Let us say a child was mistakenly circumcised before the eighth day. Would there be a need, on the eighth day, for a symbolic drop of blood to be drawn (hatafat dam brit)?
The Rashba maintains that in this case hatafat dam brit would not be required. It is true that if a baby is born already circumcised, some opinions require hatafat dam, but this is only because the Torah states (Vayikra 12:3): “the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (yimol besar orlato). Even when a child is born circumcised, usually some part of the foreskin remains. However, in our case the baby no longer has any foreskin at all.
Nevertheless, the Rashba’s opinion is problematic. The verse instructs: “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Uvayom hashemini yimol besar orlato). This seems to require circumcision specifically on the eighth day.
Rav Chaim of Brisk explains that while the mitzva of circumcision is specific to the eighth day, the requirement of hatafat dam brit is not. Thus if the hatafat dam was performed as part of circumcision before the eighth day, nothing more need be done.
In contrast, both the Shach and the Taz believe that if a child was circumcised too early, there must be hatafat dam brit on the eighth day. They see this as analogous to the requirement of hatafat dam if someone was circumcised at night (which is forbidden) rather than during the day (as required).
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