Hebrew Month: Elul

(3) I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine, the one who grazes their flock through the lilies.

(1) There is a hint in the verse “I am for my Beloved and my Beloved is for me” (Ani L’Dodi v’Dodi Li - Shir Hashirim) that the first letters spell Elul and the last letters have a numerical value of 40. This alludes to the forty days from the beginning of Elul until Yom Kippur for during these forty days repentance is [more readily] accepted so a person should bring their heart near to their Beloved [G-d] with repentance, and then the Beloved will be close to them to accept the repentance with love.

.......Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha says, forty days did Moshe spend on the mountain - he read the doctrine of Scripture during the day and reviewed the doctrine of Scripture at night. And after forty days, he took the tablets and went down to the camp, and on the seventeenth of Tammuz he broke the tablets and killed the scorners of Israel. And he spent forty days in the camp, until he he burned the [golden] calf and ground it down like the dust of the earth, and killed all those who kissed the calf he expunged idol worship from Israel; and he set every tribe up in its place. And on Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of the month of) Elul, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (Exodus 24:12), "go up to Me to the mountain." And they blew the shofar (rams's horn) in the camp - since behold, Moshe went up to the mountain - such that they not err again after the worship of idols. And the Holy One, blessed be He, was exalted on that day with that shofar [blast], as it is stated (Psalms 47:6), "God is exalted by the shofar." And therefore, the Sages, ordained that we should blow the shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul in each and every year....

(1) [The days] from Rosh Chodesh Elul until after Yom Kippur, are days of Divine favor [and acceptance.] Even though throughout the entire year the Holy One, blessed is He, accepts the repentance of those who return to Him wholeheartedly, nevertheless, these days are unexcelled and most suitable for repentance, because they are days of mercy and favor. On Rosh Chodesh Elul, Moshe went up Mount Sinai to receive the Second Tablets; he remained there for forty days, and came down on the tenth day of Tishrei when the atonement was completed. From then on these days have been designated as days of Divine favor [and acceptance,] and the tenth day of Tishrei as Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement].

(1) All of the commandments in the Torah: whether they be the positive commandments, or the negative commandments; if a person transgressed any of them, whether he did so intentionally, whether he did so unintentionally, when he repents and returns from his sin - he is obligated to confess before God, blessed be He, as it says (Numbers 5:6-7), When a man or a women does any of the sins of man...and he shall confess his sin that he committed... - this refers to a verbal confession. And confession, that is a positive commandment. How does he confess? He says, "Please God, I have sinned, I have erred, I have [willfully but unrebelliously] transgressed, I have done such-and-such [specific sins], I am regretful, and ashamed for my actions, and I will never again return to my old ways." This is the essence of the confession, and anyone who wants to lengthen [his confession], this is praiseworthy

(4) Even though the blowing of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah is a Biblical decree, it hints at something, i.e., “Wake up, sleepers, from your sleep! And slumberers, arise from your slumber! Search your ways and return in teshuvah and remember your Creator! Those who forget the Truth amidst the futility of the moment and are infatuated all their years with vanity and nothingness that will not help and will not save, examine your souls and improve your ways and your motivations! Let each of you abandon his wicked ways, and his thoughts which are no good."

"And no man shall be in the Tent of Meeting [when the Kohan Gadol enters the Holy of Holies]"... Rabbi Abahu said, is the Kohen Gadol not a man? [i.e., how is he permitted to be in the Tent of Meeting at this time?] Rather, as Rabbi Pinchas said, that at the time that ruach hakodesh would reside upon the Kohen Gadol, his face would light up like a torch, as the verse states (Malachi 2:7), "For the lips of the kohen guard knowledge, they should seek Torah from his mouth, for he is an angel of Hashem."

Praised are You, Lord out God King of the universe, who with wisdom fashioned the human body, creating openings, arteries, glands and organs, marvelous in structure, intricate in design. Should but one of them, by being blocked or opened, fail to function, it would be impossible to exist. Praised are you, Lord, healer of all flesh who sustains our bodies in wondrous ways.

(3) ...Rabbi Levi said: Six organs serve the human being: three are under his control and three are not. The latter are the eye, ear, and nose. He sees what he does not wish to see, hears what he does not wish to hear, and smells what he does not wish to smell. Under his control are the mouth, hand, and foot. If he so desires, he reads in the Torah, or uses bad language or blasphemes. As for the hand, if he so desires, it performs good deeds or steals or murders. As for the foot, if he so desires, it walks to theatres and circuses, or to places of worship and study....