Customs of the Month of Elul - Rabbi Shmuel Mekamel shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast of the Chabad Halacha Institute.

00:09 Speaker 2 Today we’ll discuss the meaning of several laws and customs of the month of Elul. We know from our Sages that the days of Elul are especially suited to an awakening of teshuvah and mercy. We know that after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moshe Rabbeinu prayed and pleaded with Hashem to forgive the Jewish people for their sin. And indeed, after many days of prayer, on Rosh Chodesh Elul, Hakadosh Boruch Hu told Moshe Rabbeinu to ascend Mount Sinai again and receive the final Tablets. That was the beginning of the last forty days. Moshe Rabbeinu went up the mountain, and at the end of those forty days came Yom Kippur, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu showed His forgiveness to the Jewish people. The halachic authorities teach us that ever since then, these days have been established as days of forgiveness, days that awaken teshuvah and mercy. So during these days we need to strengthen ourselves in teshuvah and in every aspect of Torah and mitzvos, fear of Heaven, and serving Hashem. And as the Rebbe says, the significance of these days of Elul is alluded to in the special acronyms associated with the month. There are several acronyms for Elul, some of them very well known, and they tell us what the month means—what, above all, we need to increase and focus on during Elul. First of all, Elul is a month of teshuvah, as we said. We know that teshuvah is alluded to in the verse, “Hashem your G-d will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants.” In Hebrew, the initials of “your heart and the heart” spell Elul. In other words, during the days of Elul we need to open our hearts, to remove the covering from our hearts. Once we do that, we will be open to teshuvah. The days of Elul are especially suited to an awakening of teshuvah and to examining everything we need to correct from the past year. We know

02:26 Speaker 2 that there are times set aside for taking stock of ourselves. In fact, every day, when we say Krias Shema before going to sleep, that is a time to reflect on the day that has passed. Every Erev Shabbos is a time to reflect on the past week; every Rosh Chodesh, on the past month; and so on. A birthday is a time to reflect on the past year. But the days of Elul are especially designated for taking stock. And of course, this reflection should be done with joy, because the main point here, the main emphasis, is on making things right: how we are going to correct and complete what is needed, so that things will be better and more complete. So this is not a matter of becoming brokenhearted or sad, but of looking at what needs to be done. Our self-examination should therefore be done specifically with joy. These are days when we need to review all the good resolutions we made during the year and ask whether we are actually keeping them. Especially since each day of Elul has the power to make amends. We know that the Arizal said that the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known in the words of our Sages as the days “between the concealed moon and the tenth,” are suited to correcting the past year and giving strength for our service in the coming year. The first Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur corrects all the Sundays of the past year and gives strength for all the Sundays of the coming year, and the same applies to each day of the week. Shabbos Shuvah, the Shabbos between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, corrects all the Shabbos days of the past year and gives strength for our service on the Shabbos days of the coming year. Similarly, it has been revealed to us that the last twelve days of Elul, beginning with Chai Elul—the day that gives life to the month of Elul, an especially auspicious day,

04:19 Speaker 2 the day connected with the births of the holy Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe—give life to all the service of Elul. That is why it is called Chai Elul. Beginning on that day, we are able to correct all the months that have passed. Chai Elul corrects the month of Tishrei, 19 Elul corrects Cheshvan, and so on, until 29 Elul, which corrects our service during Elul and gives strength for the service of the coming months. This applies throughout the last twelve days of Elul. In addition, in 5719 the Rebbe revealed that every day from Rosh Chodesh Elul, starting with 1 Elul, has the ability to correct the past year and give strength for the coming year. The first of Elul corrects every first day of the month in the past year and gives added strength for every first day of the month in the coming year, and so on: the second, the third, all the way to 29 Elul, which corrects every twenty-ninth and thirtieth day, since the month of Elul always has only twenty-nine days. So the work of 29 Elul corrects both the twenty-ninth and the thirtieth days of the past year and gives strength for the twenty-ninth and thirtieth days of the coming year. We see, then, that every day of Elul is especially suited to teshuvah and taking stock of ourselves. We know that during these days we should have our tefillin and mezuzos checked if they have not been checked in the past year, as part of strengthening our care in observing Torah and mitzvos—to make sure that everything is as it should be. And if there are commitments or good resolutions we have not yet carried out, we need to check whether we have fulfilled them and whether we are still keeping them. Once we have opened our hearts to teshuvah and removed the covering from our hearts, we come to the acronyms

