Elul day 1 - Psalms chapter 1,
chapter 2 & chapter 3.
Elul day 2 - Psalms chapter 4,
chapter 5 & chapter 6.
Elul day 3 - Psalms chapter 7,
chapter 8 & chapter 9.
Elul day 4 - Psalms chapter 10,
chapter 11 & chapter 12.
Elul day 5 - Psalms chapter 13,
chapter 14 & chapter 15.
Elul day 6 - Psalms chapter 16,
chapter 17 & chapter 18.
Elul day 7 - Psalms chapter 19,
chapter 20 & chapter 21
Elul day 8 - Psalms chapter 22,
chapter 23 & chapter 24.
Elul day 9 - Psalms chapter 25,
chapter 26 & chapter 27.
Elul day 10 - Psalms chapter 28,
chapter 29 & chapter 30.
Elul day 11 - Psalms chapter 31,
chapter 32 & chapter 33.
Elul day 12 - Psalms chapter 34,
chapter 35 & chapter 36.
Elul day 13 - Psalms chapter 37,
chapter 38 & chapter 39.
Elul day 14 - Psalms chapter 40, chapter
41 & chapter 42
Elul day 15 - Psalms chapter 43,
chapter 44 & chapter 45.
Elul day 16 - Psalms chapter 46,
chapter 47 & chapter 48.
Elul day 17 - Psalms chapter 49,
chapter 50 & chapter 51.
Elul day 18 - Psalms chapter 52,
chapter 53 & chapter 54.
Elul day 19 - Psalms chapter 55,
chapter 56 & chapter 57.
Elul day 20 - Psalms chapter 58,
chapter 59 & chapter 60.
Elul day 21 - Psalms chapter 61,
chapter 62 & chapter 63.
Elul day 22 - Psalms chapter 64,
chapter 65 & chapter 66.
Elul day 23 - Psalms chapter 67,
chapter 68 & chapter 69.
Elul day 24 - Psalms chapter 70,
chapter 71 & chapter 72.
Elul day 25 - Psalms chapter 73,
chapter 74 & chapter 75.
Elul day 26 - Psalms chapter 76,
chapter 77 & chapter 78.
Elul day 27 - Psalms chapter 79,
chapter 80 & chapter 81.
Elul day 28 - Psalms chapter 82,
chapter 83 & chapter 84.
Elul day 29 - Psalms chapter 85,
chapter 86 & chapter 87.
Tishrei day 1 - Rosh Hashanah -
Psalms chapter 88, chapter 89, chapter 90 & Genesis 21 & 22.
Tishrei day 2 - Psalms chapter 91, chapter
92 & chapter 93.
Tishrei day 3 - Psalms chapter 94,
chapter 95 & chapter 96.
Tishrei day 4 - Psalms chapter 97,
chapter 98 & chapter 99.
Tishrei day 5 - Psalms chapter 100,
chapter 101 & chapter 102.
Tishrei day 6 - Psalms chapter 103,
chapter 104 & chapter 105.
Tishrei day 7 - Psalms chapter 106,
chapter 107 & chapter 108.
Tishrei day 8 - Psalms chapter 109,
chapter 110 & chapter 111.
Tishrei day 9 - Evening Yom Kippur -
Psalms chapter 112, chapter 113, chapter 114 & chapter 115 to chapter 123.
Before going to bed read psalms 124-132.
Tishrei day 10 Yom Kippur - Psalms
chapter 133 - 141 & chapter 142 - 150.
Biblical
Moshe had gone up in the Month of Sivan, and returned after forty days and forty nights, on the 17th of Tammuz with the First Luchos. When Moshe observed the Jewish People sinning by creating and worshipping the Golden Calf, and participating in other sinful activities centered around the worship of that idol, he broke that first set of Luchos. He ascended Mount Sinai a second time, on the eighteenth day of Tammuz, the day after the great sin, and remained there for another forty days and forty nights, praying to G-d to spare the Jewish People and to return His full Presence among them.
At the conclusion of the second forty day and forty night period (that is, on the 29th of Av, Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul), G-d forgave the Jewish People and instructed Moshe to ascend Har Sinai yet again the next day, to receive the Second Luchos, on which would be inscribed for the second time the Ten Commandments. Moshe’s ascension to Har Sinai for the third time (which also took forty days and forty nights, ending on Yom Kippur) occurred on Rosh Chodesh Elul.
