What strength does an infant gain at eight days? The Zohar (3:91) explains that the reason for the eighth day timing of a Brit is to ensure that the baby has experienced a Shabbat before his Brit Milah. The Zohar says that as a consequence of Shabbat "he is touched by the soul of vitality that is infused into the world on Shabbat." The Zohar echoes another Midrash (B.R. 10:9): "Before Shabbat was introduced the universe wobbled and trembled. Once Shabbat was introduced, the universe was reinforced and it rested." The rest to which the Midrash refers, nach, is like a structure that rests on its foundations, it is the rest and tranquility gained from being centered and grounded, not merely the rest of inactivity. Shabbat infused a new and vital energy into the universe: the energy of reinforcement and rest. The Or Hachayim explains, that it is this energy that the baby accesses before his Brit that gives him strength. The strength that Hashem mercifully wants the baby to have is not the strength from having survived for eight days, but rather the energy that he gained from experiencing the sanctity of Shabbat.

Prior to Shabbat, the universe was weak and restless; it wobbled and trembled. Shabbat brought in a new universal energy capable of rectifying wobbles and reinforcing the foundations of strength. Often by the end of a week of frenetic activity we feel in somewhat of a "wobble," ungrounded and uncentered. Shabbat rectifies that feeling. It provides a sense of spiritual, emotional, mental and physical grounding. With that new grounding we feel reinforced, refocused, energized and ready to face a new week. This is the nature of Shabbat. This is the energy on which Hashem wants the infant to draw before his Brit. As little as he is, the newborn manages the trauma of his Brit with more equanimity if he feels inwardly centered after having experienced his first Shabbat.

Strength through clarity of Purpose

How does the Shabbat bring this energy to the world? Shabbat clarifies the purpose of the world, it reaffirms the fact that the world did not haphazardly evolve but was mindfully and masterfully willed and created by Hashem. As such, every blade of grass, every insect bird and animal, and certainly each human being is created with a part to play in creation, with its own unique purpose.

Brit Milah prepares the child to handle the inevitable struggles of life by first clarifying purpose. It "teaches" him to face challenge only after drawing on the forces of Shabbat, the forces of spiritual and emotional strength and of resting on firm foundations of clarity: the clarity of purpose. When a person gains clarity of purpose (even an infant on a subconscious level), they acquire renewed inner strength and see within themselves the kernels of their own potential to fulfill that purpose.

This leads us to redefine the meaning of "ad sheyehei bo kocho." The word "koach" does not always mean "strength." Sometimes it means "potential." Note that the Midrash does not say "ad sheyehei bo koach" (until he has strength) but "ad sheyehei bo kocho" (until he has his own strength). We all draw on two different types of strength. One is a generic physical or mental strength and stamina. The other is each person’s own strengths, their unique potential, given to them by Hashem to enable the realization of the purpose for which they are created. Hashem waits to have the Brit "ad sheyehei bo kocho", until the child contains within himself his own unique strengths and potential, something he only acquires on Shabbat.

The power of Shabbat to strengthen and provide foundation and purpose is not limited to humans. Shabbat provides a similar sense of purpose and consequent strength to nature too. This explains the continuation of the Midrash: The Midrash (D.R. 6:1) continues to say: "And just as Hashem is merciful towards humans, so he is merciful towards cattle, as it says (Vayikra 22:27) ‘Uvayom hashmini ve’hal’ah, yeiratzeh….’ (And from the eighth day onwards, it (the newborn animal) is fit for sacrifice). That is astonishing: what kindness is it to wait until the animal is strong enough from having experienced Shabbat, before it is slaughtered as a korban (sacrifice)? We understand why a baby needs strength for his Brit; we want him to survive the operation in good health. But why does an animal need to be strong before it is slaughtered?

Indeed, if we understand koach not as ‘strength’ but as ‘potential’, then Hashem does not want an animal to be brought as a korban until it too has been infused with its own sense of purpose; its life-force thus strengthened for the avodah (service) of korban. It is not only we, observers of Shabbat, who benefit from it: all of humanity benefits; animals benefit too. All of nature benefits from our Shabbat observance: the whole universe is stabilized by Shabbat. Shabbat has the power to give strength to infants about to face the trauma of Brit Milah. Shabbat provides each Jewish person who observes it with the power to face every one of their challenges with equanimity. Treasure Shabbat, observe it and preserve it; it is the generator of your inner strength and your peace even in times of hardship and crisis. A new meaning to the greeting: "Shabbat Shalom."

