Elul

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The shofar is blown every morning from the first day of Elul until Rosh Hashanah (except on Shabbat).
Month Number:	6
Number of Days:	29
Season:	Summer
Gregorian Equivalent:	August–September

Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל, Standard Elul Tiberian ʾĔlûl) is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. The name of the month, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the Babylonian Exile, and originated from the Akkadian word for "Harvest". A similar month name was also used in Akkadian, in the form elūlu.

In the Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The word “Elul” is similar to the root of the verb “search” in Aramaic. The Talmud writes that the Hebrew word "Elul" can be expanded as an acronym for "Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li" - "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" (Song of Solomon 6:3). Elul is seen as a time to search one's heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah, and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.^[1]

During the month of Elul, there are a number of special rituals leading up to the High Holy Days. It is customary to blow the shofar every morning (except on Shabbat) from Rosh Hodesh Elul (the first day of the month) until the day before Rosh Hashanah. The blasts are meant to awaken one's spirits and inspire him to begin the soul searching which will prepare him for the High Holy Days. As part of this preparation, Elul is the time to begin the sometimes-difficult process of granting and asking for forgiveness.^[1] It is also customary to recite Psalm 27 every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul through Hoshanah Rabbah on Sukkot (in Tishrei).

Aside from the blowing of the shofar, the other major ritual practice during Elul is to recite selichot (special penitential prayers) either every morning before sunrise beginning on the Sunday immediately before Rosh Hashanah, or, if starting Sunday would not afford 4 days of selichot, then the Sunday one week prior (Ashkenazi tradition) or every morning during the entire month of Elul (Sephardi tradition). Ashkenazi Jews begin the recitation of selichot with a special service on Saturday night between solar mid-night (not 12:00) and morning light on the first day of Selichot.

Many Jews also visit the graves of loved ones throughout the month in order to remember and honor those people in our past who inspire us to live more fully in the future.

Another social custom is to begin or end all letters written during the month of Elul with wishes that the recipient have a good year. The standard blessing is "K'tiva VaHatima Tova" ("a good writing and sealing [of judgement]"), meaning that the person should be written and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year. Tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, each person is written down for a good or a poor year, based on their actions in the previous one, and their sincere efforts at atoning for mistakes or harm. On Yom Kippur, that fate is "sealed."

Elul in Jewish history

1 Elul - Moses ascends Sinai for 3rd 40 days (1313 BCE)
1 Elul - The Prophet Haggai commands that the rebuilding of the Second Temple continue (520 BCE)
2 Elul - Shulchan Aruch published (1555)
3 Elul - Death of Rabbi A. I. Kook (1935)
5 Elul - Ezekiel the prophet has a prophecy of the destruction of the first temple
8 Elul - Washington responds to Newport Jews (1790)
10 Elul - Noah dispatches raven (2105 BCE)
12 Elul - Birth of Nachmanides (1294)
13 Elul - Death of Ben Ish Chai (1909)
17 Elul - Noah dispatches dove (2105 BCE)
18 Elul - Death of Maharal (1609)
18 Elul - Birth of Baal Shem Tov (1698)
18 Elul - Birth of Baal HaTanya (1745)
23 Elul - Dove brings olive Leaf to Noah (2105 BCE)
23 Elul - Death of Aleksander Rebbe, Yitzchak Menachem Danziger, in Treblinka (1942)
24 Elul - Death of Chafetz Chaim (1933)
25 Elul - The 1st day of Creation (3761 BCE)
25 Elul - Jerusalem Walls Rebuilt (335 BCE)
25 Elul - Death of Eleazar b. Simeon, son of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (2nd century CE)
27 Elul - Death of Belzer Rebbe (1855)
29 Elul - Birth of Tzemach Tzedek (1789)

Other uses

• Eylül is also the name for September in Turkish; this is derived from the Arabic form Arabic: أيلول‎ 'Aylūl, used in the Levant (see Arabic names of calendar months). It was also used in Akkadian, in the form elūlu.
• In the story of Xenogears, Elul is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month. In the official English translation, however, it was transliterated Elru.
• Elul is the name of a pluralistic beit midrash in Israel founded by Ruth Calderon.

See also

• High Holidays
• Repentance in Judaism
• Rosh Hashanah
• Song of Songs
• Yom Kippur
• Shmita

References

1. Suissa, David. "Love in the time of Elul." Jewish Journal. 21 August 2013. 22 August 2013.

External links

• Dates of Elul
• Resources on the Month of Elul
• The month of Elul
• An indepth discussion of the tradition of hearing shofar on Elul, plus meditations on the sound of shofar for each day of the month, can be found at The Shofar of Elul
• Jewels of Elul A reading for each day of Elul from a diverse background of Jewish sources.