Elul // אֱלוּל
About Elul
Elul is the last month of the civil year and the sixth month of the Jewish religious year on the Hebrew calendar.
Elul comes at the same time as the secular months August/September.
It is taught that the Hebrew letters ELUL (aleph, lamed, vav, lamed) are an acronym for the verse from Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs), Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li – I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
This alludes to the forty days from the beginning of Elul until Yom Kippur for during these forty days repentance is [more readily] accepted so a person should bring their heart near to their Beloved [G!d] with repentance, and then the Beloved will be close to them to accept the repentance with love.
In Elul we celebrate women’s ability to maintain our independence, individuality, and uniqueness at the same time that we enter into relationships and recommit ourselves to those we love.
Elul Customs
Various customs arose sometime during the first millennium that designated Elul as the time to prepare for the High Holy Days. Because these days are filled with so much meaning and potency, they require a special measure of readiness. We are called upon to enter them thoughtfully and to consider what they mean. As the Maharal of Prague said, “All the month of Elul, before eating and sleeping, a person should look into their soul and search his deeds, that they may make confession.”
To prepare for the High Holy Days, there are many daily customs. Here are a few:
Blowing the Shofar
Reading Psalm 27
Reciting selichot (special penitential prayers)
Visiting the graves of loved ones
Beginning any correspondence written during the month of Elul with wishes that the recipient have a good year.
Elul History
3761 BCE
The 1st day of the world according to the Genesis creation narrative
2105 BCE
Noah dispatches the raven, then the dove. The dove brings olive Leaf to Noah
1313 BCE
Moses ascends Mount Sinai for 3rd set of 40 days
523 BCE
The Prophet Haggai commands that the rebuilding of the Second Temple continue
335 BCE
Jerusalem Walls Rebuilt
1294
Birth of Nachmanides
1555
Shulchan Aruch published
1290
Jews are expelled from England by King Edward I and not permitted to legally return for 350 years.
1698
Birth of Baal Shem Tov
1945
Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft publicly performs the first shechitah on German soil since it was outlawed by the Nazis in 1933.
Elul Zodiac
The mazal (Zodiac) for Elul is Virgo, the betulah (virgin).