Optional parental preparation:

1. sa•nᵊdâqꞋ refers to the Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ. Speaking from personal experience as the sa•nᵊdâqꞋ at the Orthodox Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ of my grandson, when a male of Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ is 8 days old, he is placed on the knees of the sa•nᵊdâqꞋ, a grandfather (if one is alive), who holds the infant's legs still for the mōꞋheil to circumcise the grandson.

   Yet, sa•nᵊdâqꞋ is a Greek term! Not introduced until the Hellenist period (after ca. B.C.E. 175). Clearly, the Greek term was not the term familiar to Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ ca. B.C.E. 1720. The text of Ta•na"khꞋ provides no indication of the contemporary Hebrew term. In the 2^nd century C.E., ŌꞋnᵊqᵊlōs provides a clue how it was understood then, translating into Aramaic: [grandson whom] Yo•seiphꞋ grand-parented וְרַבִי. It can hardly be coincidental that this Hebrew term רַבִי was displaced by the Hellenist term sa•nᵊdâqꞋ at precisely the time that the Tzᵊdoq•imꞋ Hellenized the "Temple" and relegated the Hebrew term רַב to minimize the status of Pᵊrush•imꞋ to mere grandfather-level, opining teachers. Before Hellenization, it would appear that the grandfather who held his grandson for the Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ was known as his רַב.

2. In Egypt, funerary custom had recently adopted this new, form-fitting style mummy-coffin, which displaced the earlier rectangular box coffins. Shown is the mummy-coffin of the Deputy Par•ohꞋ over the Oryx Nome, Kᵊnum-hotep 4^th, a predecessor – possibly the immediate predecessor – of Deputy Par•ohꞋ over all Egypt, Yo•seiphꞋ. Almost 4,000 years old, the coffin dates from c. [B.C.E. 1938-1755], shortly before the time of Par•ohꞋ Sa-hotep-ka-Ra En- yoteph 4^th, believed to be the Par•ohꞋ who promoted Yo•seiphꞋ.

   "Up until this period, coffins had typically been rectangular in shape. But the coffin of [Kᵊnum-hotep] is an innovative new form, which was shaped to look like the deceased person.

   "The coffin represents [Kᵊnum-hotep] wrapped in white linen mummy wrappings with gold skin, evoking the Egyptian belief that the skin of the gods was made of gold. By depicting him this way, the coffin magically transformed [Kᵊnum-hotep] to help him reach the afterlife.

   "The coffin is painted white, with four gold bands with black edging encircling the lid and base. The lid shows a man with a black-painted wig, gilded face, black-painted eyebrows and inlaid-stone eyes. A false beard is attached to the chin, with gold paint to indicate texture and a black-painted strap at the sides of the face. He wears a collar painted with 13 concentric bands of black, red or green separated by narrow white lines, and an outer band showing pairs of green or red drop-beads on a gold base with a green border.

   "At the centre on the front of the lid is a column of gold hieroglyphs on a green background, which runs from the bottom of the collar to the lowest band at the ankles. The interior of the lid and base are painted white but the left sides have been discoloured to dark brown by oils associated with the mummy." 

3. What's the legal difference between a felony crime and a petty offense crime?

4. Rabbinic commentary from the times of the Ta•lᵊmudꞋ reflect spiritual cataracts that have long obscured the vision of rabbis from the ancient meaning of "born on his knees." Because of their inability to figure out the sensible, authentic and historical original meaning, the rabbis (how much more so the perspectives of other religions who don't even relate to the original Hebrew and Aramaic) have been left to wrongly assume that this phrase "merely" means raising, rearing, educating or mentoring. This shortcoming of spiritual vision has led to a number of strayings from the ancient Tor•âhꞋ that are as serious as any straying can get: e.g., what is a nëphꞋësh and fully a human being, how that impacts what it means to be a Jew (originally, Bën-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ, later Yᵊhud•iꞋ), the role of women in Tor•âhꞋ, the full meaning of Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ and the Tor•âhꞋ position vis-à-vis when life begins and abortion.

   There is a universe of difference between a Homo sapiens and a human Bën-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ nëphꞋësh (being). Defining the point when a fetus becomes a viable Homo sapiens is a dynamic that progresses with advancements in scientific medicine and biology. Ergo, infanticide (abortion) is related to the murder of a viable Homo sapiens.

   Interestingly, despite males / rabbis having traditionally cast females as inferior (and unlike some African and Muslim practices), baby girls born of a Bat-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ have always been Bân•ōtꞋ-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ without any physical intervention like that required of males. Perhaps, contrary to (male) rabbinic tradition, this suggests that although males have historically preferred to think of women as sexual inferiors, mentally and intellectually helpless against their sexual impulses driving an imagined inherent inclination to stray from Tor•âhꞋ into idolatry, the requirement of Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ only for males reflects instead, a regard by י‑‑ה for girls as being physically less vulnerable to being enticed away from Tor•âhꞋ by sexual inclinations. This would imply that the physical intervention was always intended, rather, as a perpetual caveat for males against intermarriage.

   In any case, a Homo sapiens baby boy, even though he may be a fully viable and healthy infant Homo sapiens while still in the womb, doesn't become fully a human Bën-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ nëphꞋësh (being) until he is born into the Bᵊrit of Tor•âhꞋ, on the 8^th day, at the Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ – on the knees of his sa•nᵊdâqꞋ. That is why a Bën-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ doesn't merit a Bën-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ name until his Bᵊrit Mil•âhꞋ.

Questions you might anticipate that your child might raise and be prepared to discuss:

1. What does concoct mean?

2. What does revenge mean?

3. What does funerary mean?

4. What does apprise mean?