The Stamp of Our Destiny

Yehoshua 5:2-12

Photo by Sergey Pesterev on Unsplash

After crossing the Yarden, Hashem told Yehoshua to create knives from stone -חרבות צרים and use them to circumcise the Bnei Yisrael a second time. Yehoshua did so and the mass bris mila took place at Givat HaOrlot, or foreskin hill.

The Navi continues and explains why the bris mila was done now. Everyone who left Mitzrayim was circumcised, however they all died in the desert, as a punishment. The generation that was born in the desert, who were now entering Eretz Yisrael, did not have a bris mila yet. They needed a mila in order to participate in the Korban Pesach which was just a few days after they crossed the Yarden. They crossed the Yarden on the tenth of Nissan and performed the Mila on the eleventh, leaving 3 days for recovery before the Korban Pesach on the 14th.

After the circumcision of the whole nation was completed, they remained where they were, in the camp, until they recovered.

After the mila, Hashem told Yehoshua: “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.”

בעת ההיא אמר יהוה אל־יהושע עשה לך חרבות צרים ושוב מל את־בני־ישראל שנית. ויעש־לו יהושע חרבות צרים וימל את־בני ישראל אל־גבעת הערלות. וזה הדבר אשר־מל יהושע כל־העם היצא ממצרים הזכרים כל  אנשי המלחמה מתו במדבר .בדרך בצאתם ממצרים. כי־מלים היו כל־העם היצאים וכל־העם הילדים במדבר בדרך בצאתם ממצרים לא־מלו. כי  ארבעים שנה הלכו בני־ישראל במדבר עד־תם כל־הגוי אנשי המלחמה היצאים ממצרים אשר לא־שמעו בקול יהוה אשר נשבע יהוה להם לבלתי הראותם את־הארץ אשר נשבע יהוה לאבותם לתת לנו ארץ זבת חלב ודבש. ואת־בניהם הקים תחתם אתם מל יהושע כי־ערלים היו כי לא־מלו אותם בדרך. ויהי כאשר־תמו כל־הגוי להמול וישבו תחתם במחנה עד חיותם. ויאמר יהוה אל־יהושע היום גלותי את־חרפת מצרים מעליכם ויקרא שם המקום ההוא גלגל עד היום הזה

The Navi continues that Yehoshua went on to call the place Gilgal. It was in Gilgal that the people set up a Mishkan and the Mizbeach and on the 14th of Nissan they were able to bring the Korban Pesach. The 15th was the first day of Pesach. The next day, the 16th of Nissan, they gathered the fresh crops of Eretz Yisrael and brought the Korban Omer which was made of Matzos and roasted wheat kernels. The Navi then tells us almost parenthetically that once they were able to gather the crops, there was no longer any need for the Manna.

.ויחנו בני־ישראל בגלגל ויעשו את־הפסח בארבעה עשר יום לחדש בערב בערבות יריחו .ויאכלו מעבור הארץ ממחרת הפסח מצות וקלוי בעצם היום הזה. וישבת המן ממחרת באכלם מעבור הארץ ולא־היה עוד לבני ישראל מן ויאכלו מתבואת ארץ כנען בשנה ההיא        

There is much to discuss here. I would like to focus on a few questions that arise from this story.

In Mitzrayim, there was a mass bris mila in order to enable the people to eat from the Korban Pesach. Why did this tradition not continue? Why were the people not doing bris mila over the past 40 years?

The Gemara¹ explains that one should not do mila in a place of danger. As the Midbar was considered a danger zone, and there wasn’t a northern wind to help the recovery process, the mila was skipped. Consequently, they were unable to bring a Korban Pesach during the entire 40 years in the midbar, except for the second year.²

What does the Pasuk mean by saying they got their mila a second time?

The simple explanation is that this was the second circumcision of the Jewish people. The first was as they were leaving Mitzrayim, 40 years prior. The second is now upon their arrival to the Holy Land. There are others who explain that of course there was mila in the midbar. The concern of danger was only for the priyah, removing the foreskin, not for the first step of mila. Thus this is now the second time they are performing mila in order to do it properly.³ The Midrash⁴ offers another explanation that just as the first mila was performed by Yehoshua, this mila was as well.

Why is this the right time for a bris mila? Wouldn’t it be more strategic to wait until after the land is conquered and there is more time to rest?

