Perfecting G-d’s Creation (LECH LECHA)

By RABBI DAVID POLSKY, Congregation Anshe Sfard

Circumcision may reasonably be viewed as sacrilege. After all, removing the baby’s foreskin tampers with God’s creation. By commanding Abraham to circumcise himself, God rejects this manner of seeing the world. Although He proclaims His creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31), He nonetheless leaves it imperfect so that we can complete it. God expresses this idea to Abraham by telling him to circumcise himself to become “complete” (Genesis 17:1). The underlying message is that we cannot accept suffering and other problems in the world as “natural.” Rather, God asks us to repair His creation for the better.