What Is the Spiritual Meaning of Circumcision
(Brit Milah) and Bar Mitzvah?

Circumcision (Brit Milah) and Bar Mitzvah, what is the spiritual root of these ceremonies? Do they have any connection to the state of our society today?

The circumcision ceremony is considered the rite of entry into the Jewish people and has accompanied us throughout our history: "To bring him into the covenant of Abraham our father." Abraham, the man of kindness, defined the guiding principle of the nation, which is "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Although we, as parents, perform circumcision on the eighth day after the birth of a son, this is only a symbol of the inner correction that all of us must carry out throughout our lives: "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart" (Deuteronomy 10:16).

The heart symbolizes a person's desires. By nature, these desires are egoistic, i.e., aimed at self-benefit at the expense of others. Therefore, if we wish to become capable of connecting with others in love, we need to remove the foreskin of the heart, or in other words, "cut away" the part that prevents such connection.

How does this happen? First, we need to identify the obstructive part that is in the heart. Then we need to decide not to use it, to regard it as worthless and insignificant, like dust itself. This is the inner meaning behind the custom of burying the foreskin in the earth.

From a global perspective, we could say that humanity today stands before the very examination symbolized by the circumcision ceremony. Reality is becoming increasingly interconnected, and everyone depends on everyone else. However, at the same time, the ego has reached enormous proportions. We are all in the same boat, but no one is truly capable of considering others. As a result, relationships are falling apart at every level and in every sphere of life.

We, the people of Israel, are meant to set an example of connection above disagreement and rejection, continuing the work begun by Abraham, who sought to unite all human beings.

Each person will need to learn the method of connection, examine their desires, and determine where they are willing to take a step toward mutual connection with others, how deeply and strongly. They need to discover where they are prepared to make room for others in their hearts, and where they can enter the hearts of others. The desires that obstruct such connection should be regarded as dust.

Returning to the ceremony itself, as parents we want our children to become healthy parts of society, people who learn to connect with others through love. Just as we now perform the ritual circumcision, we hope that when the child grows up, they will carry out this inner correction within their own heart.

Beyond that, it is worthwhile for us to reflect on ourselves as well: Are we correcting our own hearts? Are we examining how to connect better with those around us?

The guests, too, can reflect on these questions. In such a way, the circumcision ceremony becomes a means of strengthening connection among people. "Just as he has entered the covenant, so may he enter Torah, the wedding canopy, and good deeds."

The Torah, which is related to the word “Ohr” (“light”), is a special upper force that can address the narrow egoism within us. Although "the inclination of a person's heart is evil from youth" (Genesis 8:21), the sages also taught, "I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as its spice... for the light within it reforms."

If people make an effort to positively connect, and there is an entire method of connection that can be learned and applied, they awaken this force into action. It shines into the heart and helps us examine our desires, separate the "foreskin of the heart," and cut it away.

A child who develops along this path will eventually merit the Chuppah (wedding canopy), which symbolizes readiness for marital union and the completion of a fundamental social unit. After that come "good deeds," which are correct connections with all members of the nation.

Along the way to the wedding canopy, where one becomes a “complete person,” there is another ceremony: the Bar Mitzvah, which symbolizes a significant stage of development.

The newborn child grows, and we are commanded to educate them, teaching them how to relate kindly, caring, and positively to those around them. In early childhood, a child absorbs everything like a sponge, and we must be careful to provide a good example. Their desires grow, and it is our responsibility to help shape them correctly.

This educational stage continues until the age where the young person must take responsibility for their own relationships with others. The more they overcome the egoistic desires that arise within them and use those desires to connect with others and bestow goodness upon them, the closer they come to being worthy of the wedding canopy and of performing good deeds in their fullest sense.

The Tefillin received at a Bar Mitzvah are an external symbol of an advanced inner state that emerges through spiritual connection between hearts. This occurs after we enter deeply into their heavier, egoistic desires and correct them so they become fit for connection.

Such connection with others brings illumination, warmth, closeness, and a unique revelation of nature's inner dimension.

We begin to perceive that there is infinite depth behind our lives. We experience reality through the hearts of others, hearts that were originally strangers but have become our own through connection. Through them, we perceive reality in thousands of new ways, and the upper world opens before us.

This level of perception is called “Tefillin,” and its deeper meaning is explained extensively in the wisdom of Kabbalah.

"Ascending to the Torah," as mentioned earlier, means awakening the light that corrects the heart and transforms the evil inclination into goodness. It is this light that turns us from separate egoists into people united in love. This is also the inner meaning of being Jewish, the next stage of human development.

Thus, from circumcision, through Bar Mitzvah, and onward to the wedding canopy, all these ceremonies allude to stages in the process of creating harmonious connection between one person and another. May we merit to realize this among ourselves, and ultimately, among all people.

Based on “New Life 169 – Brit Milah And Bar Mitzvah” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.