Preparing for the Bris

Several visitors and important guests arrived at Rav Isaamar of Nadvorna's home in Czernowitz. They gathered impatiently as they waited for the bris to start. Rav Isaamar had been honored to serve as sandak. He had gone to immerse in the mikveh and was now making his hachanos (preparations) to ready himself for this most sublime mitzvah.

A few guests could not hide their impatience and began to murmur. "The pasuk says Avrohom woke up early in the morning, teaching us to hurry and perform mitzvos with zerizus (alacrity) and without delay," someone said. "What is taking so long already?"

Yitzchok Isaac, later known as the Zutshka Rebbe, was ordinarily modest and reticent. But when his holy father's honor was at stake, he could not restrain himself. He came forward and rebuked them: "Does it say that Avrohom woke early, saddled his donkey, and took the knife to slaughter his son? Rather it says that Avrohom woke early, saddled his donkey, chopped wood, prepared the firewood, and stacked it into a pyre, because all these preparations were necessary for readying himself to perform the mitzvah. In fact, the hachanos Avrohom did were counted like the mitzvah itself. Similarly, we too need to prepare the house, arrange the chairs and tables, and the Rebbe needs to immerse in the mikveh and do whatever is needed to properly prepare for the mitzvah of bris milah."