As discussed in a previous edition of Daily Halacha, there is a custom widely observed among Ashkenazim to have a special Se’uda on the Friday night before a boy’s Berit Mila. This custom is mentioned by the Rama (Rav Moshe Isserles, Cracow, 1530-1572), in Yoreh De’a, who adds that this meal qualifies as a Se’udat Misva – a meal that constitutes a Misva. As we noted in our previous discussion, the source of this custom is the Gemara in Masechet Baba Kama (80), which tells of three great Sages – Rav, Shemuel and Rabbi Aseh – who attended a meal which was called "Shebua Ha’ben," or, according to a different version, "Yeshu’a Ha’ben." Rashi explains that it was called "Yeshu’a Ha’ben" – which literally means, "the boy’s salvation" – because it celebrates the child’s successful passage through the birthing canal, which is a dangerous process.

We saw several different explanations for why this celebration of the child’s birth is held specifically on Shabbat. The Taz (Rav David Segal, 1586-1667) writes, very simply, that it is held on Friday night because that is when people are home and free to attend such an event. Another explanation is based on the comment of the Midrash that G-d commanded waiting until a child’s eighth day before circumcising him because the child must first experience a Shabbat. The Midrash gives an analogy of a king who wishes to hold a special feast, but insists on waiting until his queen arrives before beginning the celebration. Similarly, G-d wants us to wait for the Shabbat "queen" before celebrating a child’s Berit Mila. Therefore, a special celebration is held on the Shabbat before the Berit, as if to demonstrate that the occasion of Shabbat now allows for performing the Berit Mila.

There may, however, also be an additional explanation.

As we know from the story of creation in Parashat Bereshit, G-d proclaimed Shabbat a sacred day because He ceased the process of creation with the onset of Shabbat. Just as He created the world in six days and desisted on Shabbat, we, too, work for six days and then refrain from work on the seventh. Of course, G-d did not actually "work" to create the world. He brought every part of the universe into existence by making pronouncements. Throughout the creation story, the Torah tells, "Va’yomer Elokim" – G-d made a pronouncement that something should be created, and this is how everything came into existence. As the Mishna teaches in Pirkeh Abot (5:1), "Ba’asara Ma’amarot Nibra Ha’olam" – the world was created through ten pronouncements. And the verse says in Tehillim (33:6), "Bid’bar Hashem Shamayim Na’asu U’b’ru’ah Piv Kol Seba’am" – "The heavens were made through G-d’s speech, and all their hosts, through the wind of His mouth." And so when the Torah tells that G-d ceased "work" on Shabbat, it means that He stopped making pronouncements. It thus follows that our observance of Shabbat, which commemorates G-d’s cessation of work, must involve also a cessation of speech. Indeed, Halacha strictly requires that we avoid certain forms of speech on Shabbat – namely, speech about financial and professional matters, and speech about our plans for after Shabbat. In fact, the Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) writes that some have the custom to speak only Lashon Ha’kodesh (Hebrew) on Shabbat, and many righteous people observe a "Ta’anit Dibur" ("speech fast") on Shabbat, refraining from all speech other than prayer and Torah study. Shabbat is integrally connected to the notion of restraining and controlling our speech, because it celebrates G-d’s cessation of the process of creation, a process which was done through a series of pronouncements.

Many sources speak of the connection between the power of speech and the Berit Mila. The Maharal of Prague (1520-1609) observed that the two parts of the body which are most susceptible to the Yeser Ha’ra, which are the most difficult to control and prevent from sinning, are the mouth and the eyes. Sins of the eyes, of course, lead to the sin of desecrating the Berit Mila, and so it emerges that the greatest spiritual challenges we face involve the mouth and the Berit Mila. Not coincidentally, the Hebrew word "Mila" is used to refer to both circumcision and "word," reflecting the strong connection between speech and the Berit Mila. Moreover, the Gematria of the word "Mila" is 85, which is also the Gematria of the word "Peh" ("mouth"). This explains why there is a custom during the period of "Shobabim," which is designated as a time to rectify the sin of defiling the Berit Mila, to observe "Ta’anit Dibur." The effort to rectify sins involving the Berit Mila is integrally connected to the effort to rectify sins involving speech. And the work Reshit Hochma teaches that just as one must avoid "Zera Le’batala," one must also avoid "Dibur Le’batala" (wasting words).

This explains why, immediately after a Berit Mila is performed, we bless the child that just as he had the privilege of entering the Berit, so may he have the merit of learning Torah. We wish him that just as one part of the body was sanctified through the Berit Mila, he should also sanctify his mouth by using it for speaking words of Torah.

With this background, we might suggest an explanation for the Se’uda on the child’s first Shabbat. As the child prepares for the Berit, he is told also to be mindful of the message of Shabbat – the message of restraining and controlling speech, which is integrally connected to the Berit Mila. Just as we hold a special feast to celebrate the Berit Mila, we also hold a special Se’uda to celebrate the child’s first Shabbat, emphasizing the connection between the Berit Mila and the faculty of speech. The Rama considers this a "Se’udat Misva" because the participants learn this message and become inspired to redouble their efforts to preserve the sanctity both of the Berit Mila and of the mouth.

For this reason, perhaps, the story told in the Gemara of the Rabbis who attended this celebration appears in Masechet Baba Kama on page 80 – because the letter representing the number 80 is "Peh" ("mouth"), reinforcing the connection between this celebration and the obligation to preserve the sanctity of the faculty of speech by using it for the right purposes.