Left Over From Lech Lechah: Brit Milah, The Untold Story

Breishit 17: 9-15


Rav Hirsch points out that when milah - circumcision is commanded to Avraham's children, at the end of Lech Lechah, two different phrases are used, one follows the other. The covenant is called a brit and also an ot brit. Rav Hirsch explains this to reflect that brit milah has its actual form and its deeper spiritual meaning - the brit itself and that which it symbolizes as an ot. He believes that this idea applies to every mitzvah there is the technical side, the law which must be kept to the letter. There is also the element of what the mitzvah action represents, what it prompts us to think and feel.


This relates to his theory that every mitzvah has a shamor and zachor element:

Shamor and zachor

are intertwined

like movement and resting

symmetrical, aligned

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Shamor and zachor

Two words in one utterance

Structure and spirit

May we keep you together

May you keep us together