Elul is the 12th month of the Hebrew calendar and is a time during which the liturgy focuses on preparation to stand before God in judgement on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Notable Sources
All Sources
A
Elul at Sinai MIDRASH
Elul at Sinai
MIDRASH
What is the historical significance of the month of Elul in the biblical narrative? The medieval midrash Tanchuma offers a timeline of the dramatic events at Sinai, from the giving of the Torah through what would become Yom Kippur.
The New Year for Animal TithesMISHNAH
The New Year for Animal Tithes
MISHNAH
The first of the month of Elul marked the beginning of the next tax year for tithing animals. According to the Mishnah, the first codification of Jewish law from the early third century, lists the four new years on the Jewish calendar.
A Time of PreparationCHASIDUT
A Time of Preparation
CHASIDUT
The blowing of the shofar during Elul is an integral part of the spiritual preparation for the High Holidays. The Baal Shem Tov, the eighteenth-century founder of the Chasidic movement, likens this time of spiritual preparation to preparing to go to battle.
A Time of Self-ExaminationMUSAR
A Time of Self-Examination
MUSAR
The month of Elul is a time of introspection and self-examination leading up to the High Holidays. Rabbi Israel Salanter, a nineteenth-century Lithuanian rabbi and founder of the Musar movement, considers the role of the shofar in this process in the month of Elul.
Shofar on the First of ElulHALAKHAH
Shofar on the First of Elul
HALAKHAH
Why do we blow the shofar from the first of Elul? . This excerpt from the Kol Bo, a medieval compendium of Jewish law and custom, looks to the Bible to explain why the ancient rabbis instituted this practice.
A Time for Penitential PrayersHALAKHAH
A Time for Penitential Prayers
HALAKHAH
The recitation of selichot (penitential prayers) is a traditional spiritual practice during the month of Elul. Joseph Karo, author of the authoritative sixteenth-century law code, the Shulchan Arukh, describes the Sephardi practice in contrast to the Ashkenazi one.
I am My Beloved’sCOMMENTARY
I am My Beloved’s
COMMENTARY
The letters of the word Elul are encoded in the first letters of the phrase “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” from which the rabbinic tradition learns that Elul is a time of renewal of God and Israel’s love for each other. Rabbi Hayyim Joseph David Azulay, an eighteenth-century Sephardi scholar and kabbalist, elaborates on the symbolic meanings of the letters that spell Elul.