Rabbi Knopf's Blog

The Talmud teaches that 30 days before Passover, we should start learning about the holiday and its meaning. In that spirit, I humbly offer "30 Days of Liberation." For each of the next 30 days, I will offer a brief message drawn from the wisdom of Passover. I hope you find these messages meaningful and inspiring. Feel free to share/forward.

30 Days of Liberation: Day 8

After God asks Moses to lead the people out of bondage, Moses begins the journey from his home in Midian back to Egypt. Something strange happens on the way: God tries to kill Moses! God was angry that Moses had left without circumcising his newborn son. The story underscores the “paramount importance of the institution of circumcision and the surpassing seriousness of its neglect” (JPS). Indeed, according to rabbinic tradition, “the survival and redemption of Israel was assured because of the two mitzvot,” Passover and circumcision. Why these two things? Because they represent our body and soul. Without the soul, the body is just a machine. But without a body, a soul is but a ghost. Without Jewish wisdom and tradition, embodied by Passover, there can be no living Jewish people. But without flesh-and-blood Jewish people, symbolized by circumcision, there can be no container for Jewish values. We cannot sacrifice people for values any more than we can trade values for people. Our redemption requires both. For what it’s worth, the one who ultimately intuits this truth is not Moses, it’s Zipporah, making women once again our greatest teachers and redeemers.

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