Not to lose hope if you feel desensitized to spirituality:[1]
It states in scripture in Jeremiah “remove the foreskin of your heart and become circumcised for G-d.” Jeremiah in this statement is coming to teach the Jewish people to not lose hope and feel despair if one sees that the external aspect of his heart is connected with the physical matters of this world, which can lead him to believe that all hope is lost for him to ever be able to feel any spiritual emotions. The instruction for him is to circumcise his heart, as every Jew contains an inner recess of his heart which desires G-d and is simply covered over by the foreskin which covers and controls his external part of his heart. However, the moment that he removes it, the covenant and connection between him and G-d will automatically become revealed and spillover even to the external part of his heart, to experience a passionate fiery love for G-d.
- Practical lesson: One of the most common complaints of those who study Chassidus is that the information remains in the books and in the memory of one’s brain, but doesn’t affect the heart. One can invest dozens of hours of study on the subject of love of G-d, and still have more lust for a bowl of corn flakes in the morning, then to concentrate and arouse a desire to cleave to G-d during prayer. Even worse, some don’t even complain about this phenomenon and just accept it is a fact that the study of the Chassidus is an exercise for the intellect, and not for the heart. Nothing can be further than the truth. The entire purpose of studying Chassidus is to bring the content of one’s study to an emotional experience. The above message of the prophet Jeremiah, as explained by the Alter Rebbe, comes to instruct the individual that he indeed is capable of feeling passionate love for G-d much more than for his breakfast bowl of cornflakes, and in fact his heart already contains this feeling and all one has to do is uncover it. It is covered by materialism. Removing oneself from materialism and from lusting after it, even temporarily, will greatly assist one in bringing his inner souls emotions to the surface. Chasing all day after money, good foods, entertainment, social media, social followings, and the various wastes of time offered by smartphones, places a layer of sand over one’s heart. You dig, you find! Love for G-d is indeed within your reach.
[1] Likkutei Torah p. 42a