Why were the Israelites not circumcised in the desert?

Question

Genesis 21:4 (JPS) And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Starting with Abraham, the Israelite men were circumcised and a boy at the eighth day after birth. It was commanded again in the desert through Moses.

Leviticus 12:3 (JPS) And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

But the children born in the desert were not circumcised.

Joshua 5:5 (JPS) For all the people that came out were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, had not been circumcised.

How is this possible? Did they disobey G-d and not circumcised their children in the desert?

Answer 1

According to Talmud (Yevamot 71–72) the reason circumcision was not practiced in the desert is:

1. Because of the hardships of the way - a 40 year journey is no joke. Since is would have been dangerous for someone right after circumcision to get on the road, and they had no choice but to be on the road, they waited until the trek was over.
2. Because there was no "northern wind" upon them. The northern wind is considered a cure and it would be dangerous to circumcise without this wind to cure them.

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That said, another interesting source exists (פסיקתא דרב כהנא. I didn't have a chance to actually see it, but I've seen a few references to it). According to this source there was circumcision in the desert. The reference from Joshua is understood as using circumcision as an idiom to achieving a new, higher, level, usually spiritual. In Deuteronomy 10:16 an expression of "circumcising the heart" appears, being the basis of this explanation.

Answer 2

An explanation I heard is that the 40 years in the desert was a utopian bubble, an unrealistic situation. The guaranteed manna, the constant supply of water, the protection of the cloud of glory, the absence of the need to work and a plethora of other miracles.
It explains why the 10 Spies desired to remain in the desert and not enter into the Land of Israel. (However, this expedition was only supposed to be an educational tool not the end goal.)
A Brit (Covenant) is when two parties join together and both promise to contribute. During these forty years G-d was the only one providing. The Jews were not required to do their part. This explains why the covenant of Brit Mila was not appropriate in the desert where only G-d was contributing. Only upon entering Israel, when the nation of Israel had to once again do their part, was it fitting for the Brit Mila ritual to be resumed.

Answer 3

Although not stated in scripture, is it possible that G-D commanded Moses not to circumcise the second generation until they had completed the 40 year trial in the desert because the first generation had broken covenant?

This occurrence happened just after Joshua had the people swear loyalty to G-d and Joshua's leadership. They then "consecrated themselves" and crossed over the Jordan, placing the 12 stones in Gilgal according to the command of G-d.

Perhaps now G-d deemed it time to renew His covenant with His people through the ritual circumcision.

Answer 4

I propose a different explanation: The covenant of circumcision was originally a covenant between G-d and Abraham, whereby G-d promised to make Abraham: 1) "extremely fruitful" and 2) to give his children "the land where you are residing" (i.e, the Promised Land) (Gen 17:6-14). G-d also told Abraham that this covenant would be a permanent one between G-d and Abraham's progeny for the generations; As for Abraham's part, he was to circumcise every male in his household (Gen 6:12-13).

BUT in the wilderness, we see that, because of the people's lack of faith in G-d (Gen 14:11), they were not allowed to cross into the Promised Land (Number 14:23), and, I would argue, thereby nullified (at least temporarily) the Abrahamic covenant and with it the obligation circumcision (why require them to circumcise themselves if they were unwilling to receive its benefit?). Since the children of Israel were unable to go into the Promised Land, G-d did not impose circumcision upon them as circumcision alone was a sign of obedience and contrition - which the Children of Israel were definitely not displaying when they "despised" G-d (Number 14:23). It was only after the next generation rose up and trusted in him enough to be obedient and cross the Jordan into the land of promise (and giants), would G-d be able to fulfill his promises to Abraham of fruitfulness and place. Thus only then would the covenant be re-ratified, and only then would the requirement of circumcision be required.

This is just as an aside, but one might be able to argue that, given G-d's telling Moses that he would destroy these people and make from Moses a new nation many times (Exodus 31:10, Numbers 14:12, Numbers 16:21; Deuteronomy 9:14), perhaps G-d did not require circumcision because he just wasn't sure whether they were going to make it out of the wilderness alive, thereby nullifying his promise to Abraham of fruitfulness, and once again negating the need for circumcision.

Answer 5

Let me propose a different explanation. I don't understand the Gemorah's Tirutzim, as the virtue of the Milah is so important, that it's inconceivable how could they stay in the clouds.

First, the idea of the Milah should be understood - why cut the Ohrleh (ערלה)? According to some sources (mostly Kabbalic), it accumulates all of the person's "filth" (זוהמה) during the 7 days since birth and must be cut (and handled properly) to avoid that filth to spread back to the whole body.

As many pointed out, the generation of the desert were totally different from our perception of humans (as the Gemorah concludes, they were as angels, relatively to us). They were totally secluded, eating the food of angels and drinking the water of the well. Hence, they had no "filth" to soil their bodies.

So, technically, they didn't need the circumcision, as long as they didn't have "the real food". Once that stopped at the end of the 40 years, they got "contaminated" and needed the circumcision.

Answer 6

Devarim 30:6 And the Lord, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, [so that you may] love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, for the sake of your life.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was circumcised after. May be our eternal uncreated father did not want those uncircumcised of heart to circumcise. May be the commands are for the circumcised of heart. In the exile we could not do what we wanted but when we confessed our sins and the sins of our fathers and returned we were able to keep the commands like in Nehemiah and Ezra