Pain is a Message - Change is its Cure

When we are too quick to ease our discomfort, we may miss out on "hearing" potentially life-changing messages. If we accept that nothing is coincidental, (the very definition of Bitachon,) then discomfort is sent to us not just as an irritation but to urge us to make some life-style modification. When we suffer a headache, rather than just popping another pill we may do better evaluating our lifestyles and sources of stress. If we suffer from heartburn we could either take antacid medication and carry life on as normal, or examine our eating habits and make permanent changes to our diets.

Sometimes the linkages between pain or illness and their causes are less obvious than headaches and heartburn. Recent work in new age healing has highlighted these connections. Louise L. Hay, a woman who cured her own cancer, has popularized some of that work. She believes that "all disease comes from a state of unforgiveness". [1] Unforgiveness means an attachment to negative experiences of the past. Those experiences may be things others did to us that we haven’t let go of, or things we did that we have not let go of by means of proper Teshuva. Her view is not terribly far from the Chazal that there is no suffering without sin.[2] Discomfort or disease therefore, is a calling from Hashem for us to do something different. That is why the Tana debei Eliyahu Rabbah states: Discomfort only comes to a person, for their own good.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Louise Hay writes, "If I had the operation to remove the cancer and also cured the mental pattern that was causing the cancer, then it would not return. If cancer or any other illness returns, I do not believe it is because they did not ‘get it all out,’ but rather that the patient has made no mental change. He or she just recreates the same illness, perhaps in a different part of the body."[3]

Nega: Being "touched" by G-d in a discomforting way

It is not strange therefore, that the term used for the particular diseases referred to in our Parshiot, is nega, a word whose root is the same as naga ("touch"). A person who contracts a nega has been "touched" by G-d. It is a form of divine and privileged communication. The individual and the nation need to be on a high spiritual level to be worthy of such communication – there is blessing even in discomfort when it is sent to us for our own good as the Tana debei Eliyahu says. This explains the role of the Kohen in the process: The affected person needs to see his or her nega as a disease needing spiritual and or moral treatment, not medical treatment. The "physician" is the Kohen, G-d’s representative, not a doctor.

Nega and Oneg

In Kabalah there is a concept that often by moving the first letter of a word to the back of that word (or vice-versa), the word takes on an opposite meaning.[4] The Sefer Yetzira[5] for example, says "there is nothing in goodness above oneg (celebrate), and nothing in evil beneath nega (plague). By moving the ayin of nega to the front of the word, we have oneg – pleasure. Nega does not mean a mere visual discoloration. Nega means marked physical discomfort noticeable by others.[6] The opposite of such discomfort that repels others, is celebration, oneg, that attracts others.

Linear and Circular Opposites

But let us go a step deeper in our understanding of the Sefer Yetzirah: There are two kinds of opposites; linear opposites and circular opposites. The two ends of a straight line are further from one another than any other two points on that line. That is linear opposite. However, the beginning and the end of a circle are the two closest points on the circle. This is the circular opposite to which the Sefer Yetzira refers when it talks about moving the front letter to the back of a word.

Pain and Pleasure – Paradoxical Neighbors

In the "two dimensional" secular world, oneg and nega (celebration or pleasure, and discomfort) are linear opposites very far from one another. In the world governed by the divine third dimension, oneg and nega are circular opposites and therefore ever so close to one another. There is celebration even in nega. Even in the discomfort of the nega, there is the sensual touch of G-d Himself; a paradoxical cause for celebration because Hashem values the sufferer sufficiently to communicate with him and touch him. In meditation technique, staying in the moment with the pain and observing it, is a part of the experience of life and therefore of the very management of that pain. Any intimate experience of G-d, including a discomforting one, is Oneg, as the prophet Yechezkeil comments: "then, you will celebrate with G-d".[7]

Try it: When you are stricken with discomfort, inconvenience or pain, whether physical, emotional or social, stay with that feeling and go deep inside yourself to find the inner cause of that uncomfortable feeling. What attitude needs letting go of, what frustration needs to be eased, what anger needs to be calmed, or what hatred needs to be forgiven? Often you will find as I have, that when you have identified the inner cause of the pain rather than its symptomatic manifestation, you automatically address it, and the pain begins to subside. Only when we "get" the message, can the healing start.

[1] Louise. L Hay, You can Heal Your Life, (Hay House, Inc., 2004) p. 8

[2] Shabbat 55a

[3] Louise. L Hay at p. 220

[4] See Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah, (Weiser Books, Boston, MA 1997) p. 85

[5] 2:14

[6] Sifra, 13:41

[7] Yechezkeil, 58:14

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