Introduction
Welcome to the holy work of the Hebrew month of Elul. ELUL is referred to as an acronym for Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li - "I am drawn to my Beloved's and my Beloved is drawn to me." The context of this verse (Song of Songs 6:3), is a meditation on the love between God and the people Israel. And so we begin with love as the foundation and container of the hard work of the season.
This source sheet takes us through some of the ways love is expressed and felt through our prayers. (Sources 1-3)
It's important to acknowledge the context of our season, which includes the Pandemic - placing us in physical isolation and exposing layers of injustice and inequities in our society's foundations; people in positions of authority displaying heartless cruelty; and the foundations of our democracy are being challenged as we move toward an election shortly after our High Holy Days season. So for good reason, a significant number of us may be entering this season feeling down, angry, broken-hearted, longing for hope and inspiration. Our tradition holds a space for that too, welcoming our tears as a path back to a sense of connection with ourselves, each other, and God. (Sources 4-6)
We end this sheet with a few suggested practices for the month of Elul (Sources 7-9.)
Please select which texts, questions, and practices are meaningful to you and your learning partners, and focus there. What's important here is the quality of attention, not the mastery of material.
אַהֲבָה רַבָּה אֲהַבְתָּנוּ, יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ. חֶמְלָה גְּדולָה וִיתֵרָה חָמַלְתָּ עָלֵינוּ: אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ. בַּעֲבוּר אֲבותֵינוּ שֶׁבָּטְחוּ בְךָ. וַתְּלַמְּדֵם חֻקֵּי חַיִּים כֵּן תְּחָנֵּנוּ וּתְלַמְּדֵנוּ:
אָבִינוּ הָאָב הָרַחֲמָן. הַמְרַחֵם. רַחֵם עָלֵינוּ. וְתֵן בְּלִבֵּנוּ לְהָבִין וּלְהַשכִּיל. לִשְׁמעַ. לִלְמד וּלְלַמֵּד. לִשְׁמר וְלַעֲשות וּלְקַיֵּם אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי תַלְמוּד תּורָתֶךָ בְּאַהֲבָה:
וְהָאֵר עֵינֵינוּ בְּתורָתֶךָ. וְדַבֵּק לִבֵּנוּ בְּמִצְותֶיךָ. וְיַחֵד לְבָבֵנוּ לְאַהֲבָה וּלְיִרְאָה אֶת שְׁמֶךָ. וְלא נֵבושׁ לְעולָם וָעֶד:
כִּי בְשֵׁם קָדְשְׁךָ הַגָּדול וְהַנּורָא בָּטָחְנוּ. נָגִילָה וְנִשמְחָה בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ:
[With] a great love have You loved us, Lifebreath, our Source; [with] a great and superabundant compassion have You had compassion upon us. Our Parent, our Higher Power, - for the sake of our ancestors who trusted in You and You taught them the laws of life; so [too] grace us and teach us.
Our Parent, mother-father of compassion, have [womb] mercy upon us, and put into our hearts to understand and to enlighten. To listen. To study and to teach. To keep and to do and to uphold all the matters in the study of Your Torah through Love.
And enlighten our eyes in Your Torah, and make our heart cling to Your commandments, and unite our hearts to love and fear Your name; and may we never be shamed [for this] ever. Since we have trusted in Your great and awesome holy Name, let us rejoice and be gladdened by Your salvation.
Zalman Shachter Shalomi, Davenning: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer, p. 70
The final paragraph before the Shema itself begins, “Ahava rabbah ahavtanu, With a great love You have loved us ,” but this does not just refer to the totality of Israel. You really have to be yourself in saying that. Most of the time, when we say, “You have loved us with a great Love, and please don’t ever take that Love away from us,” we hang up the phone right away. We don’t give that enough time to allow that to happen.
If I want to give those words real meaning, I need to sit and feel God’s love, the love that loves us no matter what. This is not a matter of whether I think I am worthy of love. This comes from an altogether different place. An alternative form of Ahavah Rabbah (With a great love) is Ahavat Olam – a love of ages, a forever love. A love of the universe.
The very fact that I exist is because I am being loved into life –that is how I understand these words. An important part of davenning is to just sit be nachat ruach, in serenity of spirit, and to allow for that to come in. If I can, I do this in a minyan. But before I can feel it in a group, I have to allow myself to feel it as an individual.
