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Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful,
declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. - Jer 3:12
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ELUL is the 6th month of the Biblical calendar (late summer/early fall), the month set apart for repentence, or teshuvah, in spiritual preparation for the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). If you were to count from Tishri as the first month of the calendar (as the Rabbinic tradition does), Elul would be the last month of the year -- a time to make “New Years Resolutions” and to turn away from sin before the start of the New Year. The month of Elul is therefore a time each year to prepare for the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, by getting our spiritual house in order.
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The name Elul is said to be an acronym of ani l'dodi v'dodi li, “I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine,” a quote from Song of Solomon 6:3, where the Beloved is the LORD and the “I” is the Kallat Mashiach, the Bride of Messiah:
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Although it is a somber time of soul-searching (חֶשְׁבּוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ), Elul reminds us of the high calling we have to examine ourselves and prepare ourselves as the spotless and blameless Bride of the Mashiach (2 Peter 3:14).
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The Days of Teshuvah (תְּשׁוּבָה)
According to rabbinical tradition, Elul is the time that Moses spent on Sinai preparing the second set of tablets after the idolatrous incident of the golden calf (chet ha-egel). Moses was said to ascend on Rosh Chodesh Elul (the first of Elul) and descend 40 days later on the 10th of Tishri, the end of Yom Kippur, when repentance and restoration of the people was complete. Elul then represents the time of national sin and forgiveness obtained by means of teshuvah before the LORD. The 29 days of Elul are considered a time of soul searching, or cheshbon hanefesh (חֶשְׁבּוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ) and selichot (prayers for forgiveness) in anticipation of the Ten High Holy Days (Tishri 1-10). The entire season of teshuvah (repentance) therefore runs 40 days from the last day of the month of Av to Yom Kippur.
Note: For a variety of reasons, Rosh Chodesh Elul is observed for two days, the 30th of Av and again on Elul 1. Beginning on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul (and continuing until Erev Rosh HaShanah) the custom is to blow the shofar every day (except on Shabbat). Psalm 27 is often recited every day during this time as well.
The custom is to first blow tekiah (תְּקִיעָה), a long single blast (the sound of the King's coronation), followed by shevarim (שְׁבָרִים), three short, wail-like blasts (signifying repentance), followed by teruah (תְּרוּעָה), several short blasts of alarm (to awaken the soul), and to close with tekiah hagadol (תְּקִיעָה הַגָּדוֹל), a long, final blast:
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Listen to the Shofar
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Selichot (סְלִיחוֹת)
Selichot are additional prayers for forgiveness (you can obtain a Selichot prayerbook at any good Jewish bookstore). In the Ashkenazic tradition, these prayers are recited at least ten times (in the morning service) before and including Yom Kippur.
The Selichot service is built upon a recitation of the thirteen merciful attributes (Shelosh Esrei Middot) that God revealed (see Exodus 34:6-7):
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After the Jews had committed the grievous sin with the golden calf, Moses despaired of ever being able to find favor in God’s eyes again. God, however (as explained in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 17b)), donned a prayer shawl, and, in the role of a cantor, sang to Moses the order of the thirteen attributes of rachamim (mercy). God proclaimed thirty-two words (Exod. 34:6-7) that have become known in Jewish tradition as the Shelosh Esrei Middot, the Thirteen Attributes of God’s Mercy:
"And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." (KJV)
According to traditional interpretations, the thirteen attributes are articulated as follows:
- Adonai (יהוה) - I, the LORD, am the Compassionate Source of all of life; I am the breath of life for all of creation.
- Adonai (יהוה) - I, the LORD, am also compassionate to one who has sinned and repented.
- El (אֵל) - I, the LORD, am God the Almighty and Omnipotent;
- Rachum (רַחוּם) - I, the LORD, am merciful (rachamim (רַחֲמִים) means “mercy” and rechem (רֶחֶם) means “womb”);
- Chanun (חַנּוּן) - I, the LORD, am gracious; I pour out my favor freely to all of creation. (Chen (חֵן) is the word for “grace”);
- Erekh Apayim (אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם) - I, the LORD, am slow to anger and patient (the word erekh means “long” and af (אַף) means “nose.” The idiom erekh apayim means “long suffering, patient”);
- Rav Chesed (רַב־חֶסֶד) - I, the LORD, am abundant in love (חֶסֶד) to both the righteous and the wicked;
- Rav Emet (רַב־אֱמֶת) - I, the LORD, am truthful and faithful in carrying out promises;
- Notzer Chesed La'alafim (נצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים) - I, the LORD, retain chesed (love) for thousands of generations, taking into account the merit of our worthy ancestors (called zechut avot);
- Nosei Avon (נשֵׂא עָוֹן) - I, the LORD, forgive iniquity (avon), defined in the tradition as wrongful deeds committed with premeditation; I “carry iniquity away” (nasa) for the penitent;
- Nosei Pesha (נשֵׂא פֶשַׁע) - I, the LORD, forgive transgression (pesha), defined as wrongful deeds committed in a rebellious spirit;
- Nosei Chata'ah (נשֵׂא חַטָּאָה) - I, the LORD, forgive sin (chet), defined as those wrongful deeds that were inadvertently committed;
- Nakkeh (נַקֶּה) - I, the LORD, will not cancel punishment, but I will clear the guilt for those who genuinely return to Me in teshuvah.
In addition to the Shelosh Esrei Middot, the chanting of a number of psalms and prayerful poems (piyyutim) are recited during services throughout the month of Elul. The tone of a Selichot service is set in Psalm 130:
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
As Messianic believers, we affirm that forgiveness is obtained by exercising emunah (faith) in the sacrifice of Yeshua as the kapparah for our sins, and by evidencing wholehearted teshuvah in our daily life. In Rabbinic Judaism, however, Selichot are said as a means of rendering a favorable verdict of “din,” or “judgment” by God during the Days of Awe.
“Sin” (chet in Hebrew) means “failure in our relationship with the LORD.” Our goal should be to continually move closer to the LORD, but chet causes us to move away from Him. Teshuvah means “return” and the period of Selichot is therefore set apart as a means of returning to the LORD:
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Teshuvah is a sort of death and rebirth: a death of the past life and the birth of a new life and a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). It is an awakening from the sleep induced by sin, and manifests itself as the power of the Holy Spirit working in the heart of the believer who trusts in God’s salvation through Yeshua.
Teshuvah is a gift from the LORD and involves four basic steps:
- Forsaking the sin (Proverbs 28:13).
- Regretting the breach in your relationship with God and others (Psalm 51).
- Confessing the truth before God and making amends with others we have harmed (1 John 1:9; James 5:16, Matthew 5:23-4).
- Accepting the future and moving forward with the LORD
(Philippians 3:13-14; 1 John 1:9).
The season of Teshuvah runs forty days from the first of Elul to Yom Kippur. Each day at the synagogue the shofar is sounded and special prayers are made regarding turning to YHVH for restoration. The last ten days of this 40 day period (begining on Rosh Hashanah and ending on Yom Kippur) are referred to as the “High Holy Days” or the “Days of Awe” (Yamim Nora'im).
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