Friday, October 26, 2012

Parshat Lech Lecha - Minhagim at a Brit Milah

Just before Shabbat, I wanted to point out two minhagim relating to a Brit Milah that find their roots in our Parsha:

  1. The Matteh Moshe (a student of the Maharsha"l) writes that we wait until just after the Brit Milah to give a baby boy his name because Avraham Avinu received his name (Avraham) after performing his Brit.

  2. After Avraham Avinu performed his Brit Milah, the Torah tells us that Hashem gave him the entire land of Eretz Yisrael. I have seen written in the name of Rav Yaakov Emden that our common practice of giving a gift to the baalei simcha at a Brit has its source in this gift that Hashem gave to Avraham. When we give a gift to the ba'alei simcha, we are mimicking the actions of Hashem who was the first to bring his gift to the very first Brit.

    I have not yet found this R' Yaakov Emden in writing... but when I do I will let you know where you can find it.

Shabbat Shalom