4 different ways to prove the same thing. TB Shabbat 132

We’ve been working on the assumption that the rabbis only disagree with Rabbi Eliezer concerning whether all preparations that facilitate the fulfillment of the mitzvah of brit milah override the Shabbat. They agree that the actual ceremony of the brit milah overrides the Sabbath. Today’s daf Shabbat 132 provides four different proofs demonstrating that the brit milah overrides Shabbat.

1.       Ulla and Rabbi Yitzkhak claims that this halakhah goes all the way back to Moses and was passed down through the generations in the Oral Torah (הלכה למשה מסיני). “Ulla said: This is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai, but there is no biblical basis for it. And so too, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai.” (Sefaria.org translation)

2.       Rabbi Elazar applies a gezara shava. “Rather, Rabbi Elazar said: This halakha is derived by means of a verbal analogy between the word sign that appears with regard to circumcision: “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you” (Genesis 17:11), and sign that appears with regard to Shabbat: “However, you shall keep My Shabbatot, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations” (Exodus 31:13). From this verbal analogy, it is derived that circumcision, which is a sign, may be performed even on Shabbat, which is itself a sign. (To answer the objections why a gezara shava doesn’t work , Rav Nakhman teaches that more than one word is in play-gg)  Rather, Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This halakha is derived not from one common word alone, but one derives it based upon the three words sign, covenant, and generations that appear with regard to circumcision, from sign, covenant, and generations that appear with regard to Shabbat, to the exclusion of these, i.e., ritual fringes and phylacteries, that with regard to each of them, one of these is written but not all three words together.” (Sefaria.org translation)

3.       Rabbi Yohanan makes a drasha on the word “ביום-on that day.” “And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The verse says: “And on the eighth day…shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:3), which means that the child is circumcised on the eighth day whenever it occurs, even on Shabbat.” (Sefaria.org translation)

4.       Rav Aha bar Ya’akov makes a drasha on the word “שמיני-eighth.” “Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: There is a different proof from the Torah that circumcision is performed even on Shabbat, for the verse said: “On the eighth day,” underscoring that circumcision is performed specifically on the eighth day and indicating that it is performed even on Shabbat.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Although challenges were brought against each one of these four proofs, ultimately the Gemara approves Rabbi Yohanan’s approach to prove that the ceremony of a brit milah overrides the Sabbath and of a holiday. Of course, this allowance to override the Sabbath only applies when the brit milah actually happens on the eighth day of life. If the brit milah is delayed because of the health of the baby, one may not violate the Sabbath or holiday and circumcise the child. (Shulkhan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah, chapter 266, paragraph 2) My Springfield friends will remember that all my sons’ brit milahs were postponed. They were jaundiced and that was considered enough of a health concern by the mohel to wait until the bilirubin number came down to an acceptable range.