The High Holidays: A Love Story

Elul

Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."

(Likkutai Torah)

G-d is close, approachable, with an extra 13 doses of mercy.

The initial letters of the four Hebrew words that make up this phrase spell the word "Elul," which is the name of the Hebrew month immediately preceding the High Holidays; this is an allusion to the fact that during this month, the Jewish People enjoys an especially close relationship with G-d, similar to that between two lovers.

Elul is an especially auspicious time for us Jews to try and bring ourselves closer to G-d. This is best accomplished when we take the initiative in our relationship with Him and work at cultivating our love for G-d, at our own spiritual improvement, etc.; then, during the High Holiday season which follows, G-d responds to our initiative by revealing His sovereignty over the universe. The heightened realization that G-d alone is King over all creation inspires an individual to a degree of awe and love for G-d not previously felt, a degree of closeness with G-d he or she may maintain throughout the year. It is this give-and-take relationship that is alluded to by the sequence of the clauses in our verse, in which the speaker is the Jewish People and G-d our symbolic "Beloved": "I am to my Beloved" (the first clause) refers to the Jews taking the first step in striving for closeness to our “Beloved"; only then "my Beloved is to me" — G-d reciprocates by renewing His Kingship over us.

Because Elul is the preparation to Rosh HaShanah, the anniversary of the world’s creation, the service of Elul is associated with three things which maintain the world: Torah, prayer, and deeds of loving kindness.

Rosh Hashanah

25 Elul=Creation/Birthday of World
1 Tishrei=Creation/Birthday of Man (Adam & Eve).
1) Rosh Hashanah is the day we proclaim G-d as our King: Adam proclaimed G-d King of the Universe, so too on Rosh Hashanah we coronate G-d as our King by blowing the Shofar.
2) Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment: On this day, Adam sinned and was judged and forgiven. Rosh Hashanah teaches us that “It is human to err, and Divine to forgive”. Said G-d to Adam: “You are a sign unto your children; as you were judged before me this day and emerged forgiven, so will your children be judged before me this day and emerge forgiven.”

On Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of creation, G‑d renews the creative energy that sustains our world. Once more, He is crowned as King of the universe. Just as trumpets are sounded at a coronation, the shofar announces G‑d’s continued kingship.

Rosh Hashanah is called "the birthday of the universe." It's the day that the Grand Programmer of All Things sits back to consider whether this universe is really worth playing and then reboots the system. In fact, "Rosh Hashanah," actually means, "Head of the Year": Like a head contains all the switches for every part of the body, Rosh Hashanah is the time when every day of the year is initialized into the system. It's a crucial stage, when every moment must be filled with good thoughts, words and deeds.

Precisely when is reboot? You guessed it: At the first blast of the shofar.

Teshuva & Yom Kippur

Commonly translated as "repentance," Teshuvah literally means "return." Teshuvah is the soul's capacity to return to its original state, to its pristine core. As we pass through life, we are invariably coarsened and sullied by our errors and misjudgments, or simply by the vicissitudes of physical life; but our innermost self, the "veritable part of Gd" that is the essence of our soul -- remains untouched, and is immune to corruption. Teshuvah is the Gd-given ability to access and reconnect to that untouched self, reestablish our lives upon its foundation, and even redefine a negative past in its purifying light.

Teshuvah is the return to one’s true self, the cutting through of all those outer layers of misguided actions and distorted priorities to awaken one’s true will and desire. This explains how teshuvah achieves atonement for past sins. Teshuvah enables the sinner to reconnect with his own inherent goodness, with that part of himself which never sinned in the first place. In a sense, he has now acquired a new self, one with an unblemished past; but this “new self” is really his own true self come to light, while his previous, corrupted “self” was but an external distortion of his true being.

Only teshuvah has such power over the past; only teshuvah can “undo” a negative deed. But this is only one of the “uses” of the power of return. Teshuvah is not only for sinners, but also for the holiest person in the holiest time and the holiest place. For even the perfectly righteous individual needs to be liberated from the limitations of the past.

• Yom Kippur has a special power, for “whether one repents or does not repent, Yom Kippur atones.” This powerful atonement of Yom Kippur is achieved by revealing the level of the soul that sin cannot affect or harm to begin with.