verse describes how Avraham equipped them financially for the battle.
How many soldiers went out to war? The verse mentions 318. One opinion says that Avraham had 318 soldiers. Another says that Eliezer, Avraham’s servant, was so strong that he was equivalent to 318 soldiers. A further opinion says that the 318 referred to Eliezer alone. The numerical value of the name Eliezer is 318, and therefore, when the verse says that Avraham took 318, it hints that he took only Eliezer. Eliezer was as powerful as 318 soldiers, and together they won the war.
The Gemara says that Avraham Avinu was three years old when he began to recognize his Creator. God tells Avraham regarding his service, “Because he listened to My voice.” The numerical value of the word “because” is 172. Avraham lived for 175 years. Thus, when God says that Avraham listened to His voice for 172 years, it implies that he recognized the Creator at the age of three.
This is the source of the idea that Avraham recognized God at the age of three. It also relates to the custom that when a child reaches the age of three, his hair is cut. In Arabic this is called Hanakah. What is the significance of cutting a child’s hair at three years old? This custom goes back to the time of the Arizal.
The explanation is that at the age of three, Avraham Avinu began recognizing his Creator. The first three years of a tree’s growth are considered the period of foreskin, when the fruit is forbidden. The fourth year is considered holy. Similarly, after a child reaches three years of age, we inaugurate him into holiness, fear of Heaven, and the service of God. This is an initiation of the children of Avraham Avinu.
Rabbi Ami bar Hama gives another numerical interpretation. The numerical value of the word “because” is 172. The Ran explains the significance of this number by saying that the Satan prosecutes against the Jewish people 364 days a year, but there is one day when he does not prosecute. Which day is that? Yom Kippur. Therefore, on Yom Kippur, a person can attain a favorable judgment.
The Gemara now discusses Avraham’s name. Originally, Avraham Avinu was called Avram. At first, when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him sovereignty over his limbs, he sanctified 243 limbs. The numerical value of Avram is 243. Avraham Avinu placed the sovereignty of God upon all 243 of these limbs.
Later, God added five more limbs, bringing the number from 243 to 248, the numerical value of Avraham. Which five limbs were added? The two eyes, the two ears, and the organ of circumcision.
The idea is as follows. Avraham Avinu could protect the 243 limbs that were within his control. But a person cannot completely protect his eyes. If someone is walking in the street and something inappropriate suddenly appears before him, he may close his eyes immediately, but he has already seen it. That moment was outside his control. Similarly, if someone says something inappropriate, a person can close his ears or refuse to listen, but the words may already have entered his ears.
God therefore said to Avram: You sanctified all the limbs that were within your ability to control. Those are the 243 limbs. I will give you the remaining limbs as a gift. When God added the letter that transformed Avram into Avraham, all 248 limbs were included. From then on, nothing inappropriate would enter Avraham’s eyes or ears, and he himself would perform the circumcision, which would also become sanctified.
The Gemara then explains a verse in Kohelet. Let us read the entire verse and then return to the Gemara’s interpretation. “There was a small city, with few people in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large fortifications against it. There was found in it a poor but wise man, and he saved the city through his wisdom, but no one remembered that poor man.”
The Gemara asks: To what specific situation is Kohelet referring? What is the small city? Who is the enemy that surrounds it? Who is the poor but wise man who saves the city from its enemies?
The Gemara answers that the small city refers to the human body. The few inhabitants of the city refer to a person’s bones and limbs. A great king came and surrounded the city. This refers to the evil inclination, which surrounds a person and attempts to make him sin. It builds fortifications, referring to the sins that a person accumulates. A person follows his desires, and the evil inclination builds one structure after another around him.
But there is a poor wise man. Who is he? He is the good inclination. Through its wisdom, it is able to save the entire person. What wisdom does it use? It advises the person to repent and to perform good deeds. Through repentance and good deeds, the person can be saved from all those sins and the fortifications that the evil inclination built around him can be destroyed.
Why is the good inclination called a poor man? Because people do not always listen to its wisdom. A person is often more attracted to the evil inclination. The good inclination tells him not to sin, but its advice is not always accepted. Therefore, it is called the poor wise man.
If people would listen to the advice of this poor wise man, repent, and perform good deeds, all the fortifications of sin would be destroyed, and the person would cleanse himself. But the verse says that no one remembered the wise man. This means that, at the time of the sin, a person does not remember his good inclination. He is so engulfed in passion and desire that he does not want to hear it.
