102 David G. Reskies 55, On the prevalence of chis motif in “The Busgher and the Pauper,” sce Yaakaw Elbaum’ brilliant analysis in Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature 4 (1983): 59-85. 536, See Green, Tormented Masten chap. 6. 57. See Beggars and Prayer: Adin Steinzaliz Retell she Tales of Rabbi Nach ‘man of Brawley, tans. Yehuda Hanegbi, Heralia Dobkin, Deborah French, and Freema Gottlieb, ed. Jonathan Omer-Man (New York, 1985), p. 135. Steinsaltz provides a sustained, and nuanced, allegorical reading of the ale on pp. 133-147 of his reclling. 58. This was Moyshe Markuze's Seyferreiues hanikro eyzerysroel(Poryck, 1790). For a full description of this work, che ise writen in Eastern Yiddish, see Khone Shmeruk, Sifrut yidsh beFolin (Viddish Literatuce in Poland: Historical Seudes and Perspectives} (Jerusalem, 1981), pp. 184-203. On Nahman’srebucal, see pp. 201-202, 59. Steinzalez (p. 134) finds che depiction of the simple man “rather flac” and “stereotypical,” while che clever man “is created with geeacer depth and understanding, 60. Likutey MOHaRaN sanina, p. 22. G1. Steinzale, Beggars ana Prayers, pp- 109-110, with minor changes vo conform 0 Band's translation. 62. See Cynthia Orick’s delightful eumination on this subject in “Prayer 2 Prooftests 3 (1983): 1-8. 63. The most intelligent guide to the multiple interpretations of this tale and to the many works of modern literature thar ie inspired is a «wo-volume high school curriculum edited by Zecharia Goren. See Betikoo shiv'tt hakabuanim lerabi Nabman miBraslav (In the Foossteps of Rabbi Nahman of Braslavs Seven. Beggars] (Oranim and ‘Tel Aviv, 1986). 64, Too many songs atributed co Reb Nahman have been issued of late by his Hasidim in Israel co constiture the authentic core. Cassette tapes titled The Song: of Rabbi Nachman of Bredav and sung by Rabbi David Raphael Ben-Ami are available at local Bratslav and Judaica bookstores. Many of them were probably ‘composed by his Hasidim rather than by the rebbe himself. For a more reliable source, see Old Jewish Folk Music: The Collections and Writings of Moshe Beregovski, ed. Mark Slobin (Philadelphia, 1982), p. 300, and nos, 130, 134, 146, 150 of the “Texiless Songs” published on pp. 449-490. 65. See Green, Tarmented Master, pp. 301-304; and Steinzale, pp. 180 18h 3 ‘The Cut That Binds Time, Memory, and the Ascetic Impulse Elliot R. Wolfion i needed so much to having nothing to couch— but i've always been greedy that way Leonard Cohen Memory, Mindfulness, and Masculinity ‘Throughou th ages commentators have ien ahs of explanations wo acount fo the sighcance of cumin, apy one ofthe most pon ies the history when viewed fom bth de antopoagea snd ches peop Arann aan charters n vi M, Levin studyon phenomenological pychology The Boh elton Bang Phnom! Poca Decsracan of Mien HO the context of dctsing the cocaon of bly limbs and the “body mor ex” Levin eas i atenton othe pat ofthe lesng grace hat i tadtionally uted aller one ets + mel with brea, the bar Remon hick menos he vena of cicumesn thar od heed a eh? Consrcing» mish resin of ths ural ex in an bv Deer vein# Lovin obser,” prover the uth of which ceameon would femind vie tha hance body of the Jews pepe was cetedby grace * primordial incon or niin: the wting and sein othe de ge tte the grammatlgyof the ein vine dechon Rating ate on these of he epreton wo chums the losin ofthe heat in Bet 06, ind "te very ene of deamon the Hea othe mae et wee sin the ft that he incon oem, Cron here conesponda toe bese apen tah This of nconincrpion seed upon the sexual xg, eating in what Levin apy cal he breaking ape ofa path um cose at temenring for reminds he mal Jew ofthe ign imprinted port mms ber thse incre upon the lsh that bsp th comer en Bewern God and the community of al vat mas ered inte bat at not Levin notes that “cicumcision is symbolic of a process of opening 103104 Ellioe R. Wolfon sentially of rime. Circumeision, therefore, “initiates the ancestral body into a spirtual process which Jews call “remembrance.” The remembrance spoken of here obviously isnot the common everyday memory of isolated experience chat arc ime-bound, the capacity to etain images in che present of tha which is past co help one anccipare events of the fucure, but ic is rather a recollection that cran~ scends the linearity of time by gathering together past, present, and fucure in the circular resumpcion of what has never been, acaling to mind that allows one “ro see old chings with a newer, farther look."¢ Circumeision isthe cut chat opens che flesh of the spirit co the reminiscence of a primordial bond, a kind of memorial thinking.” which involves concentration on the point in which consciousness in its entirety is ground, a return, chat is, to one's origin. Ina word, circumcision isa rite de retour? 