Lekh Lekha | The Brit as Relates to Non-Jews

Lekh Lekha | The Brit as Relates to Non-Jews, by Rav Binyamin Tabory

Does circumcision apply to gentiles? May a Jew circumcise a gentile? Brit mila has two layers: a physical mitzva and a covenant with God. According to Rambam, the descendants of Ketura are obligated in the physical act. Any non-Jew may be circumcised if he does it sincerely as a mitzva. The covenant itself, kritat brit, belongs to the Jewish people alone. That covenant is linked to the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael and perhaps to peri'a, the completing stage of the circumcision.