Elul 5644 First Ma'amar

"There is nothing new under the sun."  The Sfas Emes explains in many places[1] that "under the sun" refers to the physical world.  All novelty and renewal comes from "above the sun" – from spiritual realms.  Rosh HaShana is a time of renewal.  The Creation was completed on Rosh HaShana and is renewed every year on Rosh HaShana.

What is renewal?  Renewal, the Sfas Emes explains, is God's revelation.  How can we experience renewal?  How can we experience God?  The Sfas Emes teaches that in order to experience God's renewal, we need to understand that our relationship with Him is reciprocal.  To the extent that we dedicate ourselves to Him, He will reveal Himself to us.  This idea is more than simply a mechanism for experiencing God.  It is our raison d'etre.  God wants us to dedicate ourselves to Him, "עם זו יצרתי לי/I formed this nation for Myself" (Yeshaya 43:21)   

There are many examples of this concept.  We see it in the famous אלול/Elul acronym – אני לדודי ודודי לי/I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me" (Shir HaShirim 6:3)  This is a metaphor for the relationship between the nation of Israel and God.  We have no reason for existing other than to accomplish God's will and spread His glory in this world.  To the extent that this is clear to us, it is clear, as it were, in Heaven that the entire Creation and subsequent revelations are for us.

The Chiddushei HaRim learns this concept in the following pasuk in Tehillim (100:3), "דעו כי ה' הוא א-להים הוא עשנו כתיב ולא קרי ולו אנחנו עמו וצאן מרעיתו/Know that God is the Lord; He made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture."  There are many words in the Torah which are traditionally read differently from the way they are spelled.  In this pasuk, the word ולא/and not, is read ולו/and His.  The translation above is according to the traditional reading.  According to the spelling, the pasuk states that God made us, we did not make ourselves. 

The Chiddushei HaRim points out that the two words, לא and לו together, spell אלול.  He explains the significance of these words in the context of the pasuk.  To the extent that we are לא אנחנו/not for ourselves, לו אנחנו/we are His.  To the extent that we suppress our own desires in favor of God's, we become His people, His flock.

This week's parsha – Ki Savo – contains a classic example of this idea.  "את ה' האמרת ... וה' האמירך .../You have distinguished God … and God has distinguished you …" (Devarim 26:17, 18)  Rashi explains that the words, האמרת and האמירך mean to glorify as in, "יתאמרו כל פועלי און/They glorify themselves, all doers of iniquity" (Tehillim 94:4).  There is nothing more important to the nation of Israel than glorifying God by achieving His will.  By the same token, as it were, God loves us more than any other creation, "ובך בחר ה' להיות לו לעם סגולה/God chose you to be a treasured nation" (Devarim 14:2)

Since Rosh HaShana is the prime time for yearly renewal, The month leading up to Rosh HaShana is dedicated to preparing for the renewal.  As we've seen, the way to prepare for renewal is by dedicating ourselves to God.  In practical terms this means returning to Him.  The Jewish concept of repentance is much broader than simply having remorse for our mistakes.  The essence of repentance is returning to a state in which we can experience God once again.  This is, after all, our fundamental reason for being. 

When we come to the end of the year, we introspect and come to the realization that God created us only to reveal Him in this world.  Cultivating this belief leads us to a strong desire to fulfill it in practice, "אני לדודי/I am for my beloved"  As a result, we merit the renewal of Rosh HaShana, "ודודי לי/… and my beloved is for me."

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[1] S.E. Chayei Sara 5631 Fourth Ma'amar, Mikeitz 5631 Second Ma'amar and others

Elul 5643 First Ma'amar

The forty days between the giving of the Torah and Tisha B'Av marks a period during which the nation was on a very high level of holiness and closeness to God.  Chazal[1] teach us that the forty days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur were also days of closeness to God.  During this period the nation repented for the sin of the golden calf.  Chazal[2] teach us that Moshe Rabbeinu himself left no stone unturned in heaven during this period to rectify the source of our souls.  

