Part I | The reason for Brit Milah

The word Brit means "covenant" and the word Milah means "circumcision". Circumcision is that which permanently establishes a covenant between G-d and the Jew. (A Jewish female is born already circumcised, so to speak, possessing this holy sign within her from the moment of birth.)

G-d wanted to permanently affix a symbol on the bodies of the people He chose to be called by His name. Circumcision was designated as the symbol of this covenant, being that this is the source from which the perpetuation of the species emanates.

One might ask: If G-d desired that all males be circumcised, why then did He not simply create the human being already circumcised?

The answer to that is as follows: The reason G-d does not create the human being complete already in the mother’s womb, is in order to indicate that just as the physical aspects of the body can be perfected by human deeds (such as circumcision), so too is it within the person’s ability to perfect the soul by correcting oneself spiritually through the covenant of circumcision.

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