Rosh Chodesh Elul (Much of the following material regarding Rosh Chodesh Elul is abstracted from Mesorah Publications Stone Edition of the Chumash and from Rabbi Eliyahu KiTov's Sefer HaTodaah)
Elul and Rosh Chodesh Elul - In Relation to Other Months of the Year 1 Nisan Special Significance (Biblical and by "Minhag," (Jewish Custom) ) of Rosh Chodesh Elul Biblical Moshe had gone up in the Month of Sivan, and returned after forty days and forty nights, on the 17th of Tammuz with the First Luchos. When Moshe observed the Jewish People sinning by creating and worshipping the Golden Calf, and participating in other sinful activities centered around the worship of that idol, he broke that first set of Luchos. He ascended Mount Sinai a second time, on the eighteenth day of Tammuz, the day after the great sin, and remained there for another forty days and forty nights, praying to G-d to spare the Jewish People and to return His full Presence among them. At the conclusion of the second forty day and forty night period (that is, on the 29th of Av, Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul), G-d forgave the Jewish People and instructed Moshe to ascend Har Sinai yet again the next day, to receive the Second Luchos, on which would be inscribed for the second time the Ten Commandments. Moshe�s ascension to Har Sinai for the third time(which also took forty days and forty nights, ending on Yom Kippur)occurred on Rosh Chodesh Elul. HaShem also restored His Presence to the Jewish People by authorizing the construction of the "Mishkan," the Temporary Structure which served as a "Residence," so to speak, for the Divine Presence, before the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem. Minhagim (Customs) Related to Rosh Chodesh Elul The Custom: Beginning the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, and continuing until-but-not-including Erev Rosh HaShanah (the day preceding Rosh HaShanah), the custom is to blow the Shofar every weekday (excluding Shabbat, but not Sunday), four sounds -
Note: The duration of the "Tekiah" sounds at the beginning and at the end, both during this Elul-introductory period of Shofar-blowing, and on Rosh HaShanah itself, the Day of Sounding the Shofar, must be equal to the duration of the Shevarim-Teruah (or Shevarim alone, or Teruah alone, as we shall see, placed in between them). The Background: Therefore, the Jewish People in later generations accepted upon themselves the custom of blowing the Shofar, beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul to remind themselves that the people of Israel in the desert had sinned with the Egel, had repented, had been forgiven by G-d and restored to their former level of holiness. This would arouse in their hearts and minds the importance and the effectiveness of doing "Teshuvah." The Custom: Ashkenazic (Northern, Western and Eastern Europe) have the custom, beginning with the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, of reciting Chapter 27 of Tehilim (Psalms), beginning "By (King) David, 'The L-rd is my Light and my Salvation,' " until and including Hoshannah Rabbah. The Background: This custom is based on the Medrash which links the "Light" of David, and the "Light" of all human beings, to Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment, when by the light of the "neshamah," the soul, Hashem searches out the recesses and "hidden" areas of the human being. This idea is in turn based on the verse "The Lamp of Hashem is the human soul, which searches out all the recesses of his being." And the "Salvation" of David and of all human beings is linked to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when Hashem atones for the sins of His creatures. |
The 1st day of creation, on which G-d created existence, time, matter, darkness and light, was the 25th of Elul. (Rosh Hashanah, on which we mark "the beginning of Your works", is actually the 6th day of creation, on which the world attained attained the potential for the realization of its purpose, with the creation of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Rosh Hashanah is therefore the day from which the Jewish calendar begins to count the years of history; the 1st day of creation thus occurred on the 25th of Elul of what is termed -1 from creation.
Links: Parshah Bereishit (Genesis 1:1-6:8) with commentary
Hilulot for Elul
Day3 Rabbi Yitzchak Tzaddikah of Jerba 4 Rabbi Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk
Talmudist, halachist, and torah commentator. 5 Rabbi Moshe Idan of Jerba
Kabbalist 7 Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim
Darshan (preacher), father of Rabbi Yosef Chaim (The Ben Ish Chai). 8 Rabbanit Malka of Belz
Wife of the first Belz rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Rokeach. 9 Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin 9 Dan ben Yaacov Avinu
Dan was the Son of Jacob the Patriarch and Bilhah the handmaid of Rachel. He is one of the 12 Tribes. 10 Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz
Student of the Baal Shem Tov, Chassidic leader, Kabbalist. 12 Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Pshis'cha
Chassidic leader, teacher of the Kotzker Rebbe. 12 Rabbi Shimon of Toledo
Son of the famous talmudist, Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel - HaRosh. 13 Rabbi Yosef Chaim- The Ben Ish Chai - The Ben Ish Chai
Darshan (preacher), Kabbalist 15 Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Chassid
Student of the Baal Shem Tov 18 Rabbi Yehudah Loew of Prague- The Maharal - The Maharal
Talmudist, Kabbalist, chief rabbi of Prague. Creator of the Golem. 21 Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz
Talmudist, Halachist and Kabbalist 23 Rabbi Uri of Strelisk- The Saraf - The Saraf
Chassidic leader. 24 Yisrael Meir HaKohen Kagan- The Chafetz Chaim - The Chafetz Chaim
Halachist, Torah leader of his generation. 25 The Tanna Rabbi Elazar
Fifth generation tanna, son of the great tanna Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. 25 Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov
Chassidic leader, student of the Baal Shem Tov. 26 Rabbi Chaim Pinto
Chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Mogador, Kabbalist. 27 Rabbi Natan Adler
Talmudic scholar, Kabbalist. 27
28Rabbi Shalom Rokeach of Belz - Sar Shalom - Sar Shalom
The first Belzer Chassidic rebbe.
Shaul HaMelech/King Saul
The king and his three sons die in Gilboa (Samuel 1 31 2-5) 4 months after Shmuel Hanavi/Samuel The prophet's death (878 B.C.E)
