Mitzvah 2: The commandment to circumcise

The commandment to circumcise: [Parashat] Lekh Lekha [has] one positive commandment, and that is the commandment to circumcise; as it is stated (Genesis 17:10), “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between you and Me, and with your descendants after you, circumcise all males.” And [the commandment] is repeated in the Order of Isha ki Tazria, as it is stated (Leviticus 12:3), “And on the eighth day circumcise the flesh of his foreskin.” There are many commandments which are repeated in many places in the Torah; and all of them are necessary as the Sages explained (Shabbat 132a and Shabbat 135a). And the content of this commandment is that we cut the foreskin that covers the head of the member and then tear the sorting skin which is below it so that the glans of the member will be exposed. As is known to those that understand, the completion of the form of man comes with the removal of this foreskin which is extraneous.

Sefer HaChinukh cites Genesis 17:10.

This is My covenant which you shall keep, between you and Me, and with your descendants after you, circumcise all males.

A corresponding passage could not be identified safely in this source record.

The laws of the commandment - upon whom is the circumcision of infants incumbent, as well as the circumcision of slaves, the homeborn (a Canaanite slave that a maidservant gave birth to in the house of a Jew) and those acquired with money (which means a Canaanite slave that was acquired from when he was born), and the difference between them; in which way is Shabbat and holidays pushed off for it; which infant has his circumcision delayed for more than eight days; and its other details - are [all] elucidated in Chapter Nineteen of Shabbat and in Chapter Four of Yevamot. And there in Shabbat, it is elucidated that the one who circumcises recites the blessing, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the circumcision.” And the father of the child - or the court when there is no father [present] - recites the blessing, “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us to bring him into the covenant of Avraham, our father.” And the ones standing there respond, “Just as he had merit for the circumcision, may God let have him merit for the wedding canopy and for good deeds.” (See Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh Deah 260-266.)

A corresponding passage could not be identified safely in this source record.

• Leviticus 12:3
• Shabbat 132a and Shabbat 135a
• Kiddushin 29a
• Shabbat 133a
• Keritot 2a