The Sign - Parshat Tazria/Metzora 5786

This week's parsha, Tazria/Metzora, includes the commandment to circumcise male children on the eighth day of life. The commentaries about this practice across the millennia are rich: it unifies Jews as a tribal symbol; it serves as an outward mark of identity. Like tzitzit, circumcision is a reminder — only more so, because it cannot be reversed or forgotten. The Ramban, one of the great medieval commentators, gets to the heart of it: circumcision exists specifically to create holiness around the act of procreation.