Sheila Weinberg, from God Loves the Stranger, p. 43
We open to the deepest listening of our beings when we chant Shma Yisrael. We address our own souls. We address our clearest minds and wisest selves. Echad is One. It is where we are rooted. It is where we find ourselves and lose our selves at the same time. It is the great love that can light up the world. We call ourselves out of our petty preferences to the endlessly wide and wild place of One.
The Wholeness of A Broken Heart
(יז) אֲ֭דֹנָי שְׂפָתַ֣י תִּפְתָּ֑ח וּ֝פִ֗י יַגִּ֥יד תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃ (יח) כִּ֤י ׀ לֹא־תַחְפֹּ֣ץ זֶ֣בַח וְאֶתֵּ֑נָה ע֝וֹלָ֗ה לֹ֣א תִרְצֶֽה׃ (יט) זִֽבְחֵ֣י אֱלֹהִים֮ ר֪וּחַ נִשְׁבָּ֫רָ֥ה לֵב־נִשְׁבָּ֥ר וְנִדְכֶּ֑ה אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים לֹ֣א תִבְזֶֽה׃
(17) O Lord, open my lips, and let my mouth declare Your praise. (18) You do not want me to bring sacrifices; You do not desire burnt offerings; (19) True sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God, You will not despise a contrite and crushed heart.
וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מִיּוֹם שֶׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ נִנְעֲלוּ שַׁעֲרֵי תְּפִלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״גַּם כִּי אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ שָׂתַם תְּפִלָּתִי״. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁשַּׁעֲרֵי תְפִילָּה נִנְעֲלוּ, שַׁעֲרֵי דִמְעָה לֹא נִנְעֲלוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״שִׁמְעָה תְפִלָּתִי ה׳ וְשַׁוְעָתִי הַאֲזִינָה אֶל דִּמְעָתִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ״.
On the subject of prayer, Rabbi Elazar also said: Since the day the Temple was destroyed the gates of prayer were locked and prayer is not accepted as it once was, as it is said in lamentation of the Temple’s destruction: “Though I plead and call out, God shuts out my prayer” (Lamentations 3:8). Yet, despite the fact that the gates of prayer were locked with the destruction of the Temple, the gates of tears were not locked, and one who cries before God may rest assured that their prayers will be answered, as it is stated: “Hear my prayer, Lord, and give ear to my pleading, keep not silence at my tears” (Psalms 39:13).
Or HaMeir, Pekudei, R. Ze’ev Wolf of Zhitomir
Translated by Rabbi Jonathan Slater
We ask and implore, “May our hearts cleave to Your mitzvot.” It is explained [in Duties of the Heart, by Bahya ibn Pakuda, in the introduction to “The Gate of Trust”] that there was a hasid who would always pray, “God, save me from my soul (nefesh) being scattered (pizur).” This happens to people who have many possessions in many places: they experience the scattering of their souls, because they have to give their attention to all these different things.
To me, scattering of soul means something else. We find that a “heart” is usually a “broken heart.” But if an insightful person were to focus his heart and spirit and soul and thinking on cleaving to the Holy One, then this person's heart would not be broken into many pieces. Because then the strength of the person's clinging and love of the Blessed One would reveal a oneness through all the particular sense experiences of seeing and hearing, etc. From this place of consciousness one can see the garbing of (hitlabshut) divinity, and find oneself connected to the one and only unity.
As opposed to this is the person whose consciousness is weak and sunk in the multiplicity of physical pleasures, who has no control over his heart, since it is broken into countless pieces. Each fragment of experience looks separate to him. In fact, he perceives the multiplicity of events as distinct causes of pain and suffering. Through all of these different details of both pleasure and pain he remains sunk over his head in the material realm, and as a consequence his heart is shattered into innumerable shards, each and every individual event and experience drawing his heart to it. And so we ask and pray, “May our hearts cleave to Your mitzvot.” This means that we pray to do the mitzvot with attention and focus; that in so doing, our hearts may be unified and connected, so that they are no longer broken into many pieces.