Rashi[3], based on Chazal[4], learns that every punishment that God renders includes a little of the sin of the golden calf.  The Sfas Emes notes that if the sin affects us to this day, certainly the repentance from the sin affects us as well. Furthermore, Chazal[5] teach us that penitents have an intensely strong desire to be close to God.  Their actions therefore have far reaching ramifications.  The nation and Moshe Rabbeinu, through their repentance and rectification, transformed the period preceding Yom Kippur into a time during which it is easy for us to repent and return to God.

May we merit taking advantage of this propitious period to return to God.

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[1] Seder Olam 6 (viz. Rashi Shmos 33:11)

[2] Devarim R. 3:11

[3] Shmos 33:34

[4] Sanhedrin 102a

[5] Zohar 1:129b

Elul 5642 First Ma'amar

The month of Elul is a prime time for cultivating and strengthening our relationship with God.  The Chiddushei HaRim notes that a hint to this is embedded in the very word Elul.  He learns it from the following pasuk in Tehillim (100:3), "דעו כי ה' הוא א-להים הוא עשנו כתיב ולא קרי ולו אנחנו עמו וצאן מרעיתו/Know that God is the Lord; He made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture."  There are many words in the Torah which are traditionally read differently from the way they are spelled.  In this pasuk, the word ולא/and not, is read ולו/and His.  The translation above is according to the traditional reading.  According to the spelling, the pasuk states that God made us, we did not make ourselves. 

The Chiddushei HaRim points out that the two words, לא and לו together, spell אלול.  He explains the significance of these words in the context of the pasuk.  To the extent that we are לא אנחנו/not for ourselves, לו אנחנו/we are His.  When we suppress our own desires in favor of God's, we become His people, His flock.  Significantly, the first day of Elul is the new year for tithing domestic animals[1].  Elul is the time to become subservient to God the way sheep and beasts of burden are subservient to their owners.

According to the Chiddushei HaRim, we first subjugate ourselves to God.  The result is that God accepts us as His people.  However, the Sfas Emes explains that the opposite order is also true.  We can first use our intellect to come to the conclusion that it makes sense to be subservient to God.  As a result, we suppress our own desires in favor of God's.  In fact, this is exactly how Chazal[2] understand the pasuk, "... אדם ובהמה תושיע ה'/… You, God, save man and beast." (Tehillim 36:7) Chazal understand that both "man" and "beast" in this pasuk refer to man.  God saves one who is clever like man, but makes himself subservient like a beast. 

"Man" as a concept, refers to one who is close to God since this is the purpose of man's existence.  It is reached by totally subordinating ourselves to God.  This understanding is the reason that Chazal understand this pasuk as referring only to the nation of Israel.  We have the innate ability to subordinate ourselves to God.  Therefore, Chazal[3] say that we are called, "man" since we come close to God through subordination to Him.  Chazal[4] understand this from the following pasuk as well, "כי אתם המעט מכל העמים/For you are the smallest of all the nations." (Devarim 7:7)  Chazal understand this to mean that we make ourselves small before God.  Therefore God loves us.

We can also understand the following pasuk in this manner, "ואתן צאני צאן מרעיתי אדם אתם .../You are my sheep, sheep of my pasture, you are man …" (Yechezkeil 34:31)  God declares that we are His sheep – we have subjugated ourselves to Him.  This is a sign that we must have first used our intellect to reach the conclusion that this pays – we were first "men".

This pasuk can also be understood according to the order of the Chiddushei HaRim.  God praises us by noting first that we are His flock – we have subjugated ourselves.  Because of this we come close to God and become "man".

From our perspective, we say first that He has made us His nation – we are close to Him and are therefore "men".  Because of this we subjugate ourselves to Him like sheep.  This is why the order of the pasuk in Tehillim which is written from our perspective is, "עמו וצאן מרעיתו/His nation and the sheep of His pasture," – first "His nation" and then afterwards, "the sheep of His pasture."

May we merit taking advantage of Elul to subjugate ourselves totally to God so that we can come close to Him and merit redemption.

