ויאמר אליהם יהי כן ה’ עמכם כאשר אשלח אתכם ואת טפכם ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם
(שמות י’ י’)
רש”י: “ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם… ומדרש אגדה שמעתי כוכב אחד יש ששמו רעה. אמר להם פרעה רואה אני באיצטגנינות שלי אותו כוכב עולה לקראתכם במדבר, והוא סימן דם והריגה וכשחטאו ישראל בעגל ובקש הקדוש ברוך הוא להרגם אמר משה בתפלתו (שמות לב יב) למה יאמרו מצרים לאמר ברעה הוציאם, זו היא שאמר להם ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם, מיד (שם יד) וינחם ה’ על הרעה והפך את הדם לדם מילה…”
Rashi: “See that evil faces you… And I heard a medrash aggadah: There is one star whose name is “רעה”. Pharaoh said to them, ‘I see in my stargazing this star rising up to meet you in the desert, and it signifies blood and murder’. And when Yisroel sinned with the (golden) calf and Hakadosh Baruch Hu sought to kill them, Moshe said in his tefillah, ‘Why should Egypt say with “רעה” (the star) He took them out?’ This is what (Pharaoh) said to them ‘See that “רעה” is facing you’. Immediately: ‘And Hashem reconsidered the רעה’ and switched the blood to the blood of (bris) milah…”
It is always inspiring to hear a derasha about how Man is “כל כולו” – completely – holy. All that is required of us, we are told, is to direct the different facets of our personalities towards good; that is our life’s mission. But the underlying message of the mitzvah of Bris Milah is not so. The human body in its natural form does not need only to be directed; it also needs to be cut. We must create a new “צורת אדם” (lit. form of man) of holiness.
In Egypt, Pharaoh warned Moshe that the star signifying blood awaited Klal Yisroel in the desert. And he was correct: after the sin of the golden calf, his prediction was at risk of being realized, but Hashem substituted the blood of bris milah for the blood of annihilation. These two bloods share more in common than their color.
“כי הדם הוא הנפש” – For the blood it is the life. (Devarim 12:23) Any loss of blood is to some degree a loss of life. Pharoah’s claim was that Klal Yisroel had no place in this world; the צורת האדם of kedusha is destined for blood, death. When, following the sin of the golden calf, Hashem wanted to destroy Yisroel, Moshe argued that this would confirm Pharaoh’s claim, that there can be no צורת האדם of kedusha. Hashem’s response was that indeed, with regards to the צורת האדם in its natural form, Pharaoh was correct. Something “has to go”. But that does not necessitate destruction, but rather a transformation. We can substitute the blood of the bris milah for the blood of death.
This is a “tricky” point in Avodah: knowing when to “cut” and how much. A family member of mine noted that women who dress with extreme modesty (in burkas and the like) actually own very similar viewpoints on the body as those who err to the opposite extreme. They therefore conclude that there is no place for the body at all; it will corrupt and be corrupted by the world, and therefore must be “cut out”. They are not 100% wrong, but the trick is to know what to cut and how much. Instead of merely limiting the “צורת האדם”, our mission is create a “צורת האדם” which has a place in the world.
