Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

QUARTERLY REVIEW, WINTER 1984
his ability, to distance himself from the matter in which one sinned
and to change one's name . . . (Laws of Penitence 2:4).
The new name of the penitent points to the totally new creation the
penitent has become. The rending of covenantal bonds caused by the
disobedience of the sinner is repaired by repentance. In the Jewish
tradition even more than that occurs. Repentance out of love turns
past faults into merits. The very reality of time and space is changed
and everything is created anew. "Yesterday the sinner was separated
from the God of Israel; he prayed and was not answered and
performed commanded acts, and they were rejected. Today, the
penitent cleaves to God, prays and receives immediate response,
performs the commandments, and is received with joy and pleasure"
(Laws of Penitence 7:7). Indeed, "one who changes his name changes
his fortune," and the new name is always a joyous one if the new path
chosen links one to God.
As we read Gen. 17:15-19 we recognize that the aged Abraham cannot
believe in being created anew. His hundred years and the ninety
of Sarah weigh heavily on him. The miracle of daily re-creation, new
covenants, new names must compete with the reality of the years and
their pains. It will be enough if Ishmael will live, says Abraham. But
God responds, "Nay, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son!" (Gen.
17:19). We, too, become disillusioned—some would say "experienced,"
worldly-wise—and we are willing to settle for what is. We do
not share the vision of the world as our Partner sees it: new each day
and filled with opportunity, open to repair and perfection if we but
will and act as if it were so.
This is why the covenant as it will be observed through all the
generations of Israel is sealed in Isaac's flesh: "And Abraham
circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had
commanded him" (Gen. 21:4, compare Gen. 17:12). Isaac, child of
laughter, son of a new-old couple, new hope in the face of jaded
experience, is himself a new creation. Seven days must pass in his life
and in the life of every Jewish male child before the covenant of
circumcision will be observed. This signifies God's role in the creation
of the world which took seven days. Circumcision takes place on the
eighth day as a sign of the human role in shaping new life and new
worlds (compare Kiddushin 30b). The mind and heart of a newborn
are a tabula rasa ready to be shaped and formed toward the making of a
better world, toward striving for better values, toward bringing the
redemption. When we continue the covenant in our children's lives,
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