The Month of Elul 5778

 

Holiday #16 (242)

Elul 5778

Aug. 10 - Sept. 9, 2018

From the Masters of Chabad From Ascent QuarterlyFrom the Chassidic RebbesSome Laws and Customs
 

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THE NAME: ELUL

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Song of Songs 6:3).

The initials of the original Hebrew words, “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li,” spell Elul. The month of Elul is the period of ‘arousal from below,’ when the initiation of the man/G-d interaction is from our side: “I am my beloved’s.”  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the time of ‘arousal from above,’ G-d’s response: “and my beloved is mine.”  The verse implies a causal relationship; the effulgence of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a direct response to the arousal from below in Elul.  That is why Elul is an acronym for “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” since proper preparation in Elul invokes the revelation of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

from Sefer Ha’maamorim Meluket, Vol. 3, p. 363.
 


CHAI ELUL

The eighteenth day of the month of Elul [this year: Aug. 29], 12 days before Rosh HaShanah, marks the 318th year since the birthday in 1698 of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the revealer of the Chassidic movement --on the same date!--in 1734. It presents a precious opportunity to inculcate into our lives his main teachings and his essence. To start, here are three of the principles that he made famous:

  • Respect and care for every single Jew,
  • Be conscious that everything that happens is for a reason in G-d's overall plan, and
  • Study and spread the inner teachings of Torah–Kabbalah/Chassidut–in order to prepare the arrival of Moshiach and the final redemption.

As Elul is quickly coming to close, so is the year. Let’s make best use of what remains of this special time for spiritual self-evaluation. There is a tradition among Chassidim that the 18th, the chai or “life-force,” of Elul starts a final count-down to Rosh Hashanah. It is taught that each of the last 12 days of the year (Elul 18-29; Aug. 29 - Sept. 9) correspond to the 12 months of the ending year. The 18th corresponds to the past Tishrei, the month of the high holidays; the 19th to Cheshvan; the 20th to the month of Kislev including Chanukah etc.; until the eve of Rosh Hashanah which is for Elul. On each of these consecutive days, we look into our ‘account books,’ checking to see if we served G-d to our maximum during the corresponding month, and how we need to improve in the future. Doing so is an excellent technique to properly prepare ourselves for the High Holidays.

 


from The Introduction to THE ELUL PROCESS
Refoel Leitner

 

“Prepare the holy throne” (Zohar). Holiness requires preparation. Our chief task is not to create it, but rather  to become a receptacle for holiness, which comes about according to the manner of the preparation.

Elul is the last month of the Jewish calendar year.  As the preparation for Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, which immediately follows it, Elul is a month of repentance, marked by a number of Festivals and Holidays, special customs and traditions.

Elul is also the month of soul-accounting. A businessman occasionally needs to calculate an overall profit-and-loss statement, as well as a detailed ledger.  We too need to conduct an annual audit of the state of our spiritual ‘business.’  The entire year we are involved in accruing profit: serving G-d through Torah-study, mitzvah-observance, prayer and good deeds.  In the month of Elul, we make a general reckoning of all we have done throughout the year.

Further, the best possible time for this soul-accounting is the month of Elul, for then the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy shine (i.e. “...slow to anger and abounding in kindness and truth; forgiving iniquity, ...”).  This revelation may be compared to a king  who emerges from his palace and goes out to the field in full view of his subjects.  Only then is it possible to engage  appropriately in spiritual introspection without the danger of sinking into hopelessness and despair.  For, after all, the king is with him in the field—he has our benefit in mind.

A pre-requisite for a proper soul accounting is total acceptance of and self-subordination to the heavenly yoke. This self-subordination can produce a generous ‘growth ,’ just as a seed sown in the ground and covered sprouts a yield far greater than itself.

Although engaging in such spiritual labor can be difficult, making a sincere, all-out effort helps to generate the necessary  inner strength to make our actual, practical service conform with Divine expectations.
 