It looks like this understanding is contradicted in Psalms (51:19). “God will not despise a broken and crushed heart.” Maybe for our purposes we should understand this as referring to the “pure heart” (lev tahor), which is shattered completely inside. This leaves an empty space that can become whole and flawless, which can then be directed toward heaven, toward that absolute and true unity. Our hearts will be filled with only one thought, to cleave to God, and even when we experience multiple events and different levels of spiritual attainment, we will be able to raise all of our thoughts and experiences to that primal single point of ultimate unity.
Elul Practices
Lishmo'ah Shofar
The essential mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah is to hear the call of the shofar, lishmo’a kol shofar.
In this video (four minutes,) Ari Lesser performs a Hasidic story about the essense of the holy shofar moment.
Shir Tikvah is also offering Sunday Shofar in the Park - four in-person Shofar gatherings.
Selichot Prayers
Selichot (s. Selicha) n. are communal prayers for Divine forgiveness, said during the High Holiday season or on Jewish fast days.The actual Selichot are a collage of Torah verses and poetically written Hebrew works in which we ask G‑d to forgive us on a personal and communal level. An oft-repeated phrase is the “13 Attributes of Mercy,” which G‑d revealed to Moses at Sinai as the key to forgiveness.
Shir Tikvah Sefardi Selichot
Join Rabbi Lekach-Roseberg and Tamar Ghidalia for a 10 minute ritual of music & reflection every morning (except for Shabbat) August 23 through the morning before Yom Kippur, 7:30-7:40am.
Adon Ha Selichot is a Piyyut (Medieval Hebrew poetic prayer) that we recite throughout Elul. At this link, you'll find the words in English and Hebrew, as well as a video with a gorgeous melody and questions for discussion.
"The King is in the Field"
Ari Lesser performs an Ashkenazic yeshiva-based inspirational chant for arousing God's love during the month of Elul.
Psalm 27 is traditionally read and sung throughout the Hebrew month of Elul.
Velveteen Rabbi explores a musical rendition of verse 4, transliterated below.
As you read through Norman Fischer's translation below, consider the story being told by the Psalmist.
What are they longing for?
How does your engagement in the Psalm shift with the different tenses and terms for God?
How might reciting Psalm 27 daily during Elul help you enter the High Holy Days?
(א) לְדָוִ֨ד ׀ יְהוָ֤ה ׀ אוֹרִ֣י וְ֭יִשְׁעִי מִמִּ֣י אִירָ֑א יְהוָ֥ה מָֽעוֹז־חַ֝יַּ֗י מִמִּ֥י אֶפְחָֽד׃
(ב) בִּקְרֹ֤ב עָלַ֨י ׀ מְרֵעִים֮ לֶאֱכֹ֪ל אֶת־בְּשָׂ֫רִ֥י צָרַ֣י וְאֹיְבַ֣י לִ֑י הֵ֖מָּה כָשְׁל֣וּ וְנָפָֽלוּ׃
(ג) אִם־תַּחֲנֶ֬ה עָלַ֨י ׀ מַחֲנֶה֮ לֹֽא־יִירָ֪א לִ֫בִּ֥י אִם־תָּק֣וּם עָ֭לַי מִלְחָמָ֑ה בְּ֝זֹ֗את אֲנִ֣י בוֹטֵֽחַ׃
(ד) אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֝הוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ׃
