[Abhi Garg]

Hi all. I asked Gil a question about circumcision over email and I thought I would share the response here in case it helps anyone else, as well as to add more to my original question.

The question was about the requirement for the male child to be circumcised on the eighth day of life, which is mentioned in the Zohar and the Torah, and what is to be done by people such as myself who do not come from a culture that practices circumcision.

Gil clarified that when the Zohar refers to circumcision, it is referring only to an internal act and has nothing to do with any external act. As we have been told, everything in the Zohar refers only to internal states of being so that makes perfect sense.

A follow-on question from me on this is what is that “internal act” of circumcision that one is required to do? And what is the significance of doing it on the “eighth day”?

Does it have something to do with exercising control over lower (e.g. sexual) impulses?

[Author]

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