Circumcisions of the heart are a topic which I've seen mentioned a couple of times but never really delved into. While the word circumcision is used to describe it, the mark cannot be equated to true circumcision because a person obviously needs to be circumcised. That being said, we have examples of people being punished regardless of their circumcision status because they weren't circumcised "of the heart"
My question is do we have a clearly defined idea of what it means to have a circumcision of one's heart? Or is it one of those concepts that relates to generalized piety that isn't clearly grasped?
Answer
This is the subject of the fourth discourse of the the Alter Rebbe in the fourth section of the Tanya called Igeret HaKodesh.
He explains that process of circumcising the heart is to remove ones material desires through the process of teshuvah to the extent that it reveals the true nature of the innermost essence of ones heart. That at the core of ones heart is G-d’s essence, the pintele Yid in all of us.
To read it in the complete form, follow this link.
No comments:
Post a Comment