If a baby is ill, he is not circumcised until seven days after

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1 Lech Lecha This week's article addresses the issue of a postponed Bris. What are the circumstances in which a Bris is postponed, and for how long does one wait? Which takes precedence: a Bris performed on the eighth day, or a postponed Bris? In which are the halachos of a postponed Bris different from those of a regular Bris? These questions, and others, are discussed in this week's article. This week's Q & A addresses the question of using the canopy of a stroller on Shabbos. The Laws of a Postponed Bris Our parashah includes the commandment of Bris Milah, which was given to Avraham and his offspring (Bereishis Chap. 17). The Rambam cites the verses of our parashah in his opening to the laws of Milah: "Milah is a positive mitzvah, for which one is liable for the punishment of kareis, as it is written, "an uncircumcised male, who does not circumcise the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his nation." As mentioned in our parashah, and as the Torah writes in Parashas Tazria, the time for the mitzvah of Bris Milah is the eighth day after the infant's birth: "On the eighth day you shall circumcise the flesh of his foreskin" (Vayikra 12:3). This is ruled by the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 262:1): "He is not circumcised until the sun rises on the eighth day after his birth. The entire day is valid for the mitzvah of Milah. However, in some cases the Bris is performed after the eighth day. In this case the Milah is termed milah shelo bizmanah, a delayed circumcision. In this article will will seek to clarify the laws of a delayed circumcision, and investigate how it differs from an ordinary Bris. Circumstances which Cause a Delayed Circumcision Dear Reader! Avraham Avinu, our first Forefather, combined two central traits. One is the trait of Emunah, faith. As the Rambam describes (Avodah Zarah, Chap. 1), Avraham was the first, in a world steeped in idolatry, to discover the unity of Hashem in the world. So strong was his faith, that Avraham was prepared to sacrifice his own son for it. Thus he became the pillar of faith for the nation of Israel. The other is the trait of Chesed, kindness. Avraham was the epitome of kindness. The hospitality he showed to the three angelic guests that visited him remains the quintessential act of kindness, defining the meaning of Chesed for generations to come. The verse itself attests: "Give truth unto Yaakov, kindness unto Avraham." Avraham effectively combined the two traits during his lifetime. When his guests wished to thank him for his hospitality, he used to tell them that in place If a baby is ill, he is not circumcised until seven days after

2 of thanking him, they should thank Hashem, the true source of all things. The kindness and faith of Avraham went together. Yet, what is the inner connection between the two traits? Why is it befitting that the personification of Chesed should be accompanied by the personification of Emunah? The answer to this question emerges from the definition of the two concepts. The idea of Chesed refers to the breaking of boundaries. An invisible partition separates between one may and his fellow. The concept of Chesed is the breaking of the partition, the penetration of one person into the other's life, going past the separating wall in bringing him goodness and bounty. Chesed with Hashem, as befitting the chasid, means going beyond the letter of the law beyond the boundary of shuras ha-din. We go beyond the line to fulfill the inner will of Hashem. Emunah, too, involves the breaking of boundaries. This world is places into darkness by a partition that divides it from the brilliance of the worlds above. The power of faith is the power to go past the partition, to break through the boundary and to allow the light of Hashem to penetrate the darkness of the world. Avraham, in his very essence, was somebody who broke boundaries. Chazal say that Avraham was called Ivri because he broke away 2 his recovery from the illness. This halachah, whose source is in the Gemara (Yevamos 71a), is ruled by the Shulchan Aruch (262:2): "A sick baby is not circumcised until he recovers, and seven full days must pass from the time of his recovery until the Bris is performed." The Rambam (Milah 1:18) explains that a sick baby is not circumcised: a Bris can be performed later, but a life cannot be brought back. The Shulchan Aruch explains that only for an illness of the entire body must seven days be counted before the Bris is performed. If only one of the baby's limbs is affected, the circumcision is performed as soon as the baby recovers. In defining which illnesses are included in the category of an illness of the entire body, the Aruch Hashulchan (Yoreh