Refoel Leitner authored and illustrated Ascent “How-to” Charts #8: ”Three Gates of Yom Kippur” (AQ#16) and #11: ”The Elul Process” (AQ#42).  He currently resides in Monsey, NY. 

 


Some Laws and Customs

 

HEAR THE SHOFAR.  Beginning with the first day of Elul (this year: Aug. 11), until Sunday, Sept. 9, it is customary to blow the shofar [ram’s horn] after the week-day morning prayer. The call of the shofar stirs the heart.  Its daily blasts proclaim: “Awaken, you sleepers, from your sleep! Arise, you slumberers, from your slumber! Examine your actions and repent.”

SAY EXTRA PSALMS.  From the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul (this year: Aug. 10) until and including Hoshanna Rabba (Sept. 30), we recite twice daily Psalm 27, “A psalm of David: the L-rd is my light and my salvation.”  This custom is based on the Midrashic comment, “the L-rd is my light” on Rosh Hashanah, “my salvation” on Yom Kippur, “He will hide me in His tent” on Sukkot. Chassidim and Sephardim include it in the Morning and Afternoon prayers; the Lithuanian custom is to say it during the Morning and Evening prayers.

RECITE SELICHOT.  The Sephardic tradition is to begin reciting selichot immeditely after Rosh Chodesh Elul.  The Ashkenazi custom is to recite selichot beginning with the Saturday night of the week in which Rosh Hashanah falls, provided that four days are left before Rosh Hashanah.  Therefore, if Rosh Hashanah falls either on Monday --like this year -- or Tuesday of the week, the recitation of selichot is begun the Saturday night (Sept. 1) of the week preceding.

INCREASE IN GIVING CHARITY.  During Elul, charity is given liberally, since the merit of charity is a shield against evil decrees and prolongs life.  It casts a mantle of protection not only over the giver but over the whole Jewish people. When a person transcends his natural instinct and gives when not beholden, G-d in turn grants him more than he would otherwise  be worthy of receiving.

RETURN IN PENITENCE.  The fundamentals of repentance are threefold: forsaking the sin one has committed, regret and confession. Forsaking of sin consists of abandoning the sin in both practice and thought, coupled with a firm resolution not to repeat it.  Regret is the understanding that separating from G-d is evil and bitter, and the intense awareness that there is a price for transgression.  Confession must be expressed orally: “I have sinned, I have done such and such; I regret my actions and feel ashamed of them, and will never again revert to them.”

[based on Book of Our Heritage, s.v. Elul. ]
 

Repentance requires regret of past and positive resolution for the future, yet the first step is repairing and properly organizing the present, so that it is good and correct in all aspects of action, speech and thought.  Only then, when the present is as it is supposed to be, can one do the work necessary to compensate for lackings or undesirable elements of the past, and to create guidelines and disciplines for the future.

In correcting and straightening out the present, it is easier to fix action and speech than thought. How do we correct and bring order to speech and deed? By being preoccupied with good deeds and being accustomed to proper speech, prayer and study.  However, even before one gets to this level, one can at least refrain from negative action and speech: it is neither necessary nor advisable always to do what one wants to do and to say what one feels like saying.

Not so with thought, which is constantly active and impossible to stop or silence.  The only option is to turn to other thoughts, since a person can always choose to change the topic of his thought.  Therefore, every Jew should have words of Torah engraved in his memory, so that at any moment he can switch from an undesirable thought to a holy one.

The month of Elul is propitious for self-stocktaking, and for repentance in the three ‘garments’ of the soul--thought, speech and action.  Divine service requires thorough self-knowledge. Just as ignoring our faults can be crippling, so can being oblivious to our strengths. One must know oneself well: both one’s abilities and talents as well as one’s deficiencies and weaknesses.

[translated and adapted from the Introduction to Pokeach Ivrim]

 

Chag Samayach - Have a joyous holiday!

The ASCENT staff

 

last year's Elul page

for more Kabbalah insights on Elul


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