Parsha Tazria – Bris Milah
This past Sunday, I attended a seudas bris for Mark Cohen, a 22-year-old resident of Riverdale who is currently a student at NYU in the city. Aryeh, the name Mark chose for himself, is a Jew who grew up catholic, almost completely devoid of any Yiddishkeit, and for the last 2 years has been connecting to his Jewish roots through the amazing organization MEOR, which is where I was introduced to him.
Over that time Aryeh has taken meaningful and significant steps to develop his relationship with Hashem and grow as a Jew. When Aryeh was born, the doctor in the hospital circumcised him, but since a bris needs to be performed by a Jew, it didn’t count. When he learned about the beautiful mitzvah of bris milah, like a lion, he made the powerful decision to have it done right. At approximately 1:45pm on Sunday afternoon, “Aryeh”, his mother, and 2 friends, Daniel and Josh, came to Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim and were joined by a group of talmidim, some of their wives and children, to celebrate this unbelievable accomplishment. Aryeh’s face was glowing with simcha as we danced together and when he spoke about his journey that brought him to that day. The bris was performed by Rabbi Don Pacht and made extra special by the presence of Rabbi Dovid Chait, who also graced us with an unbelievable perspective about the message of bris milah. I was very inspired by the message and wanted to share it with you.
Rabbi Chait’s Story
Rabbi Chait’s father-in-law was a man by the name of Mr. Kalman Mandel. As a young man Mr. Mandel lived in Czechoslovakia. When the war broke out many of the local Jews were sent to Auschwitz to be killed. Because Mr. Mandel had blonde hair and blue eyes, his identity as a Jew was hidden and was left alone. All was “good” until one day he was ratted out to the Czech police and was arrested. The police who had arrested him were uncertain as well if he was a Jew but when they saw that he had a bris, they were ready to send him to be gassed. Hashem made a “nes” and Mr. Mandel convinced the police to send him to a labor camp instead. He survived the war and built a huge beautiful torahdik family. Rabbi Chait was highlighting how the Bris is a sign of our allegiance to Hashem, and it was that relationship which they were trying to destroy.
Baruch Hashem we go to brisim all the time and have the zechus to perform this mitzvah, but when you hear stories like these they help us appreciate it more!
HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS!
Rabbi Anton
Download the PDF -> Parshas Tazria – Bris Mila