De'ah 263:4) explains that in cases of doubt whether or not an illness affects the entire body, doctors should be consulted if we rely on them for matters of eating on Yom Kippur and for violating Shabbos, surely we must rely on them for the timing of the Bris. We will not discuss the halachic status of different illness in this article. Many conditions are discussed in Nishmas Avraham, and of course, in practical situations one should always consult with both doctors and halachic experts. A baby with high fever (38.0 Celsius/100.4 Farenheit) is considered ill, and a full week must pass from the time of recovery until the Bris is performed. According to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, a baby with slightly lower fever (37.5C/99.5F) is considered only partially ill, and although the Bris must be delayed until the fever goes down, there is no need to wait a week from the time of recovery. Delaying a Postponed Bris One of the central questions concerning a late Bris is whether or not it is permitted to delay the Bris further. After the Bris has been delayed past the eighth day, is one permitted to plan the Bris for a desired day, or must it be performed at the first opportunity? The Noda Biyhuda (Tinyana, Yoreh De'ah 166) discusses the question of a baby whose Bris was delayed due to Questions in all areas of halacha can be submitted to the rabbanim of our Beis Horaah at

3 illness. Upon his recovery, the father wished to postpone the Bris until Erev Pesach to enable firstborns to participate in the se'udah of the Bris and be exempt from fasting. The Noda Biyhuda rules that even for a postponed Bris, it is forbidden to delay the Bris further. In addition to the basic prohibition of delaying the Bris from one day to the next, he adds that one must be concerned lest the child die, and the mitzvah will be entirely annulled. He goes so far as to prohibit performance of the Bris on Erev Pesach, for fear that people will delay a Bris for this purpose. The principle established by the Noda Biyhuda that each day is the time for the Bris and it is therefore forbidden to delay the Bris without medical need, is supported by the wording of the Rambam (Milah 1:2): "When he grows up he must circumcise himself, and each day that passes after he has grown up without him circumcising himself is a transgression of a positive mitzvah." According to the Rambam, the punishment of kares stated with regard to Milah is limited to somebody who dies without circumcising himself. The Raavad (loc. cit.), however, writes that the punishment applies on any day that a person's fails to circumcise himself. Which Baby Comes First The Devar Avraham (Vol. 1, no. 33) writes that to postpone a Bris, not only does a person transgress a prohibition in delaying the Milah from day to day, but there is even a prohibition to delay the Bris during a particular day. Since the eighth day has already elapsed, there is no longer a daily obligation to perform the circumcision, but rather the obligation is constant and applies each and every moment of each day. There is, therefore, an obligation to perform the Milah as early as possible. The wording of the Rambam in his Commentary to the Mishnah (Shabbos 19:7) appears to express this position: "There is no exemption from the mitzvah after the eighth day passes; rather, he is constantly instructed and obligated to circumcise him." The novel ruling of the Devar Avraham was given in response to the question of which of two babies takes from everybody else: He was on one side, and everybody else on the other. He broke through a boundary that nobody else could see past. Thus, he embodied both Chesed and Emunah, both kindness and faith. In the first of the Ten Commandments the Torah instructs us to break through the partition between man and Hashem: "I am Hashem, your G-d." In the instruction to "love your neighbor as yourself" the Torah commands us to break through the partition between man and his fellow. Both concepts are taught us by Avraham. The winter months are a time of partitions. We sit alone, surrounded by the walls of our home. We dwell in the darkness, among the dark walls of long winter nights. At the same time, the winter is a time of planting, of sowing the seeds for a bright future. As the Rambam continues, Avraham sowed the seeds for the future nation. His seeds were seeds of faith, and seeds of kindness. These are the seeds that we, too, must seek to plant within ourselves, and within our world, breaking the boundaries that separate between one may and his fellow, and between man and his G-d. Just as the world was created for Avraham, so it is created for those who follow in his footsteps. In the winter months ahead, let us strive to do so. Questions in all areas of halacha can be submitted to the rabbanim of our Beis Horaah at 3

