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The beginning of the month of Elul initiates the first days of
our annual month of preparation before the High Holy days, when the Jewish
people are judged on their behavior of the past year. The Shlah comments
on the verse "When the lion roars, who is not afraid?" (Amos 3:8), explaining
that the Hebrew word for "lion", "aryeh", (spelled alef, reish,
yud, hei), is an acronym for the 4 words, Elul, Rosh
Hashana, Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah (the last day of Sukkot).
When the "lion" of the High Holy Days arrives, people feel the urge to change
their behavior for the better, in preparation of the Day of Judgment. Because of
the spiritual potency of the month of Elul, there are ancient traditions
associating the name of the month with different Torah verses where the first
letters of the words spell out "Elul", showing us the different aspects of its
character and how we can utilize them to connect with G-d. The most well known
include "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me" (Songs 6:3), which refers
to the power of prayer; "Each man to his friend and gifts for the poor" (Ester
9:22) about charity and, in general, kindness to others; "Your heart and the
heart of your children" (Deut. 30:6), referring to repentance; and "It came to
his hand and we placed for him" (Ex. 21:13), which alludes to the cities of
refuge, built for one who murdered accidentally (referring to the Torah, our
refuge).
When we will truly use all of our efforts during the month of
Elul, to learn Torah and do all of the commandments, then the final verse hinted
in the name "Elul" will become fully revealed: "And they said, we will sing to
G-d." (Ex. 15:1) This was the prophesy of the Jewish people at the splitting of
the red sea, that everyone will sing together at the time of Mashiach
celebrating the arrival of the Final Redemption!
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