It's a loaded question, right? The philosopher is implying that circumcision isn’t a divine command at all, but just… pointless. (Bereshit Rabbah 11).

Rabbi Hoshaya, being the wise person he was, doesn't directly answer. Instead, he throws the question back. “Why,” he asks the philosopher, “do you shave the hair on the side of your head, but leave the hair on the corner of your beard?” It's a bit of a zinger.

The philosopher, probably a little taken aback, replies, “Because the hair on my head grew when I was foolish, when I was a child.” Okay, fair enough.

But Rabbi Hoshaya isn’t done. He pushes further: “If that’s the case, then you should pluck out your eye, cut off your hands, and break your legs! After all, they also grew during your foolish childhood!” (Bereshit Rabbah 11). Can you imagine the look on the philosopher's face?

The philosopher, clearly not impressed with this line of reasoning, exclaims, “Have we really sunk to such frivolous arguments?” It’s a rhetorical question, of course. He’s saying, “Come on, Rabbi, this is ridiculous!”

But Rabbi Hoshaya isn’t trying to be ridiculous. He’s making a point. “I can’t just dismiss you without an answer," he says, "Here’s the thing: everything created in those six days of Creation needs something more. It needs an action to bring it to its perfected state."

Think about it. Mustard needs sweetening to be palatable. Lupines, a type of bean, also need sweetening to be edible. Wheat? It needs to be ground into flour before we can bake bread. And even humanity, in a way, needs to be perfected. (Bereshit Rabbah 11).

The idea here, as the Bereshit Rabbah explains, is that creation is an ongoing process. God created the potential, but we, as humans, have a role to play in bringing things to their full, realized form.

So, what does this all mean for us? It suggests that we're not just passive recipients of creation. We're active participants. We have a responsibility to refine, to improve, to sweeten the world around us – and ourselves, too. It's a pretty powerful idea, isn't it? We are, in a sense, co-creators with God, constantly working towards a more perfect world.