06:24 Speaker 2 that spell out what we should continue to focus on during Elul. The main focus is on the three pillars on which the world stands: Torah, prayer, and tzedakah. These too are alluded to in the acronyms for Elul. The verse that alludes to Torah is about the cities of refuge: “It came about by his hand, and I will appoint for you…”—“G-d brought it about by his hand, and I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.” This verse speaks of someone who killed another person and is exiled to a city of refuge, which protects him from the avenger of blood who is pursuing him. Our Sages said that just as the killer needs protection from the avenger of blood, every person needs protection from the yetzer hara that pursues him constantly. And what serves as a city of refuge for a person? Words of Torah. Words of Torah provide refuge. So words of Torah are represented by the cities of refuge. The phrase in the verse about the cities of refuge, “It came about by his hand, and I will appoint for you,” tells us that during Elul we need to increase our Torah study. In addition, there is the very well-known acronym for Elul that expresses the idea of prayer to Hashem: “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” “I am my beloved’s” refers to a person’s prayer, which goes from the person to Hashem, to my Beloved. “And my beloved is mine,” the continuation of the verse, means that after our work from below, Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws down to us from above during the days that follow, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In Likkutei Torah, in the maamar “Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li,” the Alter Rebbe says that this can be understood through an analogy: before a king comes to a city, the people of the city go out to greet him. The king is in the field. The Alter Rebbe said that since the days of Elul are very, very special days, when the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy shine, it would seem that they should be Yamim Tovim. We should be celebrating the

08:28 Speaker 2 These days are, in practice, ordinary weekdays. Why, then, weren’t they established as festival days? The Alter Rebbe says that when a king wants to give his people an opportunity, he comes out to them in the field. The people can approach him without all the usual formalities required to arrange an audience with the king in his palace—something that takes a very long time and that not everyone merits. Here, in the month of Elul, the King is in the field. The King is present within our weekdays, within our weekday work, and we need to make use of this opportunity and turn to the King: “I am my beloved’s.” In the Rebbe’s sichos, the Rebbe explains that the analogy is precise: the king is in a field. The Alter Rebbe could have given an analogy of a king in a desert, but a desert is a desolate place. He wants to express that everything depends on our work. If we make use of the time, if we go out to the field—a field is a place where people work, not a place where they rest—if we work and put in the effort, then we will indeed merit to see the King. We really must make use of these days. Every single day of Elul is a special day, an auspicious day, a day when Hakadosh Boruch Hu shines His countenance upon us. We need to make use of this opportunity. In addition, there is an acronym connected with the path of tzedakah. We spoke about how, after a person opens his heart to teshuvah, there is the individual work of Torah. We have now spoken about the aspect of prayer, and now we come to the third path, tzedakah, which is also alluded to in the letters of Elul. Megillas Esther says, “Each to his fellow, and gifts to the poor”—ish l’rei’eihu umatanos la’evyonim—which forms the acronym Elul. We know that during Elul we should increase our giving of tzedakah beyond what we give during the rest of the year, especially since we know