4 retrieval of the beginning that stands not in the past buc unfolds always in che fucure, the breaking open of the path tha engenders memory across the divide of time. [Nowhere in the biblical or classical rabbinic eet, so far as [am able co surmise isthe ritual of circumcision connected specifically with the words memory cor remembrance. At best, i may be argued that, inasmuch as the tte of eircumei- sions referred to asa “sign ofthe covenant” (Gen. 17:11) and the nacute ofa sign is such that it brings to mind,!" there is an implicit connection berween the covenant of circumcision and memory. Such isthe case explicitly in several biblical verses with reference tothe word covenant. For instance, in the narrative regarding, the sign established by God with Noah after the deluge, the rainbow, che word for memory is used in conjunction with the word covenant (see Gen. 9:15 and 16).!2 ‘Or again, in Lev. 26:42, we read of God guaranteeing that He will remember the covenant that he made with each of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, re awithsanding tha and ther perinent examples tha could hve been mentioned, thet is no specific correlation inthe traditional sources between the ‘covenant of circumcision and the word remember, let alonea substantiation ofthe idea chat circumcision iniciates a spiritual process of remembrance. To be sute, in the immense body of literature produced by Jewish thinkers through the centuries onecan find textual evidence for the interpretation of circumcision asa sign that fosters the memory of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. An interesting example of such an approach is found in the tenth-century commen- tary on Sefer Yeinah by Dunash ben Tamim who interpreted the statement, "a covenant of oneness set in the middle, [expressed] in the circumcision of the tongue and in the cireumcision of the foreskin,” a5 4 reference to the fact chat ‘Ged made the cicumeision as a memorial of the unity ziéharon ba-yibud) since Abraham was the fist of the circumcised and of those who believed in one Goi," According to this interpretation, Jewish males bear the sign of circum sin on th esha eminder of Go uty tat was original procaimed by The Cut That Binds 105 Abraham, thefts to enter the covenant of citcumcision. The rational for circum- cision is projected here from the philosophical standpoint, which is developed further by Maimonides in the second of che two reasons he offers in the Guide of ‘the Perpleced co explain this rite.'> The incision on the penis, accordiag to Maim- ‘onides, is the “bodily sign” that fosters a social alliance among the sons of Abc hham who enter the covenant that “imposes the obligation to believe inthe unity of God.” The sign of circumcision is the physical cut chat binds together the com- ‘munity of Israel through the fundamental tenets implicit in the monotheistic faith, o wit, the belief in God's oneness, incorporealicy, and ute disimilarty to all other beings. In medieval kabbalistic sources, we find an elaborate application of the correlation of circumcision and memory in an altogether distinctive tone. The special relationship thac pertains between the rwo is suggested by the symbolic identification of the membrum virile as the seat of memory. This connection is based in kabbalistic texts, beginning already in Sefer ha-Bahin!® on a word play between zaéhor, “to remember,” and zakbar, “masculine,”"? The play on words suggests an ontological connection becween masculinity and memory that is, that which mose singularly marks the male Jew, the circumcised penis, which bears the scar that affords him access co the site of memory in the Godhe: mystery of faith.!® The link between masculinity and memory was further strengthened by thirteenth-century kabbalists, primarily from northern Spain, who identified zabhor as the divine potency that corresponds specifically to the phallus.!® Basing themselves on the supposed linguistic correlation berween zathar and zakbor, che kabbalsts refer to this divine gradation by the names zikkaron andlor zebhirah,29 “memory,” for it is the masculine potency par excel- lence.?" Moreover, insofar as this gradation corresponds to the phallus, and the latter isthe focal poine of the covenant of circumcision, the former is referred to ‘metonymically asthe “upper covenan,”2 In a plethora of kabbalistic sources, a connection is established berween masculinity, memory, and circumcision. The circumcised phallus is theepitome of ‘memory? for what is remembered most basically, chat is, what is recollected at the roo, is the mark of circumcision, the sign of the covenant, the letter yod inscribed on che corona of the phallus (azerer bert) chavs exposed asa result of the Peeling away ofthe foreskin (perth). The exposure ofthe sign through the cut of the flesh eallsforeh to memory the attribute of God that corresponds co the phallic sign disclosed as a result of the circumcision, a sign that betokens the initiatory bond thar links che divine to the male members of the community of lsrael. This memory; however, is not only a retrospective glance back tothe beginning, but itis also a foreboding glimpse ahead to the future, for the mark of circumcision is symbolically interchangeable with the messianic sign of the rainbow that will appear in the cloud, the portent of peace beheld by Noah after the deluge. Exile is vo enter the