Circumcision - Why on the eighth day?

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Well, our Sages in the Talmud and in the Midrashim explain the reason the mitzvah of circumcision was fixed specifically for the eighth day, and here is their exact wording: "Why did the Torah command circumcision on the eighth day? So that all should not be joyful [at the meal held in honor of the brit], while his father and mother are distressed [since the woman is still in the impurity of childbirth and cannot become ritually pure (by Torah law) until the night of the eighth day after her birth].

(Niddah 31b). However, there are several hidden reasons in this matter according to Kabbalah, that a brit milah should not be performed until the infant has passed through one Shabbat, and therefore the mitzvah was fixed for the eighth day, since then he has certainly already passed through a full Shabbat. But it must be made clear that these reasons do not change the halacha, to say that it is enough that a Shabbat has passed, and that if he was born on Friday they should circumcise him on Sunday, for the commandments of the Torah are fixed forever, and none of us knows how far these matters reach in the higher worlds. Also, regarding the reason stated in the Talmud, that the father and mother should not be distressed at the time of the brit, the Kabbalists have already revealed that the intention is to higher sefirot, and the Sages hinted in their words to what is higher above higher, though the simple meaning is also true and firm.

As is known, science has today discovered another reason for the Creator's desire that the circumcision be performed on the eighth day, according to what has been discovered: a newborn infant has a very special sensitivity to bleeding between the second and fifth days after birth. Bleeding during this time, although usually not serious, is sometimes quite severe and may cause serious damage to the internal organs, especially the brain, and may even cause death because of shock and loss of blood.

The tendency toward bleeding stems from the fact that the important element for blood clotting, vitamin K, is not produced in the intestines until the seventh day; it is clear that the first safe day for performing the circumcision is the eighth day. Another substance also necessary for proper blood clotting is prothrombin. The amount of prothrombin on the infant's third day is only 30 percent of the normal amount.

Any surgery performed on a child on that day may cause serious bleeding. Prothrombin reaches a level on the eighth day that is even better than the normal level, at 110 percent. After that, it declines and stabilizes at 100 percent. It appears that an eight-day-old infant has more prothrombin than on any other day in a person's life. Therefore, in terms of the levels of vitamin K and prothrombin, the most suitable day for performing a brit milah is the eighth day.

And of course everything fits together, so the Creator established the best preparation for the brit on the eighth day, since His will, for the revealed and hidden reasons explained in the Zohar and in the Talmud, was to fix the mitzvah of circumcision specifically for the eighth day.

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