In this week’s parsha, Eikev, we learn the remedy for how to cleanse ourselves from being stiff-necked people. In the parsha, it says that we should circumcise our hearts so that we would no longer be stiff necked. While it seems to give us the remedy, what does it mean?

Until now, this parsha has expressed how even after God took us out of Egypt, we complained, worshiped a golden calf and did other things that appeared to distance ourselves from God. It seems that the Jews were still questioning God or were not getting close to Him. From here, Rashi uncovers a beautiful idea, saying that when the Torah tells us to circumcise our hearts it means that we should uncover our hearts and listen to the words of God. The problem with the Jews was that they didn’t follow God’s words. They didn’t follow His mitzvot in the desert, they didn’t want to hear that it was God calling out to them.

How many times do we not hear what people say? We have a term that people call selective hearing which is when we hear only what we want to hear. The same goes for God. How many times when a mitzvah gets tough or you don’t understand it, do you say, I didn’t know? How many times do you sit down to learn and think so highly of yourself but when you are in a scenario you just learned, you do the opposite? We still have the issue of being a stiff-necked people today and we need to circumcise our hearts! Don’t just learn Torah but implement what God says in our day-to-day lives. Don’t think because it is hard, you shouldn’t listen or you should only hear the words you want. Take what God says, and what people say, and realize those messages are there to help, to bring you closer to Him and make you a better person.

By Shira Sedek