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[1] Rosh HaShana 2a

[2] Chullin 5b

[3] Yevamos 61a

[4] Tanchuma Eikev 3

Elul 5640 First Ma'amar

“אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי/I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me.” (Shir HaShirim 6:3)  The first letters of each word of this pasuk spells out “Elul.”  What is the connection between the month of Elul and this pasuk?

The Sfas Emes explains.  First, we need to know and understand that there is a special relationship between the nation of Israel and God which the nations of the world do not have.  Shabbos, for example, was given solely to us as God declares, “בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִיא .../It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel …” (Shmos 31:17)  Yeshayahu prophesied, “I have formed this nation for Me,”[1] and, “you are My witnesses.”[2]  The nation of Israel, therefore, can live a life of holiness dedicated to God without associating with the nations of the world. 

Our kindness, though, dictates that we help the nations as well.  In fact, Israel’s collective mission is to elevate and rectify the Creation.  In order to do this, many times we need to come into contact with elements of society and situations that are less than ideal spiritually. 

This applies to the entire year.  However, during the month of Elul we need to draw inwards, to connect with our roots.  During the entire year we risk sinning because we integrate with the world and are exposed to the evil in it.  During the month of Elul, the principle of “your own life comes first”[3] applies.

Chazal hinted at this concept when they established Rosh Chodesh Elul as the start of a new year for Ma’aseir Beheimah.[4]  This is a mitzvah to tithe domestic animals that we own.  Every tenth animal is tithed.  The law though requires that only animals born in the same year be counted for the tithing.  The cutoff date is Rosh Chodesh Elul.  An animal born before Rosh Chodesh Elul cannot be counted with an animal born after Rosh Chodesh Elul.  Homelitically, Ma’aseir Beheima alludes to removing the animalistic – the mundane – from the holy.

By establishing the new year for Ma’aseir Beheimah on Rosh Chodesh Elul, Chazal are teaching us that this is the time to separate from the mundane and concentrate on the holy.  Even though during the entire year the holy and mundane are naturally integrated, during the month of Elul, we separate and concentrate on the holy alone.  We introspect and remember that ultimately we were created to serve God.  We thus fulfill, “אֲנִי לְדוֹדִ/I am for my beloved.

If we succeed in fulfilling, “אֲנִי לְדוֹדִ/I am for my beloved” during Elul then God fulfills “וְדוֹדִי לִי/and my beloved is for me” during Tishrei showering life and holiness upon the entire coming year.

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[1] Yeshayah 43:21

[2] Yeshayah 43:10

[3] Bava Metzi’ah 62a

[4] Rosh HaShanah Mishnah 1:1

Elul 5641 First Ma'amar

"אני לדודי ודודי לי/I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me" (Shir HaShirim 6:3)  Commentaries on this pasuk note that the first letters of each word spell out the word אלול/Elul.  What is the significance of this?  What is the connection between the words of the pasuk and the month of Elul?

Chazal teach us that the 120 day period starting with Shavuos and culminating with receiving the second luchos on Yom Kippur was a very significant one in our history.  We received the Torah on Shavuos and Moshe Rabbeinu spent the next forty days on Mount Sinai.  On 17 Tamuz, the nation sinned with the golden calf.  Moshe Rabbeinu broke the luchos habris and spent the next forty days supplicating God on behalf of the nation.

 

Chazal teach us that the first and last forty day periods were exemplified by God's good will towards us.  They were days of ratzon.  The middle period were days of anger.  However, there was a difference between the ratzon of the first period and that of the last.  The good will that God showed towards us during the first period was an undeserved gift.  The Sfas Emes teaches that God's good will towards the nation during the last forty day period was not gratis.  It was not an undeserved gift.  Rather, it was the direct result of the nation's move to repent during this period.  The nation deserved God's grace during this last period.

 

The high spiritual level that we reached after the Exodus culminating in the receiving of the Torah on Shavuos was an undeserved gift from God.  This did not, could not last.  A new awakening that came from within us was necessary.  This happened during the forty period beginning on Rosh Chodesh Elul and ending on Yom Kippur. 