10:22 Speaker 2 that there may be people around us who need help completing all their preparations for the festivals. Immediately after Elul comes a month full of festivals, and all those festivals bring many expenses. We need to see whether there is a Jew around us who needs our help with the preparations, so that he can truly celebrate the festivals as he should. As the verse in Nechemiah says, “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared for them.” On Rosh Hashanah, we should indeed celebrate with joy and abundance. So we need to make sure that everyone has everything they need to prepare for the festivals, especially since Elul is particularly suited to giving tzedakah. As we discussed earlier, we need to strengthen ourselves and take stock of all our good resolutions; we should also make good resolutions regarding tzedakah. The Rebbe says that when a Jew approaching the new year resolves to give a sum of money to tzedakah, even if he cannot see how he will manage it, the decision itself has an effect—provided he makes it wholeheartedly and seriously, in a way that it is reasonable for him to fulfill. Even if he is not one hundred percent sure how he will manage, Hakadosh Boruch Hu opens new channels of abundance for him so that he can fulfill his resolution. Along with taking stock of all the good resolutions a person made during the year, he should pay particular attention to his resolutions about giving tzedakah. Did he really give tzedakah as he should, and did he fulfill everything he committed to during the past year? In addition to material tzedakah, of course,

12:22 Speaker 2 there is also spiritual tzedakah: helping Jews prepare properly for the festivals, greeting every Jew with a pleasant countenance, and offering one another the special blessings for the festival. We know the wish, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year,” which we begin offering at the start of Elul and even earlier. From 15 Menachem Av, we wish one another, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year,” and Hakadosh Boruch Hu greatly cherishes these blessings that people offer one another. After opening our hearts to teshuvah and strengthening ourselves in Torah, prayer, and tzedakah, we come to the last acronym of Elul, which concerns the Geulah. In the Song at the Sea it says: “And they said, saying: I will sing to Hashem, for He has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider He has cast into the sea.” The words “and they said, saying: I will sing to Hashem”—if we reverse the order of the words, “I will sing to Hashem; and they said, saying”—form the acronym Elul. Since the Song at the Sea was said at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, when the Children of Israel left the land of Egypt, that event opened the way for all future redemptions, including the true and complete Geulah that will come very soon. So the time of the Exodus from Egypt is an auspicious time for Geulah; it opened the channel of Geulah, particularly the time of the Song at the Sea. The song is phrased in the future tense: “Then Moshe will sing.” It also mentions, “The Sanctuary of Hashem, established by Your hands.” So these days of Elul, which are alluded to in a verse from the Song at the Sea, are especially auspicious days for Geulah. By strengthening ourselves in all the matters of Elul, we will, of course, merit the true and complete Geulah even before Elul. Among the customs of Elul is reciting the psalm “Of David: Hashem is my light

14:25 Speaker 2 and my salvation.” The halachic authorities write that this psalm is recited during Tishrei through Hoshana Rabbah. Why do we say it during Tishrei? Because the festivals of Tishrei are alluded to in it: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos. That is why we say the psalm during Tishrei through Hoshana Rabbah. But there is another reason we say “Of David: Hashem is my light and my salvation”: Hashem’s name appears in it thirteen times, corresponding to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. Since the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy shine during Elul, we begin saying the psalm at the start of Elul. So from 30 Menachem Av—that is, the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul—we recite “Of David: Hashem is my light and my salvation” through the Minchah prayer of Hoshana Rabbah. We say the psalm in the morning, in Shacharis after the Song of the Day, and also in Minchah before Aleinu. That is our practice from the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul through Minchah on Hoshana Rabbah. As for these days of preparation for Rosh Hashanah, Ezra the Scribe instituted that Parshas Ki Savo always be read before Rosh Hashanah. The reason is that it contains words of rebuke, and it is said, “May the year and its curses come to an end, and may the year and its blessings begin.” We want to finish with the year’s curses and begin the new year with blessings. That is why they instituted that Parshas Ki Savo, the parsha of rebuke, always be read before Rosh Hashanah. But so that we do not arrive at Rosh Hashanah immediately after hearing the words of rebuke, there is always one intervening parsha between Parshas Ki Savo and Rosh Hashanah. Always