Rav Hirsch explains that this call for the Jewish people to undergo circumcision comes at a time when Bnei Yisrael were a frightening presence for the nations around them. It was not to get the people to shy away from frightening the enemy, rather on the contrary on their way to victory and before taking up battle, the people wanted to divest itself from the shame of Egypt. This was the real reason for the much delayed mass circumcision of those born in the desert.

What was the shame?

Rav Hirsch explains if the people had remained uncircumcised how would they have differed from their Egyptian oppressors. Today they received the stamp of their Jewish destiny.

Rav Moshe Dovid Vali enumerates that Hashem took the strength from the neighboring kingdoms and gave it to the Jews. However they were unable to use it until they did bris mila. He explains⁵ that the word חרוב is the same gematria as גבורה. Only once they did the mila did they have the Divine strength to vanquish their enemies.

Who did this mila?

The plural term of חרבות צורים connotes that there were multiple people tasked with performing the mila. From the words preceding the command - עשה לך Make for yourself - it seems to be directed solely to Yehoshua. In this case the mila of hundreds of thousands of Jews over a 4 day period would have had to be a complete miracle to get done. If there was a miracle, it could have taken 4 seconds and not 4 full and precious days. The Radak explains that the words עשה לך means that Yehoshua was ultimately responsible for this to get done and he accomplished this by appointing others to help him.

The name of the place where they did the bris mila is called Givat HaOrlot or Foreskin Hill. What is with this strange name?

The Midrash tells us when Yehoshua circumcised the children of Israel, he made a hill of their foreskins, the sun shone upon it and they became infested with worms. Their scent ascended before God like the fragrance of the Ketores. At that moment Hashem said when the descendants of these will commit sins and evil deeds, I will remember this scent and I will be filled with mercy over them and I will transform the attribute of justice into the attribute of mercy.⁶

When mentioning those who died in the Midbar, the term used is Anshei Milchama, men of war. Why specifically this terminology?

Rav Hirsch explains this to mean those who at the time of the Meraglim were already of military age and should have participated in the lands conquest which was meant to take place already then but they recoiled from the mission out of cowardice and lack of faith.⁷

Rav Moshe Dovid Vali explains that the generation that was in the desert were constantly battling the forces of evil lurking in the desert, thus they were true warriors fighting impure spiritual forces.

We see that the mila was a prerequisite both for the Korban Pesach and for conquering the land. We know that mila is a fundamental part of being a male Jew. From these pesukim we learn that it is not simply the cutting, but also the periya, the removal of the foreskin. Why is this such a fundamental element to the destiny of our people?

I would like to share the explanation of the Baal HaTanya, though some background is needed.

In Kabbalistic thought, everything that happens in the spiritual worlds takes place through the medium of the Sefiros. When things are starting to actualize they need to go through a process from Chesed through Malchus, from abstract to reality. The seven sefiros are Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferes, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchus.

Everything in this world has a parallel in these Sefiros. In our case the place of the mila is represented by the Midda/Sefira of Yesod.

Yesod is the final point of actualization before hitting the ground. In order for the light of God to reach the mundanity of Earth, it must go through Yesod. When we remove the Orla (foreskin), we are unveiling the Yesod and showing the clear connection and integration of God with man, between the world as we know and its ultimate Sustainer.

Removing the Orla is indeed the essential element of mila as the Orla represents a cover or a seal which is blocking the element of Godliness from expressing itself. By removing the Orla we are allowing the light of God into even the most mundane elements of our lives.

The generation of the midbar, were Anshei Milchama, which as explained above means that they were on a higher level fighting the forces of evil. They were also known as Dor De’ah because they were in a much higher realm. This realm is where this Godly light was already revealed. Therefore they did not need to do the second part of the mila. However, the next generation was on a lower level and they needed to bring the Ohr into Eretz Yisrael. They needed to fight off the seven nations that were there and satiate the land with the light of Hashem. Therefore the priyah is symbolic of this expression of light from Yesod to Malchus.⁸

1. Yevamos 71

2. Rashi Bamidbar 9:1

3. Yevamos 71 - Tosafos

4. Shemos Rabba 19:5

5. Tehillim 89:44

6. Shir Hashirim Rabba 4:6

7. Commentary Devarim 2:14

8. Likutei Torah, Tazria. See also Siddur Admor HaZaken Shaar Mila Drush Churvos Tzurim