No Jew in Central Florida Need Go Without a Bris
The Orlando Jewish community rejoiced as little Joseph received his bris ritual circumcision, a celebration entering him into a covenant with God. This ritual has been practiced ever since God commanded Abraham the first Jew: “This is My covenant that you shall observe between Me and you and your children after you, to circumcise your every male.”
In fact our sages say that this commandment is considered to be the greatest of all the commandments.
God is essentially telling the Jewish people to make a covenant, a bond with Him as a sign that will become part of the individual for ever—by circumcising every Jewish male.
Perhaps, this is the reason for the steadfast commitment by the Jewish people to this mitzvah even under harsh circumstances and religious persecution as witnessed most recently in the time of communist Russia and Nazi Germany.
Yes, there may be some bizarre challenges in our very own “land of the free” as some are trying to ban bris milah in San Francisco—the good news is, it is also the “home of the brave,” and Jews fit right in with that.
Moshe, the great Jewish leader, called his people a “stiff-necked nation,” the positive quality of that is we will never compromise on our core faith and traditions.
However, today with the terrible economic environment plaguing this great country, many are facing an unprecedented challenge of not having the means to arrange a proper traditional bris.
When little Joseph was born, his mother—like many Americans—found herself without a job and did not have the ability to arrange a bris. She contacted Rabbi Yanky Majesky, the director of Chabad Lubavitch of North Orlando, for help. He also is affiliated with the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch movement. Majesky joined forces with Rabbi Levi Heber, a mohel and coordinator of the International Bris Association, to make sure that her newborn son would join millions of Jews around the world in the covenant of Abraham.
Heber has personally performed thousands of circumcisions around the world and through the IBA has helped arrange for many a proper bris—an everlasting blessing.