16:28 Speaker 2 They will read Parshas Nitzavim: “You are standing today, all of you.” Sometimes the parsha is also read on its own. Usually Nitzavim and Vayeilech are read together, but sometimes only Parshas Nitzavim is read, so that there is a break between the words of rebuke in Parshas Ki Savo and Rosh Hashanah. The month of Elul has special customs that go back a very, very long time. There is a custom to blow the shofar every day of Elul. We know that our Sages said that on Rosh Chodesh Elul, Hakadosh Boruch Hu told Moshe, “Come up to Me on the mountain.” And we know the verse, “G-d ascends with a blast of the shofar”—as though Hakadosh Boruch Hu, too, ascended through that blast. Therefore, the Sages instituted, as the halachic authorities put it, that the shofar be blown during Elul. The blowing of the shofar alludes to “Wake up, you sleepers, from your slumber.” As the Rambam says in Hilchos Teshuvah, although blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a scriptural decree—a mitzvah to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah—it nevertheless contains a message: “Wake up, you sleepers, from your slumber.” Elul is a time to wake up, and the shofar awakens us. In practice, we blow the shofar from the beginning of Elul, from 1 Elul. The shofar is blown in shul after Shacharis, but the Rebbe says that if someone did not manage to blow it after Shacharis, it can be blown during the day, even after Minchah, until sunset. We do not blow the shofar at night, but ideally we do it after Shacharis. If it was not blown after Shacharis, though, we do it at any opportunity until evening. We should give as many Jews as possible the opportunity to hear it, including soldiers. If we go out on mivtzoim, such as the tefillin campaign, or organize gatherings, it is advisable to blow the shofar, so that as many Jews as possible can take part in

18:36 Speaker 2 hearing the shofar during Elul. Since these blasts are, in a sense, like those of Rosh Hashanah in their call to awaken us to teshuvah, our custom is to blow the full sequence: tekiah-shevarim-teruah-tekiah, tekiah-shevarim-tekiah, and tekiah-teruah-tekiah. That completes all ten sounds. And since we try to follow the Rosh Hashanah practice closely, it is proper to stand while the shofar is blown. Of course, if that is feasible—if one can easily stand—then one stands for the blowing. There is also a question about exactly when we begin: on 30 Menachem Av, the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, or on 1 Elul, the second day of Rosh Chodesh? In practice, our accepted ruling is that on 30 Menachem Av we blow the shofar for practice. There is an entire sicha in which the Rebbe explains the inner significance of practicing. It has very profound meanings. In any case, the public blowing takes place only from 1 Elul, and we continue to blow on every weekday of Elul except Erev Rosh Hashanah, when we do not blow the shofar. Two reasons are given for this. Why do we not blow it on Erev Rosh Hashanah? One reason is to distinguish between the customary, non-obligatory blasts of Elul and the obligatory blasts of Rosh Hashanah. The second is to confuse the Satan, who seeks to bring accusations. So there is a break between the blasts of Elul and the obligatory blasts of Rosh Hashanah to confuse the Satan. In the days of the Geonim—the Geonim who lived in Babylonia and studied in those very same academies, Sura, Nehardea, and Pumbedisa, where the holy Amoraim had studied, in the very same places—the tradition we have from their time is an exceptionally ancient and firmly established one. We find, then, that in the days of the Geonim, Selichos were said during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, and that was also

20:50 Speaker 2 the practice in the academies of Babylonia. In some places, Selichos were also said during Elul. Later, the widespread Sephardic custom became to say Selichos throughout Elul, while those who follow Ashkenazi custom say Selichos in the final days of Elul and continue until Yom Kippur. In practice, the accepted Chabad custom is to begin saying Selichos only at the end of Elul, as the Ashkenazim do. But unlike the Ashkenazim, who continue after Rosh Hashanah, we say Selichos only on Tzom Gedaliah, and that is it; we do not continue afterward. Why do we begin Selichos at the end of Elul in a way that allows for four days before Rosh Hashanah? The halachic authorities give a very interesting reason. The rule has always been that there should be at least four days of Selichos. So if Rosh Hashanah falls early in the week—on a Monday or Tuesday, for example—we start Selichos on the preceding Motzaei Shabbos. That means Motzaei Shabbos after Parshas Ki Savo, not the Motzaei Shabbos immediately before Rosh Hashanah, but the one before that. Why? Because we want to preserve the four days of Selichos. Why is that so important? Two reasons are given. One is that in the past, people would fast and say Selichos throughout the Ten Days of Teshuvah. But we know that on four of those days, fasting is forbidden. There are the two days of Rosh Hashanah, when we do not fast; there is a mitzvah to eat and drink on Rosh Hashanah. There is at least one Shabbos within the Ten Days of Teshuvah, and fasting is forbidden on Shabbos as well. And there is Erev Yom Kippur, when fasting is forbidden by law;

