The Circumcision of The Messiah

As Moses described the final redemption to come, he told Israel that God will circumcise their hearts. He said, “God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6).

The metaphoric circumcision of the heart will enable us to completely fulfill the commandment of loving God. It will grant us life—even eternal life.

In the Scriptures, a circumcised heart refers to having a repentant heart, suppliant to the will of God. For example, in Deuteronomy 10:16, Moses commanded the people, “Circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.”

The Prophet Jeremiah tells Israel to repent from evil deeds, saying, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart” (Jeremiah 4:4). The Apostle Paul contrasts a circumcised proselyte who does not keep the commandments against an uncircumcised Gentile who does keep the commandments. He says that the latter demonstrates a circumcision “which is of the heart, by the Spirit” (Romans 2:29).
Jewish eschatology teaches that when Messiah comes, God will circumcise our hearts by removing the evil inclination. Messiah is the circumciser of hearts. Nachmanides explains as follows:

From creation, man has had the free choice to do righteousness or evil according to his will … In the Messianic Era, man’s natural inclination will be to choose the good, and the heart will not lust for that which is not appropriate. He will not have any desire for the forbidden whatsoever. And this is what is meant by the “circumcision” spoken of here, for lust (and material desires) are like foreskin for the heart. The circumcision of the heart is that the heart shall not lust [after the forbidden] and shall not desire [the forbidden]. At that time, human beings will return to the spiritual state they possessed before the sin of Adam when he would by nature do that which is proper to do …

This is what the scripture means in Jeremiah 31:33, “… I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it.” This refers to the abolition of the evil inclination and the hearts doing by nature that which is proper to do … similarly, Ezekiel states, “I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). The “new heart” refers to its new nature … (Nachmanides on Deuteronomy 30:6)

The prophecy from Ezekiel echoes the prophecies in Deuteronomy 30:1-6. Ezekiel describes how God will gather Israel together from the nations, purify them, circumcise their hearts, and enable them to keep the Torah:

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land …I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers. (Ezekiel 36:24-28)

The result of this circumcision of heart is obedience to God. Moses says that when God finally circumcises the heart of His people, they will “again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments” (Deuteronomy 30:8). In other words, God is going to enable us to keep His Torah. He is going to set us free from sin and cause us to walk in righteousness. Keeping Torah is one of the promises of the Messianic Age.

Paul explains that we who have become partakers of Messiah have already begun to enter the new covenant and the circumcision of the heart. He calls it the “circumcision of Messiah” when he says, “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Messiah” (Colossians 2:11).

Stop Gossiping

The Power of Thought and Speech

One of the prohibited forms of behavior is gossip.

לֹא תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ וגו’: (ויקרא יט:טז)
[G‑d instructed Moses to tell the Jewish people,] “You must not go around as a gossipmonger.” Leviticus 19:16

According to the Talmud, gossip “kills” three people: the speaker, the listener, and the object of the gossip. That the speaker and listener deserve to be punished is understandable, but why should the person about whom they are gossiping suffer?

The answer is that speaking about another person’s shortcomings does more than just belittle him. Words have the power to bring latent energy into actuality. When we speak about a person’s negative traits, it activates them and reinforces them. As a result, his behavior takes a turn for the worse and he thus incurs punishment.

Conversely, when we speak about the good traits of another person, we reveal and reinforce those traits. We can thus be a positive or negative influence on people; the choice is ours.

It is not only prohibited to speak derogatorily about someone; it is also prohibited to think about them derogatorily. In some ways, thinking negatively about someone is more serious than speaking negatively about them.

The Capable Wife

Who does find a capable wife? For she is worth far more than rubies. The heart of her husband shall trust her, And he has no lack of gain. She shall do him good, and not evil, All the days of her life.
Mishlĕ (Proverbs) 31:10‭-‬12 TS2009

Who is a capable wife? The introductory portion of this piece in the Book of Proverbs opens our eyes to the major characteristics of a good wife.

When it says her worth is more than rubies, what is being portrayed is that she cannot be purchased as rubies cannot be purchased with money. A capable wife remains for her husband 100% and nothing can take her away from him. Not even the cares of life.

This is the reason why her husband trusts in her. Her loyalty is not in doubt. Her husband can then entrust her with all that he has and makes her the General Manager of his estate. He is sure that all his interests will be perfectly taken care of.

In her position as General Manager, she is completely devoted to her husband and the man gets 100% of all returns from his estate. No withholding tax is charged by the wife. She concerns herself with ensuring that the husband gets only good and not bad.

That is a capable wife. No personal interest but her husband’s interest is paramount. All her knowledge and resources are geared toward making her husband known and respected in society.

May YAHWEH make our women capable (Amein).

The Gentle Way to Educate

וַיְדַבֵּר ה’ אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: דַּבֵּר אֶל אַהֲרֹן וגו’: (ויקרא כא:טז–יז)

G‑d spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron.” Leviticus 21:16-17

The Torah mainly uses two Hebrew words for “speaking.” The first (dibur) is reserved for “hard speech,” the straightforward, accurate delivery of the message. The second (amirah) is “soft speech,” i.e., tailoring the message to its intended recipient in order to ensure that it is indeed received and clearly understood.

The first part of this section of the Torah, which contains the laws regarding the priests’ duty to educate their children in the responsibilities of the priesthood, is couched exclusively in “soft speech.” It is only when G‑d returns to the other laws concerning the priests that He once again uses “hard speech.”

This teaches us that we must educate primarily with “soft speech.” In order to be effective, educators must relate fully to their students and tailor their style of delivery accordingly.

G‑d’s imperative regarding how the priests educate their youth applies to us all. Whenever we see in someone a behavior or attitude that is in need of inspiration or correction, we are immediately cast by Divine providence in the role of educator. In all such cases, we must remember G‑d’s instruction to make exclusive use of “soft speech.”1

Footnotes

Likutei Sichot, vol. 27, pp. 158–159; Hitva’aduyot 5742, vol. 3, pp. 1421–1424.

Culled from http://www.chabad,org