Bris Milah and the Common Thread of Sanctity.
                                       By Moshe Burt

In preparing this vort on our Parsha Lech Lecha, I endeavour to show a relationship between the parsha and my first ever Siyum, which I am giving on Mesechta Megillah this Shabbos by Seudah Shlish't.  This relationship is discussed in light of the continued imprisonment of Jonathan Pollard, government harrassment and persecution of Land of Israel lovers and the latest Sharon government mishugas: the first vote on 26 October in Knesset for the "disengagement" aka expulsion of Jews from their homes and from their land in Gush Katif and from the 4 Shomron towns.  That date is also the day after Behab (Behab is an ancient custom dating back to the Beit HaMikdash where Tzaddikim fast on Monday, Thursday and the following Monday to atone for the possibility that they may have acted frivolously and sinned during the Chaggim of eating and drinking.). 

Just a note here, that, we at Beis Tefillah will, IY'H be saying Selichos before davening on Monday so as to reach Shemayim, and in the hope of affecting a Divine end to the gezeirot rah against the Jews being contemplated by the current government of Israel.

It may sound redundant to say that the common thread in Mesechta Megillah is sanctity - kodesh - l'kadeish - holiness.   For sanctity is the common thread flowing throughout Torah, Gemura, Mishna, the Rishonim, the Achronim, etc. infinitum and throughout all Jewish religious text.

Mesechta Megillah covers the designation of the day of Purim in both walled and unwalled cities as well as differences in purchasing/selling terms for property in walled and unwalled cities, the definition or designation of a walled city, The Purim story, the designation of the dating of the chaggim, Purim and the run-up to Pesach both in a regular year and in a year where there is an Adar Bet, the order of K'riyat HaTorah and the levels of sanctity of religious property and articles.

Before we can talk about Purim, the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael, the aspects of sanctity which permeate Mesechta Megillah, it is important to contemplate the root of holiness, the Bris Milah of Avraham Aveinu.  So it is much more than coincidence that Hashem's "vast eternal plan" brought me to be giving a Siyum on Mesechta Megillah on the very Shabbos that we commemorate Avraham Aveinu's Bris Milah, for Bris milah lays the foundation for the sanctity of being a Jew in his land.  Without Bris Milah, there is no Purim, no walled cities, no Chaggim, no religious property or articles, surely no Sefer Torah Recycling Network and no Am Yehudi.

And it seems that the Jew separates and distinguishes himself from the rest of the nations through the Mitzvah of Bris Milah, even though many of our contemporary Jewish brothers would distance themselves from, or stand in denial of their Yiddishkeit.  Many among our Jewish brethren would deny Hashem's control of the world and seek to tailor Torah and their Jewishness to fit the ways of the nations rather than accepting Hashem's reishut (command) over the world.   For those Jews, it's an imperative to revisit the Mitzri memory (or lack thereof) of Yosef and to contrast the dialogue between Haman and Achashveirosh -- Haman's top 10 reasons for seeking the annihilation of the Jews as found in Daf (page)13, amud(side)Bet, 4 with the contemporary Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany.

Shem Mishuel cites a Midrash on Bris Milah in the context of the posuk "Avraham took Yismael his son and all of the males born in his household".  (Breish't 47:7)

He then quotes Rabbi Ayvu as saying "When Avraham circumcised the males of his household, they  made a pile of foreskins.  The sun shone upon them and they putrified.  Their odor went up to G'd just like the incense and the burnt offering, which is totally consumed by fire.  G'd said, 'When their children sin and perform wicked acts, I will recall this smell for them, and I will be filled with mercy for them, and I will act mercifully.'"

Rashi explains that a hidden meaning of the Ketores (the incense) is that it represents all of the Mitzvot of the Torah.  The Torah's numerical value is 613 -- the Total number of Torah Mitzvot -- 248 positive Mitzvot and 365 prohibitions -- encompassing the entire gamut of good and bad in life.  And so we learn that the Ketores included the foul-smelling spice called Chelbenah (galbanum) whose absence invalidates the entire compound.  This represents the symbolic, all-encompassing purpose of the compound, that Ketores demanded that all elements of Klal Yisrael be represented, even the bad ones.  Therefore, the Ketores rose above the mundane, it took both the Tzaddikim and everyone else, including the most wicked person, into Hashem's spiritual domain.  (Shem Mishmuel on Lech Lecha Pg.26)

May our Ketores, our sanctity, our learning, chessed, midos, etc., with all of the imperfections, be acceptable to Hashem.

May it be in this new year that our brethren in Gush Katif as well as our dear brother, Jonathan Pollard and our brethren currently subject to police harrassment, political interogation and political persecution be central in our thoughts, prayers and actions.  May the Gezeirot Rah end, the Socialists evaporate and may we be zocha the moment when Jonathan Pollard is finally home among his brethren who care deeply about him.  May we be zocha in this coming year take giant steps toward fulfilling Hashem's blueprint of B'nai Yisrael as a Unique people -- an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with "the nations."

May we be zocha the Moshiach, the Ge'ula Shlaima, "Yom Hashem V'Kol HaGoyim", the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v'yameinu -- speedily, in our time", -- Immediately; Achshav, Chik Chuk, Meiyad, Etmol!!!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of the Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.