HaShem also restored His Presence to the Jewish People by authorizing the construction of the "Mishkan," the Temporary Structure which served as a "Residence," so to speak, for the Divine Presence, before the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem.
Minhagim (Customs) Related to Rosh Chodesh Elul
The Custom:
Beginning the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, and continuing until-but-not-including Erev Rosh HaShanah (the day preceding Rosh HaShanah), the custom is to blow the Shofar every weekday (excluding Shabbat, but not Sunday), four sounds -
1. Tekiah - a flat straight sound, "Tuuuu"
2.- 3. Combination of Shevarim - three broken sounds, resembling sighing, "U-Tu, U-Tu, U-Tu," and Teruah - nine rapid sounds resembling wailing, "Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu"
4. And a final Tekiah
Note: The duration of the "Tekiah" sounds at the beginning and at the end, both during this Elul-introductory period of Shofar-blowing, and on Rosh HaShanah itself, the Day of Sounding the Shofar, must be equal to the duration of the Shevarim-Teruah (or Shevarim alone, or Teruah alone, as we shall see, placed in between them).
The Background:
When Moshe went up the Second Time to receive the "Aseret HaDibrot," the "Ten Commandments," the Jewish People blew the Shofar in the Camp. They did this to impress upon themselves that Moshe had once again gone up the mountain of Sinai, so that they would not again make the tragic mistake in judging the time of Moshe's return, and fall again into Idol Worship.
Therefore, the Jewish People in later generations accepted upon themselves the custom of blowing the Shofar, beginning with Rosh Chodesh Elul to remind themselves that the people of Israel in the desert had sinned with the Egel, had repented, had been forgiven by G-d and restored to their former level of holiness. This would arouse in their hearts and minds the importance and the effectiveness of doing "Teshuvah."
The Custom:
Ashkenazic (Northern, Western and Eastern Europe) have the custom, beginning with the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, of reciting Chapter 27 of Tehilim (Psalms), beginning "By (King) David, 'The L-rd is my Light and my Salvation,' " until and including Hoshannah Rabbah.
The Background:
This custom is based on the Medrash which links the "Light" of David, and the "Light" of all human beings, to Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment, when by the light of the "neshamah," the soul, Hashem searches out the recesses and "hidden" areas of the human being. This idea is in turn based on the verse "The Lamp of Hashem is the human soul, which searches out all the recesses of his being." And the "Salvation" of David and of all human beings is linked to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when Hashem atones for the sins of His creatures.
What is Elul?
"Elul" is the Sixth
Month of the year, counting from "Nisan," called in the Chumash,
"the first month." Counting from "Tishrei", the month of
Rosh HaShanah, "Elul" is the twelfth, and last month in the year.
Like the names of the other months of the Hebrew Calendar, "Elul came
up", or "returned with," those Jews who returned to
Israel from the 70-year Exile in Babylonia. The expression "returned
with" is particularly significant in this case in that this is the month
of "Return to Hashem," or "Repentance."
Elul is the name of the month which we are given each year to
prepare for the "Days of Awe:"
Although we believe that G-d always watches over the world, and is always waiting for our "return," we also believe that, in a sense, He is more accessible during the 40-day period beginning with the start of Elul and culminating in the first ten days of the Month of Tishrei. Those days, known as the "Ten Days of Repentance," begin with "Rosh HaShanah," and end with "Yom Kippur."
Although we believe that G-d always watches over the world, and is always waiting for our "return," we also believe that, in a sense, He is more accessible during the 40-day period beginning with the start of Elul and culminating in the first ten days of the Month of Tishrei. Those days, known as the "Ten Days of Repentance," begin with "Rosh HaShanah," and end with "Yom Kippur."
Following the principle of
"Seek G-d when He is at hand;
Call upon Him when He is near,"
(Yeshayahu
55:6)
we make special efforts to renew our
commitment to Him during this period of the year when He is "closest"
to us.
"Elul" has been interpreted as an acronym, with its Hebrew letters "Aleph,"
"Lamed," "Vav," "Lamed" representing the
words "Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li" (Song of Songs: 6,3).