22:56 Speaker 2 there is a mitzvah to eat and drink then in preparation for Yom Kippur. So on four of the Ten Days of Teshuvah, fasting is forbidden, and therefore Selichos are not said on those days—or, even if Selichos are said, they are not accompanied by a fast. To make up for those fasts, they established four days before Rosh Hashanah as fast days on which Selichos would be said. In practice, the prevailing custom is not to fast, particularly in our generations, when we need to serve Hashem with a healthy body. We prefer to serve Hashem with joy and a settled mind, as we should, while taking care of our health. That is why we are not in favor of fasting. Instead, of course, we add to our giving of tzedakah, which in our generations serves in place of fasting. But since the concept of four days of Selichos remains, we are still very careful to have no fewer than four days of Selichos. Another very interesting reason given by the halachic authorities is that we know an offering must be inspected before it is brought. The offering is checked for four days before it is sacrificed. Regarding all the festivals, the Torah says that offerings must be made for Hashem. Parshas Pinchas lists all the offerings brought on the festivals, beginning with Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh and continuing through all the festivals. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have their offerings too. But unlike the wording used for the other festivals, where it says to offer the burnt offering on that day, the wording for the Rosh Hashanah offerings is “and you shall make.” This is interpreted to mean that you must make yourselves: as it were, on Rosh Hashanah each and every person is commanded to offer themselves to Hashem. And since we are the offering—we are, in effect, offering ourselves, giving ourselves to Hashem on Rosh Hashanah—we are the offering, so

25:00 Speaker 2 Four days of preparation are needed before offering the korban, and so we have four days of Selichos before Rosh Hashanah, preparing to offer ourselves to Hashem on Rosh Hashanah with a readiness to accept His kingship upon us. The reason we in Chabad make a point of saying Selichos specifically before Rosh Hashanah, and not during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, is connected to what our Rebbes, z"l, revealed to us, as the Rebbe cites in his sichos: the days before Rosh Hashanah are the time to say Selichos. After Rosh Hashanah, it is already time to act. So in practice, our custom is to say Selichos before Rosh Hashanah. After Rosh Hashanah, apart from the Fast of Gedaliah, we do not say them. We express our plea for forgiveness, but do not actually recite Selichos; the actual recitation is only before Rosh Hashanah. The Rebbe also brings up something very interesting in his sichos: in the time of the Geonim, the custom was initially to say Selichos only during the Ten Days of Teshuvah. They could accomplish what was needed in that short time; within the Ten Days of Teshuvah, they really could attain forgiveness. But because we have declined and today are not on that level, what is required of us is just the few days before Rosh Hashanah. The Rebbe says that, accordingly, they had to wait for the atonement to be complete on Yom Kippur, at the end of the Ten Days of Teshuvah. But since, because of the weakness of our generation, we say Selichos only in the days before Rosh Hashanah, it follows that Hakadosh Boruch Hu expresses His forgiveness even before we enter Rosh Hashanah. This is an advantage of the avodah of our last generation: Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives us as soon as we enter the new year.

27:03 Speaker 2 With forgiveness and atonement. With this hope and yearning that all the Jewish people be inscribed and sealed for a good, sweet year, a year of Geulah and salvation—and that even before we actually reach the days of the month of Elul, we merit the true and complete Geulah and the Third Beis Hamikdash, immediately, right now.