Due to Blogger Format Changes

Due to Blogger Format Changes, Posts Will Be Shortened With LINKS to ORIGINAL NO MORE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS: they will be deleted. YOU MUST USE A NAME OR MONIKER!

19 August 2009

Elul ... Month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness

A Video of
The Lubavitcher Rebbe
30 Menachem Av 5742 -
August 19, 1982

The King Awaits

The Alter Rebbe offers a parable illustrating G-d's closeness to every Jew during the month of Elul: A wise and powerful king returns to his capital city, but does not enter the gates. He waits for his subject to empty out of the capital and greet him in the field. There, in the field, each person can encounter the king. And he receives them all with a smiling countenance. [Video of The Rebbe in Yiddish 6:50m by Chabad.org]

Elul - Month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness

As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

As the month of "Divine Mercy and Forgiveness," Elul is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."

The following are some of the basic customs and practices for the month of Elul:

  • Each day of the month of Elul (except for Shabbat and the last day of Elul), we sound the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance.

  • When writing a letter or meeting one another, we bless one another by including the greeting Ketivah vachatimah tovah--which roughly translates as "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year."

  • Chapter 27 of the Book of Psalms is added to daily prayers, in the morning and afternoon.

  • The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).

  • Elul is a good time to have one's tefillin and mezuzotchecked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.

  • During the last week of Elul, in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, the Slichot prayers are recited, the first night at midnight, the following days in the early morning.


Artistry: Sounding the shofar in the synagogue during the month of Elul - a painting by chassidic artist Zalman Kleinman. Visit Zalman Kleinman Art Gallery and Chassidic Art to view his poster prints.

No comments:

Reb Ginsbourg – Tsav: The challenge of a depleted pocket

  The word "tsav" is found only concerning the Korban Tamid. Why? Rav Baruch Halevi Epstein  notes that our Parasha opens with the...