תינוק שמת קודם שיגיע להיות בן שמונה מלין אותו על קברו בצור או בקנה (שולחן ערוך, יורה דעה, רסג, ה)

ממנהג נשים לפסיקה הלכתית

תקציר

The custom to circumcise newborns who died before being circumcised by their parents is addressed in a short but important responsum by R. Nahshon, Gaon of Sura (872–879). This article examines the development of the practice, and the way in which this geonic responsum was transmitted among later halakhic authorities. Rabbis active in Rome in the late 11th – early 12th centuries rejected this practice. Their approach that halakhah is directed to the living and not to the dead led them to dispute R. Nahshon’s responsum, taking liberties with its language and contents in the process. In contrast, the Gaon's ruling was adopted by the sages of Barcelona and Lucena. They offered various reasons in support of their position, such as preventing the uncircumcised newborn’s descent to Gehenna or assuring its place at the Resurrection of the Dead. These legal rulings, examined more broadly, reveal their image of the world after death. The responsum by the Italian sages opposing the practice was the basis for halakhic discussion in Ashkenaz even though the custom of circumcising the dead was prevalent there. The article concludes with an analysis of the tension between textual sources and the custom as practiced. The obligation to circumcise a newborn boy who dies before his parents can enter him into the covenant of Abraham is settled halakhah and thus codified in Shulḥan Arukh. By its very nature, the fulfillment of this obligation is hidden from the eye. It is not performed festively or before a large crowd, and it seems that the Jewish masses are unfamiliar with it and with the details of its performance, even though it is carried out to this day by ḥevra kadisha (burial society) members around the world. This article describes the history of this practice, which is possibly halakhah, possibly custom, possibly a balm for the soul of a mother who has lost a child, and possibly a practice that stems from beliefs about the nature of the afterlife. Along the way, it traces the development of this practice, from the responsa of the Babylonian Geonim in the ninth century through Italy, Spain, and the Rhineland to fourteenth-century Provence. The historical-geographical journey presented below will show that the practice of circumcising the stillborn also provoked much opposition, and its supporters advanced different reasons for upholding it. Between them, a unique conception of the function of the commandments and the nature of life after death emerges, and the journey through the history of this neglected corner of Jewish practice becomes a journey among Jewish cultures. Indeed, they all address a single brief responsum from one of the Babylonian Geonim, and they all return to it while using it to meet their needs.