“Elul” is the Sixth Month of the year, counting from “Nisan,” called in the Chumash, “the first month.” Counting from “Tishrei”, the month of Rosh HaShanah, “Elul” is the twelfth, and last month in the year. Like the names of the other months of the Hebrew Calendar, “Elul came up”, […]
#ELUL #IAMFORMYBELOVEDMYBELOVEDISFORME Perhaps the most famous allusion of Elul in all of Tanach is that voiced by Shlomo HaMelech in Shir HaShirim, ‘אני לדודי ודודי לי’ ‘I am for my Beloved and my Beloved is for me’. As it is well known, the first letters of each of these words, when […]
#SHOFAR #ELUL Shofar is one of the very few mitzvos that emphasize listening לשמוע קול rather than performance of the mitzvah. When Hashem hears the shofar, it “reminds” Him of one of the high points in His relationship with Israel: the pledge of “na’aseh v’nishma, We will do and we will […]
צריך האדם לבקש רחמים מהקב״ה לחדש זאת הרשימה בלבן בר״ה וע״ז מבקשין כתבנו לחיים One of the consequences of the restoration of the Jewish soul every Rosh Hashanah is the return of that inner spark of sanctity that somehow has lain dormant all year. Liberated from his material impulses, every […]
If you had an important court date scheduled – one that would determine your financial future, or even your very life – you’d be sure to prepare for weeks beforehand. On Rosh Hashanah, each individual is judged on the merit of his deeds. Whether he will live out the year […]
3 LEVELS OF FORGIVENESS #FORGIVENESS #ELUL There are three Hebrew synonyms: “Selichah,” “Mechilah,” and “Kapparah,” all related to the idea of “forgiveness.” What does each mean? #SELICHA usually translated as “forgiveness” is the first step which must be taken if someone has committed a sin, whether it be against G-d or against Man. […]
#FORGIVENESS #FORGIVEOTHERS #ELUL I hereby forgive everyone who offended or angered me, or sinned against me (Prayer on Retiring). Since we pray to Gd to forgive our mistakes, certainly we should be willing to forgive others who have offended us. Forgiveness must be more than perfunctory. A man once heard his Rabbi […]
JUST APOLOGIZE #APOLOGIZE #MECHILAH #ELUL #SPARK Sincerely apologizing is the best way to overcome the resentment and negative feelings of someone who is angry with you. However, at times it can be very difficult to apologize. When you tell yourself, “Just apologize,” it can become easier. If you really did something wrong, you have […]
Asking for forgiveness is not an easy task. What did I do that’s so terrible? Why can’t Hashem just forgive me. He can do anything. It takes a definite measure of spiritual sensitivity to realize that what we do wrong (each one of us has a definite idea of what […]
#ROSHCHODESH #ELUL Special Significance – Biblical and by “Minhag,” (Jewish Custom) of Rosh Chodesh Elul Moshe had gone up in the Month of Sivan, and returned after forty days and forty nights, on the 17th of Tammuz with the First Luchos. When Moshe observed the Jewish People sinning by creating and […]