4 precedence in performing a Bris: a baby who is being circumcised on the eighth day, or an an older infant who is having a postponed Bris. The Pischei Teshuvah (Yoreh De'ah 265:9) cites the Yad Eliyahu and Bris Avrohom that the Bris on the eighth day takes precedence, for Hashem cherishes mitzvos that are performed at their designated time. However, the Devar Avraham writes that, on the contrary, the postponed Bris should be performed first. With regard to an eighthday Bris, the Torah designates the entire day for the Milah and, other than the virtue of zerizus (diligence in performing mitzvos), there is no problem in delaying the Bris. For a postponed Bris however, delaying the Milah is more stringent. Once the baby is capable of undergoing the Bris, every delayed moment involves a transgression. The Devar Avraham therefore concludes that the postponed Bris takes precedence, and adds that in every case of a postponed Bris, the Milah should be performed as soon as possible and should not be delayed because of guests living far away. Rav Chaim of Brisk is quoted (in Hagadas Volozin, p. 162) as having qualified the ruling of the Devar Avraham. In his view, the prohibition of delaying the Bris is limited to a person who must perform his own circumcision (This occurs when a post-bar mitzva male is not yet circumcised.) For the Bris of a baby boy (which is performed by the baby's father) the special stringency does not apply, and an eighth-day Bris therefore takes precedence to that of an older infant. The Rulings of the Magen Avraham The ruling of the Devar Avraham, who lived in the first half of the twentieth century, is also found in earlier sources. Shut Teshuvah 4 Me-Ahavah (Vol. 1, no. 85) writes that "a postponed Bris is more stringent than a regular Bris, for the time for a regular Bris is the entire eighth day whereas the time for a postponed Bris is at every moment." In support of this position, the Teshuvah Me- Ahavah cites a ruling of the Magen Avraham. Although a celebratory feast must not, in general, be conducted on Friday, the Rema (249:2) rules that a meal whose fixed time falls on Friday can (and should) be held on time. The Magen Avraham (249:5) adds that this applies even to the meal of a postponed Bris, because "its time is at every moment." According to the Teshuvah Me-Ahavah, this implies that the obligation is constant, and not daily. This ruling seems to contradict a different ruling of the Magen Avraham concerning the laws of burning chametz. If a person who is on his way to perform a Bris for his son recalls that he has not yet burned his chametz and he is unable to annul the chametz in his heart (because it is too late in the day for this to be possible) the Magen Avraham (as cited by the Mishnah Berurah 444:29) rules that he should go back to burn his chametz, even though he will be unable to perform the Bris before Pesach. The reason for this is that "the positive mitzvah of destroying chametz is more severe, for a person transgresses it each moment, which is not the case for Milah." This implies that unlike chametz on Pesach, delaying a postponed Bris does not involve a constant transgression. The Machatzis Hashekel notes the apparent contradiction in the rulings of the Magen Avraham. The contradiction can be resolved by explaining that in his ruling concerning the festive meal on Friday, the Magen Avraham does not mean to explain that the time Questions in all areas of halacha can be submitted to the rabbanim of our Beis Horaah at

5 for the Bris is every moment, but only that the time is every day, and therefore the meal should not be delayed from Friday. The Mishnah Berurah (Shaar Hatzion 24), however, suggests that although the time for a postponed Bris is every moment, the transgression is erased once the child is circumcised. This does not apply to chametz on Pesach, for the transgression of keeping chametz cannot be nullified by eliminating the chametz. It should be noted that the custom is to perform a Bris as soon as possible, but not to the extent that is required by the Devar Avraham, and a postponed Bris is generally treated just like a regular Bris. Timing of a Postponed Bris The Taz rules (Yoreh De'ah 262:3, based on the Bedek Habayis) that a postponed Bris should not be performed on Thursday, because the third day after the Bris is particularly painful, and one must avoid causing the infant pain on Shabbos. The Taz adds that the same ruling applies to Friday, for there is even greater pain on the second day. Yet Rabbi Akiva Eiger questions this reasoning from the wording of the Bedek Habayis, who writes (citing the Tashbatz) that when the baby recovers on Thursday, a postponed Bris is delayed until the morrow which surely refers to Friday! The Tashbatz (Vol. 1, no. 21, as cited in the Beis Yosef 268) adds