On the eighth day after a male member of
the tribe is born,
Jews circumcise the baby boy.
In Parshat Ekev, Moses tells the Israelites
to circumcise their hearts.
No, really! Circumcise their hearts.
What does that mean?
Sometimes, our lives get full of
emotional and mental junk
that we need to clear away
before we can see what's really important.
Like a spiritual spring cleaning.
In Ekev, Moses helps the Israelites
start clearing out the cobwebs
before they move into their new home –
the Promised Land.
The Israelites are standing at the edge
of the land of Israel –
they are really anxious to get in.
Moses stands before them.
It's kind of like their graduation day
and Moses is giving the farewell address.
After this message, they'll be out
on their own in the "real" world.
In this considerably long speech
he reminds the Israelites
that if they keep God's commandments,
then they will be protected.
Not just protected, but blessed.
With children, with health and with fertile soil
that produces lots of good stuff.
The Israelites could have been
rolling their eyes at this point -
We get it, Moses.
Just let us enter the land already!
But he reminds them that they have made
plenty of mistakes and they better listen up.
Like the times when
they doubted his leadership
and even doubted God.
Like the time they - ahem -
built the Golden Calf, or provoked God
with their gluttony when 24/7 meat
wasn't enough for them.
And then there was that time the Spies
scared everyone with their wild reports
about the land of Israel.
Not to mention the constant complaining,
"I'm thirsty." "I'm hungry."
And, "Are we there yet?"
Moses asks the Israelites to remember
when God took them out of Egypt
and freed them from slavery.
And he tells it like it is,
"It's not because you're righteous that
you got to this point -
in fact you're kind of a pain in the tuchis.
But I kept convincing God -
who was determined to destroy you –
not to wipe you out."
He continues, "You've made it this far,
you're about to cross the Jordan
and there's no reason to fear anything
that awaits you.
In fact, I'll even give you a sneak preview:
it's a land of wheat and barley,
and grape vines and fig-trees
and pomegranates;
a land of olive-trees and date honey."
PS: These are known as the Seven Species
The seven fruits and grains that the land
became famous for
and that we have
special blessings for today.
So in this place,
Moses says to the Israelites,
you're going to prosper,
and build houses and family and wealth.
Unlike the wilderness
where you've been wandering for 40 years,
not settling down or growing anything.
But, Moses warns, don't get haughty
and say that YOU made it all happen –
you have to remember
to give thanks to God.
Then he teaches them what is today
the second part of the Shema,
one of the most important prayers
that Jews say.
It includes clear instructions –
that you should serve God with
all of your heart and all your soul.
But what does that mean -
"with all of your heart?"
And then what did he mean
a few minutes later when
he also told the people,
"Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts?"
All of us have an inclination
to sometimes be protective –
to close ourselves off from the world.
Perhaps when Moses said,
"circumcise your heart," he was referring
to this inclination.
Sometimes we don't want to expose
ourselves to others.
We meet people and want to keep it
on a shallow level or we start to get close
with a friend – but fear getting hurt.
We harden our hearts to strangers –
the new kid in school,
or someone who looks different than we do.
And we also do it to those that we love,
like when we fight the hardest
with the people we care about most.
But the deepest relationships happen
when we show people the real us –
even though it means being vulnerable.
We all have spiritual potential inside of us;
all we have to do is find the place
of doubt within our hearts and work
on cutting it away.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Animation: Jeanne Stern
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written and Narrated by Lindsay Litowitz
Sound Recording: Sarah Lefton