Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

143
בלה תובשחמ
then he commanded. He took the bread a little bit of wheat and
went before the king and said to him “My master the king, answer
me truthfully one question before I answer the question you asked
me.” He replied to him, “What do you want?” Rabbi Akiva asked,
“My master the king, which is greater, this bread or this grain?” The
king said to him, “This bread.” Rabbi Akiva responded, “My master
the king, you asked a question of me and you yourself answered
that man’s creations are greater. The wheat is the Creator’s work and
the bread is man’s work. The question you asked me was regarding
circumcision and you were trying to trick me in order to make me
stumble, and now you answered your own question!” The king
replied, “Rabbi Akiva you have answered well, but if so why did the
Holy One Blessed Be He not create man circumcised?” Rabbi Akiva
replied, “If so why did Holy One Blessed Be He not create man with
his umbilical cord already cut, rather man needs to cut it? Because
the Creator did this in order to refine man, as it says, ‘Every word of
God is refined’” (Proverbs 30:5).
This Midrash shows that brit mila is a display of man’s partnership with God in
the process of creation and that in a way, man’s creations are greater then those of
God Himself. However, how can it be that our creations are greater then those of
God? Perhaps it’s because we finish and perfect that which God created. Regarding
wheat, we perfect it by turning it into bread and regarding man himself, we
perfect him through circumcision. God created the raw materials with the intent
that man partner with Him in creating the finished product.
What does this have to do with the covenant that Hashem made with Avraham
that He is going to make him into a great nation? How is circumcision a fulfillment
of the covenant that God made with Avraham and how is it a sign? I would like to
suggest that since circumcision is a physical act of creation, carved into the flesh
of man, there could be no greater reminder of man’s potential greatness promised
by God to Avraham. Perhaps that is why circumcision is done on the eighth day.
Eight represents the concept of me’al ha-teva (above nature). Animals are part of