Elul: It’s the month that quietly ushers in one of the most spiritually significant seasons on the Jewish calendar, even though many Jews might not be familiar with it. It is the final month on the ...

This coming week is the reading of Parshat Shoftim, the first parsha of the month of Elul. It is a month, of course, associated with teshuva (return) in preparation for the upcoming holidays. So it ...

Is it possible to do all your reflections about the previous year on a single day? And on a day when you do not even eat due to all the sins you committed? Of course not, according to the Jewish ...

Eleven months. In the Jewish tradition, these two words represent an intense period of mourning when we recite Kaddish. It’s been eleven months since October 7, and it’s been the most intense, painful ...

Yet I want to suggest that it is the month of Elul – though it contains no holidays at all – that may be the key to the entire year. There is a concept in Judaism called hachana l’mitzvah, the ...

We are in the middle of the month of Elul, which ushers us into the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In a talk that Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto gave to his students, he explained the ...

Very often, Rosh Hashana comes along and I find myself thinking: How did the month of Elul come and go so quickly – I feel that I did not utilize my time adequately to prepare myself to stand before ...

We are now in Elul, the month of repentance and mercy. What is this mercy that we are in such great need of in general, and especially at this time? Ramchal [Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto] explains in ...

The Alter Rebbe – the Baal HaTanya –in Likutei Torah explains the month of Elul with the following metaphor: The king’s usual place is in the capital city, in the royal palace. Anyone wishing to ...

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Refuge is discussed often in the Torah. When a Jew killed another inadvertently, he was required to flee to a city of refuge, where he was given asylum from the victim’s relatives. These cities were ...