신명기 30:6의 주석

AND THE ETERNAL THY G-D WILL CIRCUMCISE THY HEART. It is this which the Rabbis have said,⁵⁷Shabbath 104a. “If someone comes to purify himself, they assist him” [from on High]. The verse assures you that you will return to Him with all your heart and He will help you.
This following subject is very apparent from Scripture: Since the time of Creation, man has had the power⁵⁸Literally: “the permission.” to do as he pleased, to be righteous or wicked. This [grant of free will] applies likewise to the entire Torah-period, so that people can gain merit upon choosing the good and punishment for preferring evil. But in the days of the Messiah, the choice of their [genuine] good will be natural; the heart will not desire the improper and it will have no craving whatever for it. This is the “circumcision” mentioned here, for lust and desire are the “foreskin” of the heart, and circumcision of the heart means that it will not covet or desire evil. Man will return at that time to what he was before the sin of Adam, when by his nature he did what should properly be done, and there were no conflicting desires in his will, as I have explained in Seder Bereshith.⁵⁹Genesis 2:9 (Vol. I, pp. 72-73). See also Vol. III, pp. 456-457. — It should be noted here that Ramban’s intention is not to state that man in the era of Messiah will be completely devoid of the desire to do evil, for if that were the case there would be no place for reward and punishment, which is founded upon the principle of man’s freedom of choice between good and evil. Rather, the import of his words is to state that man will then be so motivated for good that he will naturally be doing the good and proper according to the Will of G-d, and it will appear as if the instinct for evil has been completely eliminated from him, although potentially it will still be with him. The case is similar to what we say now of a normal knowledgeable person that it is “impossible” for him to jump into a blazing fire. Of course, it is within his powers to do so, but it is his knowledge of the danger entailed that makes it “impossible” for him to do so. In the Messianic era man will have that kind of reaction to all things prohibited by G-d. There will, therefore, still be place for reward and punishment, since potentially man will still have his freedom of choice. See my Hebrew commentary, Vol. I, p. 36-37, where I quote this thought in the name of Rabbi Yeruchum, one of the great leaders of the Musar movement. It is this which Scripture states in [the Book of] Jeremiah, Behold, the days come, saith the Eternal, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers etc. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Eternal, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.⁶⁰Jeremiah 31:30-32. This is a reference to the annulment of the evil instinct and to the natural performance by the heart of its proper function. Therefore Jeremiah said further, and I will be their G-d, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know the Eternal;’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.⁶¹Ibid., Verses 32-33. Now, it is known that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth⁶²Genesis 8:21. and it is necessary to instruct them, but at that time it will not be necessary to instruct them [to avoid evil] for their evil instinct will then be completely abolished. And so it is declared by Ezekiel, A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you;⁶³Ezekiel 36:26. and I will cause you to walk in My statutes.⁶⁴Ibid., Verse 27. The new heart alludes to man’s nature, and the [new] spirit to the desire and will. It is this which our Rabbis have said:⁶⁵Shabbath 151b. “And the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say: ‘I have no pleasure in them’⁶⁶Ecclesiastes 12:1. — these are the days of the Messiah, as they will offer opportunity neither for merit nor for guilt,” for in the days of the Messiah there will be no [evil] desire in man but he will naturally perform the proper deeds and therefore there will be neither merit nor guilt in them, for merit and guilt are dependent upon desire.

ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך, לאהבה, He will open your eyes so as to remove every erroneous conceptions which have prevented you from recognising the theological truth of all aspects of the Jewish religion. Once these “blinds” have been removed from your eyes you will realise that everything G’d has done was out of His love for you, and had to be done למען חייך, in order to ensure that you will be part of eternal life after your body dies.

ומל ה׳ אלוקיך את לבבך, And the Lord your G'd will circumcise your heart, etc." In view of the Torah already having described the Israelites as having done תשובה why would G'd have to circumcise their hearts? Besides, what does the Torah mean in verse 8 ואתה תשוב ושמעת בקול השם, "and you will return and hearken to the voice of G'd?" This seems to contradict the statement in verse 2? Moreover, the words ואתה תשוב after G'd has circumcised our hearts make no sense at all. What can still be lacking in the process of penitence once G'd has circumcised our hearts?

ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך, “the Lord your G’d will circumcise your heart, etc.;” we have a principle that if someone takes the first step in the direction of purifying himself he will experience a Divine assist during his continuing efforts in that direction. Moses assures the repentant sinner that Hashem will assist by removing hindrances, metaphorically described as a foreskin that are strewn on the path to one’s rehabilitation. Nachmanides writes that from the wording of the text it would appear that starting with the creation of man, he was free to act as he saw fit; [in the sense of “without interference on the part of the Creator”. Ed.] As long as the Torah that we received at Mount Sinai will be in force, this situation will continue, the reason being that G’d wants to have a reason to reward us for having chosen freely to obey Him, as opposed to the angels who do not possess such a choice. However, in the days after the Messiah will have arrived it will become natural for man to make the right choices, the heart no longer pining away for things that are not appropriate for man. This is what Moses meant when he spoke about a “circumcision” of the heart occurring. The urge for things forbidden is considered as a ערלה, a foreskin. At the time of the Messiah man will recapture the innocence possessed by the first man, Adam, before he had eaten from the tree of knowledge. [By the way, Adam had been created without a foreskin, so that the foreskin with which most of his descendants are born are a reminder of some impediment to purity having becoming a “normal” condition in man. Ed.] Man will revert to being a “parve” being, in the sense that there is no greater tendency to do good than to do evil or vice versa. From that time and on, everything will depend on man’s will. He will only need to will himself to be good in order to succeed. There will be no Satan trying to block his way.

ומל ה' אלוקיך את לבבך, “the Lord your G’d will circumcise your heart, etc.” Nachmanides writes on this verse: “this means that the Lord will remove the ‘foreskin’ covering the people’s heart”, a simile for desires of sexual and other varieties which are described as ערלת הלב. We know that someone who is captive to such desires is known as ערל, from Jeremiah 9,25 where the prophet describes the Jewish people as being of uncircumcised heart [although they do not have a foreskin on their sexual organ. Ed.] Just as the removal of the foreskin of that organ helps to restrain excessive sexual urges, so the removal of its equivalent covering of the heart will control the cravings responsible for committing other sins. G’d assures the people in that verse in Jeremiah that a time will come when such obstacles to obedience to G’d’s laws will be removed. [Although what the author wrote here is the gist of what Nachmanides writes, it does not represent an accurate translation of his words. Ed.]

V. 6. ומל וגו׳, und durch alles, was du in den zurückgelegten Prüfungszeiten erlebt hast, und was nun Gott dich bei dieser endlichen גאולה erleben lässt, wird endlich jede ערלה, jedes Ungefügige (siehe Bereschit 17, 10) von deinem und deiner Kinder Herz für immer beseitigt sein, so dass fortan "Gott" und "dein Leben" für dich als eins zusammenfällt, und wie du des Atmens nicht für dein Leben entbehren kannst, wird das Gottesbewusstsein, das Bewusstsein und das Gefühl Seiner Bundesnähe bei dir und deiner Bundesnähe bei Ihm also zu deinem "Leben" gehören, dass du mit ganzem Herzen und ganzer Seele in die Liebe zu ihm aufgehst. —

I have already pointed out in my commentary on כי תבא that there are three categories of blessings and punishments concerning three different parts of Torah observance. There is a separate reward and punishment for 1) Torah study, 2) observance of the negative commandments, 3) performing the positive commandments.

In accordance with this, the process of repentance must also include all these three areas of Torah observance. The words ושבת עד ה׳ אלוקיך refer to the Jews beginning to study the Torah again. This is why the Torah continues with the words "and you listen to His voice." Seeing that the Torah does not mention anything else in that context it is clear that the subject of ושבת is your return to Torah study. The words ושב ה׳ את שבותך ושב וקבצך, are a promise that the people will be redeemed by the merit of Torah study (Zohar volume three page 72). We also have it on the authority of Jeremiah 9,12 that the disaster struck the Jewish people as a result of their abandoning Torah. This is why when they rectify this error and devote themselves once more to Torah study G'd will gather them in and bring them back to ארץ ישראל.

Concerning the failure to keep the negative commandments the Torah says: "and G'd will circumcise your hearts." We are familiar with the concept that the foreskin of the heart is a hyperbole for doing what is forbidden and a love for the forbidden. G'd now says לאהבה את ה׳ אלוקיך "in order to love the Lord your G'd." In response to the Israelites learning to love G'd, He in turn, will take care of all our troubles. He will deliver our enemies into our hands and He will afflict all our enemies with the curses mentioned previously.

Concerning the performance of the positive commandments as part of the Israelites' repentance the Torah writes: "you will return….and carry out all the positive commandments, etc." The additional reward accruing to the people as a result is described in verse 9 "G'd will make you abundantly successful in your various endeavours, etc."