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This week we read about the first few harrowing episodes in the life of Abram; the Father of Judaism.
One of them is when G-d makes with him a covenant, tells him to circumcise himself, promises him the Land of Israel and changes his name from Abram to Abraham.
At first glance all this is totally not understood.
First, why did G-d choose circumcision as a covenant? Second, why is a name change so important? 3. Why such a minor change; the difference between Abram and Abraham is only one letter (‘hey’)) 4. Why is the Land of Israel so significant?
And finally, what exactly was the Judaism of Abraham?
The Torah does not tell us that he practiced any rituals, did any miracles, advertised any religious ideas or even had much success or rewards.
His only followers were his wife Sarah and son Isaac and, although G-d promised him the land of Israel and offspring like the sand on the sea; he received neither.
So what did Abraham really do to deserve the title ‘Father of Judaism’?

To understand this, here is a story I heard a few years ago from a friend of mine

Rabbi Hertzel Borochov who runs an ‘ Igrot Kodesh’ (Holy Letters) center in Rechovot. Where people come and get advice from the Rebbe’s letters.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe answered more mail than any man in the world. Forty some volumes of these letters have been collected to date and people come to Rabbi Borochov’s center and he finds the answers in one of the volumes of these ‘Holy letters’ (Igrot Kodesh).
He also has a custom of regularly visiting stores and businesses in Rechovot to encourage the owners and workers to observe the commandments or just having someone to talk to. And that’s where our story begins.
He told me that once he visited an auto repair ‘body shop’ run by a one Mr. Tzion K’doshim and his wife. [Interestingly, she did all the heavy work; hammering and welding, while he did the fine painting and delicate final touches].
Mr. K’doshim agreed to put on Tefillin and was glad to see that someone cared, but when the Rabbi asked if they shad any children and how they were, Mr. K’doshim and his wife glanced at one another, their eyes filled with tears and she finally mumbled something about ‘not so good’.
It took a bit of coaxing but the Rabbi finally got them to talk. Their fifteen-year-old son had not grown an inch since he was five years old.
At first the doctors thought that perhaps he was just a late developer, but when year passed with no change they took more tests, prescribed various treatments and hormones all in vain; the boy remained four feet tall.
Soon he would be sixteen and it was driving them all crazy. He was becoming introverted and depressed. He had no friends, no self-confidence, no hope for the future and no reason to live.
Rabbi Borochov asked them to write a detailed letter to the Rebbe about their problem and promised to do what he could.
That evening when he arrived home, the first thing he did was go the bookcase, randomly pick one of the 25 volumes, pray to G-d for success, insert their letter between two of the pages and then open it to that place and read what was written.
It was a detailed explanation of different aspects of the commandment of …circumcision!
Absolutely nothing to do with his problem! Maybe he should try again.
But then he caught himself. If this is where the book opened, then maybe this is the answer! After all, we are supposed to believe that there are no accidents and to try to see the good in everything. So, the next day he returned to the Kaddishim’s shop with the book and read the Rebbe’s reply.
Their faces went blank. Circumcision? What has that got to do with being short? How could circumcision help? It’s ridiculous!! The boy had already been circumcised when he was a baby!
“By a proper Mohel?” the Rabbi asked, grasping for straws. (The one cutting the foreskin must be a Rabbi and a properly certified expert called a ‘ Mohel’) “Was it done by a Rabbi?”
Suddenly Mrs. K’doshim began to stammer. “Well, sort of. That is. It certainly. . err. what difference does it. .”
After an uncomfortable silence her husband continued. “When he was born in France, before we moved to Israel our friends convinced us that it was primitive and crude to have a Rabbi do it. And they’re right! So, we had the doctor at the hospital make the circumcision sterilized, under anesthetic. But what does that have to do with his height?! Excuse me Rabbi. Thanks for the help, but I think maybe we should forget it.”
But Rabbi Borochov stood firm. “Listen, we have to be sure that he has a proper circumcision. Don’t worry, it can easily be fixed. It probably wouldn’t require any more than drawing a pin-sized drop of blood. It has to be done according to the Torah. It won’t cost money. A lot of older people are doing it etc. etc.”
After a half hour they finally agreed. The Rabbi even set up an appointment in a week’s time with an organization called ‘Brit Yosef Yitzchak’ in Jerusalem; in a large, modern medical facility dedicated to circumcising older people (originally established for the thousands of Russian Jews who want to return to Judaism.)
They only lacked one detail; their son. When he heard the idea he looked at them with wide eyes and announced that, in his opinion, they all were insane.
What possible connection could there be between his height and this?! Not only that, he wasn’t religious, he didn’t care what the Lubavitcher Rebbe said, especially in some randomly opened book, he certainly had no desire to have another ‘ brit’, he had suffered enough already and he wanted them to leave him alone!!
But a few months later he suddenly changed his mind and agreed. And although when they visited Rabbi Amit, he examined him and decided that it would be necessary to perform almost a complete circumcision anew, nevertheless the boy agreed to do it and the date for the circumcision was set.
Meanwhile Rabbi Borochov became so involved in other things that he completely forgot the entire incident.
Four years later he was walking in a shopping center when he heard someone call his name.
“Rabbi Borochov! Helloo there!!”He turned around and there was Mr. Kedoshim.
“Rabbi, do you remember me? You were at my garage several years ago, you convinced me to buy Tefillin. Do you remember now? My wife does the welding? Remember?” he said as he pumped the Rabbi’s hand. “Good to see you!!! How are you? Good to see you Rabbi!”
“Of course! Hello! K’doshim, right?” Rabbi Borochov answered.
“How are you? How is your wife? Hey! Tell me, what is with your son? Did he make the Brit Mila?”
“Ahhh! Of course!!” Mr. K’doshim lifted his open hands to heaven and exclaimed. “Ah! Thank G-d! Oy! Right! It was you!! Wow! I forgot! Rabbi, you won’t believe it.
He made the Brit like you wanted, and a few months afterward he started to grow. Now he is huge! Taller than you, Rabbi! He is in the engineering corps in the army – a real fighter! He’s religious now also. You should see him. Sor ry we didn’t call you but we simply forgot.”
Rabbi Borochov told me that shortly thereafter they invited him to their son’s graduation party and what they said was true, the ‘boy’ was fifty pounds heavier and a full head higher than he.

