## Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha

###### Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 16:1
[Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 16:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma/s/Lech%20Lecha/r/16:1)

‎**וַיְהִי** אַבְרָם בֶּן תִּשְׁעִים וְגוֹ'. יְלַמְּדֵנוּ רַבֵּנוּ, מַהוּ שֶׁיְּהֵא מֻתָּר לְרַפֹּאת מַכָּתוֹ בַּשַּׁבָּת? כָּךְ שָׁנוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ, כָּל סְפֵק נְפָשׁוֹת דּוֹחֶה אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת, וּמִילָה וּרְפוּאָתָהּ דּוֹחָה אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת.

**Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, trans. Samuel A. Berman:**
**And when Abram was ninety years old and nine (Gen. 17:1).** May it please our master to teach us whether a man is permitted to heal a wound on the Sabbath? Thus did our masters teach us: Whenever life is endangered, the Sabbath is superseded. For example, circumcision and its healing supersede the Sabbath.²³

footnotes:
²³ Yoma 73a; Buber Tanhuma, Lekh Lekha 21. Cf. Bereshit Rabbah, Ha’azinu—One may heal an earache on the Sabbath.


###### Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 16:2
[Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 16:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma/s/Lech%20Lecha/r/16:2)

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסִי, רְאֵה כַּמָּה חֲבִיבָה מִצְוַת מִילָה שֶׁהִיא דוֹחָה אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת, דִּכְתִיב: וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי יִמּוֹל (ויקרא יב, ג), אֲפִלּוּ בַּשַּׁבָּת. וּמִילָה סַכָּנַת נֶפֶשׁ הִיא, לְפִיכָךְ הֻתַּר לְרַפֹּאתָהּ בַּשַּׁבָּת.

**Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, trans. Samuel A. Berman:**
R. Yosé stated: See how beloved is the precept concerning circumcision, that it supersedes even the Sabbath, as it is written: *And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised* (Lev. 12:3), even on the Sabbath. Since circumcision endangers life, one is permitted to heal it on the Sabbath.


###### Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 16:3
[Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 16:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma/s/Lech%20Lecha/r/16:3)

וּכְשֶׁאָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְאַבְרָהָם, הִתְהַלֵּךְ לְפָנַי וֶהְיֵה תָמִים, הִתְחִיל תָּמֵהַּ. אָמַר, עַד עַכְשָׁו אֲנִי תָּמִים, אִם אֲנִי מָל אֶהְיֶה חָסֵר. חָמֵשׁ עָרְלוֹת הֵן, אַרְבַּע בָּאָדָם וְאֶחָד בָּאִילָן. עָרְלַת הָאֹזֶן כְּתִיב בָּהּ הִנֵּה עֲרֵלָה אָזְנָם (ירמיה ו, י). עָרְלַת הַלֵּב, דִּכְתִיב: וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם (דברים י, טז). עָרְלַת לָשׁוֹן, דִּכְתִיב: עֲרַל שְׂפָתָיִם (שמות ו, יב). עָרְלַת בָּשָׂר, דִּכְתִיב: וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת בְּשַׂר עָרְלַתְכֶם (בראשית יז, יא). אִם אָמוּל אֶחָד מֵאֵלּוּ, נִמְצֵאתִי חָסֵר מֵאֵבָרַי. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מָה אַתָּה סָבוּר שֶׁאַתָּה תָמִים שָׁלֵם, אַתָּה חָסֵר מֵחֲמִשָּׁה אֵבָרִים. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: עַד שֶׁלֹּא תָמוּל, הָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָם, א' אֶחָד, ב' שְׁנַיִם, ר' מָאתַיִם, מ' אַרְבָּעִים, הֲרֵי מָאתַיִם וְאַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה. וּמִנְיַן אֵבָרִים שֶׁבָּאָדָם מָאתַיִם וְאַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁמוֹנָה, מוּל וֶהְיֵה תָמִים. כְּשֶׁמָּל, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: לֹא יִקָּרֵא עוֹד שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָם וְהָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָהָם. הוֹסִיף לוֹ ה', חֲמִשָּׁה, מִנְיַן רַמַ״‎ח אֵבָרִים. לְפִיכָךְ וֶהְיֵה תָמִים.

**Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, trans. Samuel A. Berman:**
When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Abraham: *Walk before Me, and be thou wholehearted* (Gen. 17:1), Abraham began to wonder. He said to himself: “Surely, until now I have been whole in body, but if I circumcise myself I shall be incomplete. There are five prepuces, four in a man and one on a tree. The prepuce of the ear, as it is written: *Behold, their ear is uncircumcised* (Jer. 6:10); the prepuce of the heart, as it is written: *Remove the obduracy of your heart* (Deut. 10:16); the prepuce of the tongue, as it is said: *Of uncircumcised lips* (Exod. 6:12); the prepuce of the flesh, as it is written in this verse: *Ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin* (Gen. 17:1). If I should circumcise any one of these prepuces, my organs will be incomplete.” The Holy One, blessed be He, asked him: “Why do you believe that you are whole? In fact you lack five limbs. Before you were circumcised, your name was Abram: The *alef* in your name is one, the *bet* two, the *resh* two hundred, and the *mem* forty, and that totals two hundred and forty-three. However, Man’s limbs total two hundred and forty-eight. Circumcise yourself and you will be whole.” After he was circumcised, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Him: *No longer is your name Abram; henceforth it will be Abraham* (ibid., v. 5). He added a *heh,* which equals five, to his name, making a total of two hundred forty-eight, corresponding to the number of limbs in the human body. Hence Scripture says: *Be thou whole.*