[Avodah] the nature, definitions, and obligations of a brit in the Torah...

[Harvey Benton]

Devarim 5:2; Hashem made/forged a Brit with Us.  

(ArtScroll on this pasuk references the Brit made at Chorev;
 Exodus 19:4-8.) 

Questions:  

1. What exactly defines a brit and its acceptance; passive,
forced or under any other circumstance?  

2.  Is a Brit a
unilateral, bi-lateral, or some other kind of arrangement?  Pinchas was also given a Brit, a Brit Shalom
(unilateral Brit I would define it, as a gift/reward???) There was also a Brit
ben Ha’Bitarim (bi-lateral?) made with Avraham; Did Avraham have a choice other
than to participate in the Brit ben HaBitarim?

3. On what grounds are we bound by a Brit (other than Hashem
telling us that we are)? 

4. Why is an 8-day old infant bound into a covenant (a Brit
made by the parents on to the child) that he has no knowledge of
(metaphysical/spiritual aspects aside). [Again, like Avraham, does the child
have any choice whether or not he wants to be involved in the Brit?]

5.  What happens if we
don’t keep our end of a Brit? Will Hashem ACTIVELY destroy us (as mentioned in
Devarim and other places) or will it be just a PASSIVE  letting go of the flock (machmas keri) to the
70 nations around us (which by their natures will destroy us???)  

6. If a Brit is Bi-Lateral, does Hahsem do what He asks of
us?  Namely, to go against our natures
and act in a certain way?  This is how I interpret
the pasuk in Dvarim (5:2) when it says “Hashem Elokeinu karat imanu brit
bachorev”. That Hashem “forged” a brit with us; implying he has to actively do
something as well.  HB

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