This answers our questions about Abraham and Circumcision.

The uniqueness of the Jewish people is not that they are more powerful or popular than the other races or religions. The Torah even calls us the smallest of nations (Deut. 7:7).
Rather, the uniqueness of the Jews is that they are ‘chosen’ and eternal. They are chosen to represent the Infinite Creator in this finite creation.

That is why the Torah, the Jewish people and the Commandments have withstood the trials and tribulations of persecutions, expulsions and tragedies of almost 4,000 years; Because the Jews are eternal.
This was all begun by Abraham. He was the first to have self-sacrifice and actually risk his life to advertise that the Creator loves and has a plan for the creation in its every detail.
This paved the way for the Torah to be given at Sinai.
And through the commandment of circumcision Abraham passed down this self-sacrifice to all his offspring: engraved in their PHYICAL BODIES and in their souls.
That is the reason for the additional letter “hey” in Avram’s name. ‘Hey, the last letter of G-d’s ‘name’, represents revelation and coming ‘down’ of high things in low places.
“Avram” meant “high intelligence” but with the added ‘letter’ it brought this ‘down’ to mean “The father of all humanity.”  Abraham, and the Jewish people after him, became responsible for the entire world.
Similarly, both circumcision and the Land of Israel bring the covenant of G-d into the physical body and the physical earth to become the source of blessing and meaning in this ‘low’ world.
Just as in our story the Brit Mila actually brought material blessing to the boy’s physical body!
This is what will happen with the arrival of Moshiach.
Then, and only then, will we see the fulfillment of all G- d’s promises to Abraham. The Jews will be the ‘Fathers of all Mankind’ (see Rashi 17:5). G-d will circumcise everyone’s hearts (Deut. 30:1) and, like the boy in our story, the world will be blessed PHYSICALLY.
As Maimonides writes in the end of his ‘Yad HaChazaka’, “In the days of Moshiach there will be no hunger or war, no jealousy or strife. The world will only want to know G- d, therefore the Jews will be filled with the wisdom of G-d.”
And the Lubavitcher Rebbes showed the way. From their writings called ‘Chassidut’ (see your local Chabad House for details) we can learn how we can do everything possible to fulfill the goal of the Jewish people; ‘circumcise our hearts” (Deut. 10:16)

And it should happen any moment now.

We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish faith, hopes, prayers and suffering. Now it could be that just one more good deed, word or even good thought, can tilt the scales with ….
Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

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