Deuteronomy Cycle Three Ekev 7:12 to 8:20

Ekev is about the covenant of circumcision. First, though, let’s look at what also seems to to be central to the parsha. It seems if we follow the mitzvot as God asks, we will receive abundant blessings. Our wombs, our land, grain, wine, oil, our calves and lambs will all be blessed. On the one hand, it seems almost too good to be true. And on the other, it seems conditional. If God loves us, we wonder, why can’t He love us if we smite our enemies or not? Why can’t He love us if we even, God forbid, pray to other gods? Does our most sacred construct need to be built upon a scale of weights and judgments? It feels, in a way, like kindergarten. Help clean up and you get a star.

Sometimes however there are things we do with obvious results. Press the button on the camera and get a snapshot. Smile and (hopefully) get a smile in return. Turn on the ignition and we’re on the road. Here’s a big one. Inhale and exhale. Breathe in and breathe out. All day and night we take part in this process. It seals our very existence on this earth. And while appreciating it every moment is hard, any attempt to go against it is absurd, and obviously, fatal.

Now, let’s look at God’s blessings and the mitzvoth. Let’s see them as the inhale and exhale not of our body, but of our soul. Inhale the blessings, exhale the mitzvoth. Inhale, exhale. Like with breathing, to appreciate this process every moment is hard given everything we do in a given day. To attempt to go against it though is absurd, and fatal for our souls.

So what do we do? How do we remember to breathe?

In terms of our physical breath we certainly get a wake up call if we are out of it or can’t catch it or find it or if we hold it too long. When we get that call, we quickly change our behavior. We cut an idea out of our mind…the one that was perhaps causing us to stay underwater too long.

In terms of our mitzvot though, the only wake up call sometimes comes too late. We need therefore something that can seal this process to our bodies, make it real, natural for the most refined essence of soul, that reshimu, the rachaman that is symbolized by our hearts. In short, we want to cut any growth from our hearts that is obstructing the soul breathe. As Rashi says we want to get rid of the blockage. We want to circumcise the foreskin of our heart.

And this is what we read in 10:16: umaltem ayt ahrlat levavchem v’arpchem lo takshu ode. Circumcise the foreskin of your heart and do not remain so stubborn anymore.

There’s more. In terms of our physical breath, doctors will say that what blocks it is dangerous or unhealthy. In terms of our spiritual breath though rabbis of Talmud (Sukkah 52a) refer to the Evil Inclination. What blocks the heart is called evil by the Holy One (Gen 8:21). It’s called the Uncircumcised by Moses (Deut 10:16) the Unclean by King David (Psalm 51:12) the Enemy (Solomon) the Stumbling block (Isaiah) Stone (Ezekiel) and the Hidden One (Joel). The rabbis of Talmud say that the Evil Inclination has seven names, a number representing completion. Abbaye says the greater the man, the greater the Evil Inclination…and therefore (it seems) the greater the foreskin that needs to be circumcised.

In the end, therefore, the blessings flow if we act to cut away the enemy within us, the idol within us. This does not necessarily mean killing others. It might mean acting with focused and controlled anger. It might mean using this anger to break the precious tablets of our heart to enable the circumcision. It might mean acceptance that it is only the enemy within us, the uncircumsized heart, that needs to block Torah on the level of war or ego-reward or false compassion. It might mean seeing that a blessing, by its very defintion, is natural. And the only way it can be so is if the kavannah of the mitzvoth is pure; if we walk in God's ways for the sake of God alone.

So may we take a deep breath of blessings. Then, may we be great men and women and work to find the concealed mitzvot of Torah. May we work to feel and breathe the reshimu, the rachaman. May we bring God’s blessings to people in need of His blessings. May we stop using Torah as a reason to apologize. May we allow kindness to be our religion. May we give food and clothing to the men holding signs on the hot streets. May we pray for love. May we circumcise our hearts quickly and artfully, focus on the inhale and exhale as we funnel the light of Torah towards clear and concise actions that will create a world of peace for all people. May we walk in God's ways and allow ourselves to really pray.