Elul - Spiritually Preparing for the High Holidays

Elul, the final month of the Jewish year begins a forty-day period of introspection and repentance which includes the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Judaism’s most sacred of days. Although there are no specific customs associated with Elul in the Hebrew Bible, over time individuals and communities have adopted customs meant to get them spiritually prepared for the High Holidays.

Beginning on the first day of Elul, the shofar, or ram’s horn, which is an integral part of High Holiday services is blown during Shacharit, or the morning service in the synagogue every morning save for Shabbat. This continues until Yom Kippur. The first of Elul is also when Sephardic Jews—Jews originally from Spain, Portugal and North Africa begin saying selichot, which are penitential prayers during Shacharit. Ashkenazic Jews—Jews from Eastern and Central Europe—begin saying selichot on the Saturday evening proceeding Rosh Hashanah. Psalm 27 is said both during the evening or Maariv service as well as during Shacharit. Some have the custom of reciting this psalm through Yom Kippur while others continue saying it until Hoshanah Raba or the seventh day of Sukkot, the Festival of Booths which begins a mere five days after Yom Kippur.

Owing to its proximity to the High Holidays, it is customary during Elul to embark upon a personal heshbon hanefesh, or spiritual accounting, examining all of the areas of one’s life in hopes of doing true teshuvah and beginning the year anew. Teshuvah is the Hebrew word most frequently translated as repentance. The root of teshuvah, however, is derived from the Hebrew word shuv meaning to return, which underlies the Jewish attitude towards repentance—teshuvah is not merely about resolving inwardly to change one’s actions and behaviors, but we must outwardly demonstrate that we truly regret the wrongs we have committed and are striving to change. Teshuvah is an ongoing process, not just something we work towards during the High Holidays. It is important to note that Yom Kippur merely atones for transgressions that we have committed against G-d. It is only possible to be forgiven for the transgressions and sins that we have committed against our fellow human beings by the person we have wronged.

The personal heshbon hanefesh that many people begin during Elul and continue through Yom Kippur and beyond is often done in the form of a journal. There have been several initiatives developed in the past several years which are meant to serve as guides for this deeply intimate journey. Although journaling is a popular vehicle for this accounting, it is by no means the only way and each individual must find the practices that speak most directly to them. A person might choose to look deeply at one area of their life that they wish to change or one might look at the past year as a whole and see in what ways they want the next year to be different. Just as it is popular for people to write out New Year’s resolutions on the 1st of January, many people do the same before each Rosh Hashanah.

The Hebrew letters which spell out Elul are often seen as referring to the verse from Song of Songs, I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, which refers to the closeness that many people feel to G-d especially during this period. The notion that the King, referring to G-d is in the field conveys a similar notion—that although G-d is always close, the presence of G-d is felt even more acutely during Elul through Yom Kippur.