I once heard from the great spiritual supervisor of the Lakewood yeshiva that the yeshiva used to have an unofficial vacation during Hanukkah. Some students would take an extra day or two, and the practice gradually became widespread. The spiritual supervisor once spoke after Hanukkah and said, “I am warning you now for next year: this practice of taking an extra day off from the yeshiva is unacceptable. It is a violation of Torah study,” and he delivered a strong ethical address about keeping the yeshiva schedule.
Someone asked him, “Rabbi, why did you not tell us this before Hanukkah? Why did you wait until after Hanukkah?” He answered, “Because before Hanukkah, the evil inclination has everything under control. You would not have listened to me. Your minds were already made up that you were leaving, and nothing I said would have changed it. A person can be so blinded by the evil inclination that even when you try to show him the good inclination, he does not see it. Now that Hanukkah has passed and the desire has left you, you can see the matter more clearly. I am telling you exactly what the situation is, and perhaps next year you will remember.”
The Gemara continues, with the explanation of Rashi and the Ran: “Wisdom gives strength to the wise man” refers to repentance and good deeds. The ten rulers refer to ten parts of the body that ordinarily rule a person and through which he commits sins.
These ten parts are the two eyes, because a person may use his eyes to look at things he should not see; the two ears, because he may listen to things he should not hear; the two hands, because most of a person’s actions are done with his hands; the two legs, because they carry him toward sin; and the mouth, through which a person speaks improperly and commits many sins. The wise man is able to control these ten parts of the body so that they do not run after sin.
The Gemara then discusses Shem, the son of Noah. In his generation, Shem was considered a priest, and in truth, the priesthood was supposed to descend from him. The verse clearly describes him as a priest of the Almighty. Why, then, was the priesthood taken from Shem and given to Avraham?
The Gemara explains that when Avraham Avinu finished the war, he went to Shem ben Noah, who was the priest, and gave him a tithe from the spoils. When Shem received the gift, he first blessed Avraham and then blessed the Holy One, blessed be He. The Gemara says that this was his mistake. He placed the blessing of a human being before the blessing of God. As a result, God said that he was not fit for the priesthood, at least not for the priesthood of his descendants.
Shem blessed Avraham by saying, “Blessed is Avraham to the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth,” and then he blessed the Most High God. The criticism was: Why did you bless the servant before blessing the Creator? Because Avraham rebuked Shem for this, the priesthood was taken from Shem and given to Avraham.
The verse in Tehillim says, “Hashem said to my master: Sit at My right hand until I place your enemies as a footstool for your feet,” and later says, “You are a priest forever.” This refers to the conversation between Avraham and Malki-Tzedek.
The Ran explains that Malki-Tzedek was called by that name because the Torah does not identify him there by the name Shem. Malki-Tzedek was a priest of the Most High God. Although Avraham Avinu was also a descendant of Shem, he did not receive the priesthood merely as a descendant. He earned it independently. Even if Avraham had not descended from Shem, he would have deserved the priesthood on his own merits.
Shem remained a priest, but his descendants did not retain the priesthood in his merit. Although the priests descended from Aaron and are ultimately descendants of Shem, the priesthood was no longer theirs by virtue of Shem’s merit. It was transferred to Avraham Avinu because of Avraham’s own merit.
David says, “Hashem said to my master.” Who is the master? It refers to Avraham Avinu, because Avraham was the first person to refer to God as Master. God therefore said to him, “Sit at My right hand.” This relates to the war in which four kings fought against five kings. Avraham Avinu entered the battle with 318 soldiers, according to the opinion we learned, and he won.
God told him not to worry: his enemies would be placed beneath him. He would be protected, and God would be with him. His enemies would be placed beneath his feet. Immediately afterward, the verse says that he would be a priest forever. This was because of what happened with Malki-Tzedek. Malki-Tzedek placed Avraham before the Divine Presence when he blessed Avraham before blessing God, and the priesthood was therefore transferred from him to Avraham.
The Gemara concludes that Malki-Tzedek was a priest. He was a priest, but his descendants were not priests in the merit of Shem. The priesthood was passed down in the merit of Avraham Avinu.
May the words of Torah be a merit for us all. Blessed is Hashem forever. Amen and amen.