Achat she'alti me'et Adonai
otah avakesh
Shivti b'veit Adonai kol yemei-chayyai
lach'zot b'noam (b'noam) Adonai u'lvaker b'heichalo
(ה) כִּ֤י יִצְפְּנֵ֨נִי ׀ בְּסֻכֹּה֮ בְּי֪וֹם רָ֫עָ֥ה יַ֭סְתִּרֵנִי בְּסֵ֣תֶר אָהֳל֑וֹ בְּ֝צ֗וּר יְרוֹמְמֵֽנִי׃
(ו) וְעַתָּ֨ה יָר֪וּם רֹאשִׁ֡י עַ֤ל אֹֽיְבַ֬י סְֽבִיבוֹתַ֗י וְאֶזְבְּחָ֣ה בְ֭אָהֳלוֹ זִבְחֵ֣י תְרוּעָ֑ה אָשִׁ֥ירָה וַ֝אֲזַמְּרָ֗ה לַיהוָֽה׃
(ז) שְׁמַע־יְהוָ֖ה קוֹלִ֥י אֶקְרָ֗א וְחָנֵּ֥נִי וַעֲנֵֽנִי׃
(ח) לְךָ֤ ׀ אָמַ֣ר לִ֭בִּי בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ פָנָ֑י אֶת־פָּנֶ֖יךָ יְהוָ֣ה אֲבַקֵּֽשׁ׃
(ט) אַל־תַּסְתֵּ֬ר פָּנֶ֨יךָ ׀ מִמֶּנִּי֮ אַֽל־תַּט־בְּאַ֗ף עַ֫בְדֶּ֥ךָ עֶזְרָתִ֥י הָיִ֑יתָ אַֽל־תִּטְּשֵׁ֥נִי וְאַל־תַּֽ֝עַזְבֵ֗נִי אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׁעִֽי׃
(י) כִּי־אָבִ֣י וְאִמִּ֣י עֲזָב֑וּנִי וַֽיהוָ֣ה יַֽאַסְפֵֽנִי׃
(יא) ה֤וֹרֵ֥נִי יְהוָ֗ה דַּ֫רְכֶּ֥ךָ וּ֭נְחֵנִי בְּאֹ֣רַח מִישׁ֑וֹר לְ֝מַ֗עַן שׁוֹרְרָֽי׃
(יב) אַֽל־תִּ֭תְּנֵנִי בְּנֶ֣פֶשׁ צָרָ֑י כִּ֥י קָֽמוּ־בִ֥י עֵֽדֵי־שֶׁ֝֗קֶר וִיפֵ֥חַ חָמָֽס׃
(יג) לׅׄוּלֵׅׄ֗אׅׄ הֶ֭אֱמַנְתִּי לִרְא֥וֹת בְּֽטוּב־יְהוָ֗ה בְּאֶ֣רֶץ חַיִּֽים׃
(יד) קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְה֫וָ֥ה חֲ֭זַק וְיַאֲמֵ֣ץ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וְ֝קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְהוָֽה׃
Translation by Norman Fischer, from Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms
You are my light and my help
Whom should I fear?
You are the fortress of my life
Whom should I dread?
When the narrow ones gather their strength to devour me
It is they who stumble and fall
Even if a royal army were camped outside my gate
My heart would not fear
And when they struck out with terrible weapons
against me
Even then I’d trust
One thing I ask for, one thing I hope---
To live in your house
All the days of my life
To behold your loveliness
Every morning in the light of your temple dawn
Til on a doomful day
You secure me in your precincts
Conceal me within the folds of your covering tent
Place me high and safe upon a rock
My head lifted above the engulfing waves
With the joy of my heart
I will sacrifice
Within that billowing shelter
Singing and playing my abandonment to you
Hear my voice when I raise it up
Be gracious—answer me—
Speaking with your voice my heart sang.
Seek my presence.
I will.
Do not hide your glowing face from me
Do not reject me in anger because of my shortcomings
You have always been for me
Don’t cast me off now, don’t walk away
My helper, my friend
My mother and father forsake me
But you take me up
Show me the way!
Guide my steps on the clear path
Against the ever-present cliffs and thickets
Protect me from the noise of desire and hatefulness
From false words and shouted accusations
If I did not have faith in your rightness
That it would bloom in this living land---
It is unthinkable
I wait only for you
With strength and good courage---
I wait only for you.
