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Why did Hashem (ה׳) make a covenant specifically with Avrohom and not with earlier tzaddikim like Noah? The shiur develops a fundamental distinction: Noah remained in constant internal struggle between his drives and his righteousness, requiring divine support, while Avrohom achieved inner harmony by subordinating the physical to the spiritual. Bris Milah represents this covenant of wholeness—the body serving spiritual aims without denial or tension.
Rabbi Zweig opens by examining why the covenant of Bris Milah was established specifically with Avrohom Avinu and not with earlier righteous figures like Noah or Shem, despite their evident tzidkus and efforts to influence others toward serving Hashem (ה׳). He cites Rabbeinu Bechaye who notes that Avrohom was the first to truly proclaim Hashem's unity and stir people to serve Him, yet this seems puzzling given Noah's 120-year effort building the ark to inspire teshuva (תשובה) and Shem's yeshiva. The shiur introduces several foundational questions about Bris Milah: Why do we celebrate this mitzvah (מצוה) with a seudah (feast) when other mitzvos receive no such celebration? Why did the Midrash state that without Avrohom accepting this mitzvah, Hashem would return the world to tohu vavohu (void and chaos)? Why does Bris Milah save a person from Gehinnom? And what is the unifying thread connecting the three gifts promised through this mitzvah—Malchus Beis Dovid (Davidic monarchy), eternal possession of Eretz Yisrael, and the divine presence resting among Israel?
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Parshas Vaeira - Bris Milah
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