Reconciling the Rambam: Father's Mitzvah vs. Beis Din's Achrayus in Milah (Part 2)

This shiur continues the effort to reconcile the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s seemingly contradictory positions in the Pirush HaMishnayos and the Yad Chazaka regarding the obligation of milah. In the Pirush HaMishnayos, the Rambam says that the father and beis din are "over" (transgress) every day they fail to circumcise, while in the Yad he states that only the son transgresses daily, whereas the father and beis din only transgress if they never perform the milah at all. The shiur resolves this apparent contradiction by introducing a fundamental distinction between two types of mitzvos in milah. The Rambam holds that there are two separate dinim in milah: (1) the father's unique mitzvah (מצוה) of Yom HaShmini—a mitzvah that can only be fulfilled on the eighth day and is lost forever afterward—and (2) the ongoing achrayus (responsibility) that begins after Yom HaShmini and applies to the father, beis din, and indeed every Jew who encounters an uncircumcised child. When the Rambam says "over" in the Pirush HaMishnayos, he means the father and beis din transgress their achrayus obligation every time they have an opportunity to circumcise and fail to do so. However, they do not "mevatel" (nullify) the mitzvah unless they never do it at all. The son, by contrast, has a new mitzvah of milah every single day, which is why he is mevatel a mitzvah each day he remains uncircumcised.