that the Milah should not be performed on Thursday, because this is liable to cause a violation of Shabbos in treating the baby, in order to avoid danger. This principle is likewise ruled by the Birkei Yosef, who adds that the baby should not be circumcised on Friday, for all three days after the Bris are considered dangerous for the infant. The Ben Ish Chai (Rav Pe'alim 4:28) rules that an infant should not be circumcised on Thursday or on Friday, and adds that this was the clear custom in his town (Baghdad). Other authorities write that it is permitted to perform a postponed Bris on Thursday, and the mitzvah is not postponed further. This is the ruling of the Shach (Yoreh De'ah 267:18), who mentions that this is the ruling of the majority of authorities. This is also ruled by the Magen Avraham (331:9), who adds that only rarely does a violation of the Shabbos result from this. This ruling is also cited by the Mishnah Berurah (331:33), and it is the clear custom today to perform a postponed Bris whenever the child is ready, even on Thursday or Friday (Otzar Ha-Bris Chap. 9, no. 6, sec. 27). Further Details of the Timing Tana'im dispute whether a postponed Bris may be performed at night or whether it must be performed during the day, just as a regular Bris. The halachah (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 262) follows the latter opinion. A postponed Bris may not be performed on Shabbos or Yom Tov, and if the baby recovers on Shabbos, the Bris is performed on Sunday. Rishonim discuss whether or not a Bris can be performed on Yom Tov Sheini (since the prohibition of labor is only rabbinic), and although the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch is to be stringent (266:8), the Shach (8) permits the Bris to be performed on Yom Tov Sheini. The Noda Biyhuda (Orach Chaim 50) writes that the Bris should not be performed on Yom Tov Sheini, but one does not need to object to those who do so. Questions in all areas of halacha can be submitted to the rabbanim of our Beis Horaah at 5

6 c Halachic Responsa d to Questions that have been asked on our website dinonline.org Question: When it is raining on Shabbos, can one use the attached hood of a stroller to block out the rain for a child? The hood is attached but can move (it can be stretched out and can also be moved forward to block wind), so the hood could block the child s head or could be used to block the front of a child leaving the head exposed. If one can use the hood, can one move the hood of the stroller to block out the rain and wind of the child s body, and then put a towel on top of the exposed place of the hood so no rain falls on the child head at all? Answer: Some permit the use of an attached roof of a stroller on Shabbos. Although this creates an ohel, a (temporary) canopy, which is prohibited on Shabbos, in this case there is room for leniency, based on a ruling of the Rema (Hilchos Succah, Orach Chaim 626:3) which states that it is permitted to open and shut hinged flaps that are used for covering the sukkah when raining. The rationale is that because the flaps are made to open and shut, their use is defined as opening and closing a door, and not to creating an ohel (see also Beis Yosef 315). The Chazon Ish (Orach Chaim 52:6) extrapolated from here it is similarly permitted to open a canopy connected to a stroller. Since the canopy is attached to the stroller before Shabbos, and is made to open and close, it is permitted to open it on Shabbos. This is the ruling cited by Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa (24:13). Other authorities, however, cast doubt over this heter, and do not permit the opening of the roof of a stroller that was not opened before Shabbos (see Minchas Yitzchak 10:26; while not clearly adopting a stringent stance, Iggros Moshe, Orach Chaim 4, p. 194, writes that the custom seems to be to be stringent). This stringency is based on the wording of a number of poskim, who only permit the opening and closing of a cover/canopy where there is no intention to create an ohel (see Shulchan Aruch Harav 315:15). An actual door on hinges, even if it serves as a canopy, is different according to these opinions, because it is not defined as a canopy but as a door. This is also the ruling given by Badei Hashulchan (120:8). To ensure that it is permitted to open the roof according to all opinions, one should leave a tefach (a little less than 10cm, depending on different opinions) of the roof open from before Shabbos. This will permit the full opening of the roof on Shabbos (Shulchan Aruch 315:2). The roof cannot be disconnected and re-connected, but it can be moved while still connected to the stroller, and this is not considered creating a new ohel. 6 Questions in all areas of halacha can be submitted to the rabbanim of our Beis Horaah at