Elul: Earned Advice

“And God will circumcise your hears, and the hearts of your children, to love God, your Lord, with all your hearts and with all your souls, so that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6)

The first letter of each the Hebrew words “Your hearts and the hearts of your children” spell Elul.

Just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave Abraham the advice to circumcise himself once he had shown his total commitment to attach to God, so too, in the future, after we have shown our commitment to work on our entire soul, God will give us the necessary advice how to circumcise our hearts. (Sefat Emet)

Elul is the month we can demonstrate our commitment to develop our entire soul and thereby merit the necessary advice from God, how to circumcise our hearts to attach to him in complete love.