(א) לְדָוִ֨ד ׀ יְהוָ֤ה ׀ אוֹרִ֣י וְ֭יִשְׁעִי מִמִּ֣י אִירָ֑א יְהוָ֥ה מָֽעוֹז־חַ֝יַּ֗י מִמִּ֥י אֶפְחָֽד׃ (ב) בִּקְרֹ֤ב עָלַ֨י ׀ מְרֵעִים֮ לֶאֱכֹ֪ל אֶת־בְּשָׂ֫רִ֥י צָרַ֣י וְאֹיְבַ֣י לִ֑י הֵ֖מָּה כָשְׁל֣וּ וְנָפָֽלוּ׃ (ג) אִם־תַּחֲנֶ֬ה עָלַ֨י ׀ מַחֲנֶה֮ לֹֽא־יִירָ֪א לִ֫בִּ֥י אִם־תָּק֣וּם עָ֭לַי מִלְחָמָ֑ה בְּ֝זֹ֗את אֲנִ֣י בוֹטֵֽחַ׃ (ד) אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֝הוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ׃ (ה) כִּ֤י יִצְפְּנֵ֨נִי ׀ בְּסֻכֹּה֮ בְּי֪וֹם רָ֫עָ֥ה יַ֭סְתִּרֵנִי בְּסֵ֣תֶר אָהֳל֑וֹ בְּ֝צ֗וּר יְרוֹמְמֵֽנִי׃ (ו) וְעַתָּ֨ה יָר֪וּם רֹאשִׁ֡י עַ֤ל אֹֽיְבַ֬י סְֽבִיבוֹתַ֗י וְאֶזְבְּחָ֣ה בְ֭אָהֳלוֹ זִבְחֵ֣י תְרוּעָ֑ה אָשִׁ֥ירָה וַ֝אֲזַמְּרָ֗ה לַיהוָֽה׃ (ז) שְׁמַע־יְהוָ֖ה קוֹלִ֥י אֶקְרָ֗א וְחָנֵּ֥נִי וַעֲנֵֽנִי׃ (ח) לְךָ֤ ׀ אָמַ֣ר לִ֭בִּי בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ פָנָ֑י אֶת־פָּנֶ֖יךָ יְהוָ֣ה אֲבַקֵּֽשׁ׃ (ט) אַל־תַּסְתֵּ֬ר פָּנֶ֨יךָ ׀ מִמֶּנִּי֮ אַֽל־תַּט־בְּאַ֗ף עַ֫בְדֶּ֥ךָ עֶזְרָתִ֥י הָיִ֑יתָ אַֽל־תִּטְּשֵׁ֥נִי וְאַל־תַּֽ֝עַזְבֵ֗נִי אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׁעִֽי׃ (י) כִּי־אָבִ֣י וְאִמִּ֣י עֲזָב֑וּנִי וַֽיהוָ֣ה יַֽאַסְפֵֽנִי׃ (יא) ה֤וֹרֵ֥נִי יְהוָ֗ה דַּ֫רְכֶּ֥ךָ וּ֭נְחֵנִי בְּאֹ֣רַח מִישׁ֑וֹר לְ֝מַ֗עַן שׁוֹרְרָֽי׃ (יב) אַֽל־תִּ֭תְּנֵנִי בְּנֶ֣פֶשׁ צָרָ֑י כִּ֥י קָֽמוּ־בִ֥י עֵֽדֵי־שֶׁ֝֗קֶר וִיפֵ֥חַ חָמָֽס׃ (יג) לׅׄוּלֵׅׄ֗אׅׄ הֶ֭אֱמַנְתִּי לִרְא֥וֹת בְּֽטוּב־יְהוָ֗ה בְּאֶ֣רֶץ חַיִּֽים׃ (יד) קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְה֫וָ֥ה חֲ֭זַק וְיַאֲמֵ֣ץ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וְ֝קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־יְהוָֽה׃
(1) Of David. The LORD is my light and my help; whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread? (2) When evil men assail me to devour my flesh— it is they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall. (3) Should an army besiege me, my heart would have no fear; should war beset me, still would I be confident. (4) One thing I ask of the LORD, only that do I seek: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD, to frequent His temple. (5) He will shelter me in His pavilion on an evil day, grant me the protection of His tent, raise me high upon a rock. (6) Now is my head high over my enemies roundabout; I sacrifice in His tent with shouts of joy, singing and chanting a hymn to the LORD. (7) Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; have mercy on me, answer me. (8) In Your behalf my heart says: “Seek My face!” O LORD, I seek Your face. (9) Do not hide Your face from me; do not thrust aside Your servant in anger; You have ever been my help. Do not forsake me, do not abandon me, O God, my deliverer. (10) Though my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will take me in. (11) Show me Your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my watchful foes. (12) Do not subject me to the will of my foes, for false witnesses and unjust accusers have appeared against me. (13) Had I not the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living… (14) Look to the LORD; be strong and of good courage! O look to the LORD!