"אני לדודי/I am for my beloved" represents our longing to make amends and experience God.  This is the necessary prerequisite for, "ודודי לי/and my beloved is for me."  We turned to God so God turned, as it were, to us.  This is a relationship that will last forever.  This is the reason that these are days of good will, of razton, even now thousands of years later.

   

God sits in judgment specifically during this season because it is a time of good will forever.

Receiving a gift is a joyous occasion but the joy is incomplete. Because a gift is undeserved, there is always an element of shame involved.  There is no greater joy than receiving what is deserved.  It was through our merit that Moshe Rabbeinu returned on Yom Kippur with the second luchos.  The joy of receiving the Torah on Yom Kippur was a complete joy.  

May we take advantage of this period to come close to God and may we and the entire nation of Israel merit a kesiva vachasima tova.  AMEN!   

Elul 5640 Second Ma'amar

God set aside Yom Kippur for repentance.  Why, then, do Chazal[1] teach us that Elul is also dedicated for repentance?  Is not Yom Kippur enough?

The answer to this question is based on a law absolving servants from certain mitzvos.  The Zohar[2] teaches us that a gentile servant is not required to say kri’as sh’ma.  This is because he is already beholden to his master.  As long as he is beholden to his master, he cannot accept the yoke of another.

This concept applies to us as well.  We are required to declare God’s Kingship over us on Rosh Hashana.[3]   But until we repent we are beholden to the evil inclination.  As long as we are under the sway of the evil inclination we cannot accept God’s yoke.  Just like the gentile servant, we must be first be free in order to subordinate ourselves to God.

This is the reason that the mazal for the month of Elul is besula/virgin.[4]  Just as the virgin is unattached, so too, must we free ourselves from all attachments in order to attach to God.

This concept also explains the juxtaposition of destroying Amalek at the very end of last week’s parsha, and the mitzvah of bikurim/bringing the first fruits at the beginning of this week’s parsha.

The mitzvah of bikurim is a physical expression of accepting the yoke of Heaven.  We give the first of our produce to God and we make a specific declaration that we are doing this in order to show our subordination to Him.  Amalek represents subordination to the evil inclination.  The paragraph instructing us to destroy Amalek comes directly prior to the mitzvah of bikurim to teach us that in order to become beholden to God, we must first wipe out the Amalek that is within us.

This is the work that Chazal cut out for us during the month of Elul to enable us to accept God's Kingship on Rosh HaShana.  May we merit it!

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[1] Zohar Chadash Yisro 51a; Sefer Kitzur HaKavanos – Chodesh Elul (Ramchal)

[2] Zohar 3:108a

[3] Rosh HaShana 16a

[4] Sefer Yetzira 5:2

Shoftim 5631 Fifth Ma'amar

There are periods during the year that are considered propitious – עֵת רָצוֹן. The kabbalists say that the month of Elul is such a period. The Zohar says that the third Shabbos meal is also such a time. Conventionally this means that God is more open to hearing our pleas during these times. Since God is beyond time and is not affected by it, what does this mean? To God, there is no difference between one period and the next. He is always full of the will and desire that we come close to Him. He constantly desires to shower us with blessing.

The Sfas Emes explains that a propitious time relates to the way the period affects us. In a עֵת רָצוֹן/propitious time it is easier for us to come close to God. Here is why. We are more than the physical bodies that we see. There is a spark of holiness – of spirituality – that God has buried within our physical selves. As we live our lives in the physical world, we usually do not sense this. However during the propitious time it is easier to sense it. To the extent that we sense this spirituality, we are lead to desire more than simply satisfying our physical desires. We are lead to a desire to come close to God. In complete reciprocity, and to the exact extent of our own desire, God’s will and desire to come close to us causes an outpouring of mercy and lovingkindness towards us as we find in Mishlei, “כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים כֵּן לֵב-הָאָדָם לָאָדָם/As water reflects a face back to a face, so one’s heart is reflected back to him by another.”