The Month of Elul 5784

Elul 5784

Sept. 2 (sunset) - Oct. 2 (sunset)

THE NAME: ELUL

The beginning of the month of Elul initiates the first days of our annual month of preparation before the High Holy days, when the Jewish people are judged on their behavior of the past year. The Shlah comments on the verse "When the lion roars, who is not afraid?" (Amos 3:8), explaining that the Hebrew word for "lion", "aryeh", (spelled alef, reish, yud, hei), is an acronym for the 4 words, Elul, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah (the last day of Sukkot). When the "lion" of the High Holy Days arrives, people feel the urge to change their behavior for the better, in preparation of the Day of Judgment.

Because of the spiritual potency of the month of Elul, there are ancient traditions associating the name of the month with different Torah verses where the first letters of the words spell out "Elul", showing us the different aspects of its character and how we can utilize them to connect with G-d. The most well known include "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me" (Songs 6:3), which refers to the power of prayer; "Each man to his friend and gifts for the poor" (Esther 9:22) about charity and, in general, kindness to others; "Your heart and the heart of your children" (Deut. 30:6), referring to repentance; and "It came to his hand and we placed for him" (Ex. 21:13), which alludes to the cities of refuge, built for one who murdered accidentally (referring to the Torah, our refuge).

When we will truly use all of our efforts during the month of Elul, to learn Torah and do all of the commandments, then the final verse hinted in the name "Elul" will become fully revealed: "And they said, we will sing to G-d." (Ex. 15:1) This was the prophesy of the Jewish people at the splitting of the red sea, that everyone will sing together at the time of Mashiach celebrating the arrival of the Final Redemption!

Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter is a co-founder and the executive director of Ascent-of-Safed.

Elul's radiated Thirteen Attributes of Compassion are a preparation for their full revelation on Yom Kippur. One might ask, how can a mere radiation be related to intense Absolute Light? But it certainly can, for although their state during Elul is external - as a king in a field - nevertheless, they are the Infinite One's Light, and we can't distinguish between them.

Based on a discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, parashat Re'eh 5739-1979

CHAI ELUL

The eighteenth day of the month of Elul [2024:Sept. 21], 12 days before Rosh HaShanah, is the the birthday of the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the revealer of the Chassidic movement in 1734, on his 36th birthday. It presents a precious opportunity to inculcate into our lives his main teachings and his essence. To start, here are some of the principles that he made famous, found in the possession of a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov in Hamburg (copied from the holy handwriting of the Admor Moharash).

The following is translated by Yaacov-David Shulman from Kovetz Eliyahu, p. 14:

1. The entire Torah and the entire world contain nothing but the light of the Infinite One (blessed be He) concealed within them. All the verses that speak of this, such as "there is no other than He" and "I fill the heavens and the earth," are to be taken literally.

There is no act, word or thought in which the essence of divinity is not constricted and hiding. And so when you look and see with your mind's eye, you will see the inner, life-force aspect of everything, not just its outer, superficial layer. You will see nothing but the divine power inside all things that is giving them life, being and existence at every moment.

And when you listen carefully to the inner voice within any physical sound that you hear, you will hear only the voice of G-d as, at that moment, it is literally giving life and existence to the sound that you are hearing.

2. The "exile of G-d's Presence" refers to the life-force and divine power that gives a person life and existence even at the moment that he is transgressing G-d's will.

3. The evil inclination and lust are agents of G-d. They carry out G-d's will to mislead a person in order that he will overcome them.

From them, you can learn to be as mighty as they are. Just as they never slacken in their work but are trying to destroy you day and night (because a person always desires what his eyes see and what his ears hear), just as they are happy and delighted to carry out G-d's will, it should be as clear to you that G-d wants you to overcome them until you will conquer yourself and all your desires will be under your control - until you transform them to good.

This idea is alluded to in the verse, "We will take from it [from the flock] to serve G-d" (Ex. 10:26), meaning that we will take a lesson from the evil inclination to act just as it acts to fulfill G-d's will. And a word to the wise is sufficient.

4. Having no [divine] source, evil does not come down from heaven. Nevertheless, evil that exists has an inner power giving it life. And this [inner power] is total goodness. So if you look at the inner aspect of evil, you will only see the good in it.

5. A person has to cling to the words that he speaks. Because each word contains a soul and divinity, when you cling to them, you are connected to divinity.

6. Everything that happens in the world, no matter how insignificant, comes from G-d. And so do not concern yourself with whether or not what has occurred is in accordance with your will.

7. Neither thinking about the day of one's death nor the fear of punishment in hell will arouse a person's heart to serve G-d. But yearning to cling to the source of life and goodness will do so. And neither fasting nor afflicting oneself will be of any help. But forgetting oneself out of the depth of one's yearning will do so.

8. Every person in his own right is [essentially] a complete spiritual Torah. If he goes in G-d's path, that [Torah] is absorbed into his being, according to his level.

9. When a person prays for something that he needs, he should pray for the divine life-force hiding within that thing and giving it life, which is now suffering because of whatever it is lacking. And so one should ask G-d to have pity on His life force that is hidden in that thing.

10. G-d's Providence extends to all created beings, even to inanimate objects and plants. There is nothing that is not viewed from above in every detail. Everything was made with a particular intent. And a word to the wise is sufficient.

Note: the number 18 is represented in Hebrew numbers as chet-yud, which has the same letters as the word 'chai', life.

Additionally, Chai Elul starts the final count-down to Rosh Hashanah. It is taught that each of these last 12 days correspond to the 12 months of the ending year. On each consecutive day, 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.

Yaacov-David Shulman Yaacov-David Shulman is the author of about twenty books. These include translations of Rav Kook and the Piaseszner Rebbe. He can be reached at yacovdavid@aol.com

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