{"id":48156,"date":"2019-01-24T16:42:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T14:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=48156"},"modified":"2022-08-18T13:37:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T10:37:27","slug":"circumcision-becoming-whole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/circumcision-becoming-whole\/","title":{"rendered":"Circumcision: Becoming Whole"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[549,395,363],"acf":{"old_id":"48156","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34004,"related_cahpter":"141","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A midrash on Balaam\u2019s excess, and his insufficiency","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Balaam story, in the midrashic perspective, brings forward the question of circumcision and language. A form of circumcision, of opening and rebirth into the world of relationship with others, is central to the inner history of Moses, who describes himself so graphically as \u201cof uncircumcised lips.\u201d The arc of Moses\u2019 \u201cto-be-circumcised\u201d life is strangely mirrored in the figure of Balaam.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balaam introduces his third and most significant blessing by describing himself, the speaker, as one who \u201csees the vision of the Almighty, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fallen with open eyes<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (Num. 24:4). Rashi cites the midrash: \u201cWhen God was revealed to him, he had no strength to stand on his legs: he fell forward onto his face, because he was uncircumcised and unfit to stand upright in God\u2019s presence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balaam becomes the type of the uncircumcised man who must collapse in the presence of God. What brings him down is an excess, which is, at the same time, an <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">insufficiency<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: he has not the strength to stand in this state before God. A similar collapse is narrated about Abraham: \u201cAnd Abram fell on his face\u201d (Gen. 17:3). God has just told him, \u201cWalk before Me and become whole!\u201d God then speaks of the <em>brit<\/em>, the Covenant between Abraham and Himself, focusing on the commandment of circumcision. Rashi reads: \u201cHe fell down out of awe of God\u2019s presence: till he circumcised himself, he had no strength to stand upright before the Holy Spirit&#8230;. That is what is written about Balaam, \u2018fallen with open eyes.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rashi\u2019s source, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pirkei d\u2019Rabbi Eliezer<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 29, focuses on the \u201cpower of circumcision.\u201d The paradoxes of this notion are fascinating. To circumcise is to cut away part of the male organ of sexual potency. It is at the least a symbolic gesture of castration. And yet, it is a source of power. Both Balaam and Abraham, the outsider and the quintessential insider, are, paradoxically, weakened by their uncircumcised state. Because they have not diminished themselves in this way, their knees buckle, they fall over to cover the undiminished organ. The Hebrew word <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">arel<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; uncircumcised- is a positive adjective describing a natural but unevolved state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is circumcision that gives one the strength to confront God. The paradox of becoming whole by cutting off a part of oneself does not escape midrashic notice. For instance, Midrash Tanchuma has Abraham wonder: \u201cUp to now, I have been whole; if I circumcise myself, I shall become defective.\u201d God answers, \u201cWhat do you think? That you are perfectly whole?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":102075,"id":102075,"title":"-620ba1a4863c4--620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim covenant brit.jpg","filename":"620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-9\/620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":35824,"date":"2022-02-15 12:50:44","modified":"2023-11-21 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Becoming Whole","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A midrash on Balaam\u2019s excess, and his insufficiency","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":102075,"id":102075,"title":"-620ba1a4863c4--620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim covenant brit.jpg","filename":"620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-9\/620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"620ba1a4863c4-620ba1a4863c5gen9-milim-covenant-brit-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":35824,"date":"2022-02-15 12:50:44","modified":"2023-11-21 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