The words mean "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine," where my "Beloved" is G-d, and "I" am the Jewish People.
The words mean "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine," where my "Beloved" is G-d, and "I" am the Jewish People.
The Zodiac Sign of the Month is the
"Maiden," because of the verse, (Yirmiyahu 31:20), "…Return, O
Maiden of Israel, return to these cities of yours!" Because this month is
set aside for return to G-d and Repentance.
1. According to Jewish tradition,
the World was created by G-d on the twenty-fifth of Elul, according to the
opinion in the Talmud of Rabbi Eliezer, whose opinion is followed generally in
connection with questions of astronomical and cosmological (having to do with
the "cosmos," or the entire universe) matters. And according to the
Biblical narrative in the beginning of the Bible (Bereshit 1:1-31), Original
Man and Original Woman were created six Days after the Creation of the Universe.
The "Day of Creation" of the first human beings is called "Rosh
HaShanah." Hence, it follows that the "Day of Creation" of the
Universe was the twenty-fifth of Elul.
2. According to Jewish tradition, it
was on the 17th of Elul, that the spies who gave the tragic and
catastrophic report about Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), died, as the
Bible says in BaMidbar (14:37), "The Men who gave a bad report concerning
"The Land" died in a plague before G-d."
Rabbi Elazar son of Parta said,
"Come and see how great is the negative power of evil speech and
consequently the greatness of the punishment that it brings! We learn this
lesson from the spies. For they slandered only trees and stones (the Land of
Israel) - how much worse is the punishment if someone slanders a human
being!"
3. In the Book of Nechemiah (6:15), we find, "And the wall was finished on the 25th of Elul, after fifty two days."
3. In the Book of Nechemiah (6:15), we find, "And the wall was finished on the 25th of Elul, after fifty two days."
When Nechemiah came up from the
Diaspora of Babylon to Yerushalayim, and saw the city in its ruined state, its
walls filled with gaps and its gates burnt with fire, he urged the Jewish
People to rebuild the walls, in order that they no longer be a shame among the
nations.
The enemies of the Jewish People,
Sanbalat the Choronite, Toviah the Amonite and Geshem the Arab attempted to forge
a conspiracy to prevent the rebuilding of the walls. When they tried to disrupt
the work by physical force, they were repelled by the workers who worked with
their tools in one hand and their weapons in the other as the verses there
attest, "Those who built the walls and those who lifted and carried the
burdens would do their work with one hand, while one hand held a weapon."
(Nechemiah 4:11)
And the following additional
dramatic descriptions of the situation, which bring to mind the battles of the
early Kibbutz-niks against the Arabs at the birth of the modern State of
Israel, when tremendous levels of bravery and self-sacrifice were exhibited by
the Israeli worker-fighters. "So we did the work, with half of them
grasping the spears, from the rising of the dawn until the emergence of the
stars. Also, at that time I said to the People, 'Let each man and his attendant
spend the night in Jerusalem. Thus, the night was a watch for us and the day
was for work. Thus neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the
watch who were under me, none of us removed our garments; no one disrobed even
to wash their clothes." (Nechemiah 4:15-17)
When the enemies realized that their
military attacks were to no avail, they attempted to trap Nechemiah by encouraging
him to meet with them, where they would do away with him, he saw through their
attempts, as it says, "Then Sanballat sent me the same message with his
servant, with an open letter in his hand. In it were written these words: 'It
has been heard among the nations, and Geshem confirms it, that you and the Jews
plan to rebel, and that is why you are building the wall; and that you are
becoming their king, and similar things; and that you have also set up prophets
to proclaim about you in Jerusalem, 'There is a king in Judah!' Now these
things will be heard by the king! So now, let us come and take counsel
together!" (Nechemiah 6:5-7)
But Nechemiah responded, "I
sent word to him, saying, 'These things that you say have never happened; you
have fabricated them from your heart! For you all try to frighten us,
saying, 'Let the resolve of their hands for doing the work be weakened, so that
it will not be done.' But now you strengthen my hand!" (Nechemiah
6:8-9)
When the wall was successfully
rebuilt, a great "Kiddush Hashem" "Sanctification of G-d's
Name" occurred. As we read, "The wall was
completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, after fifty-two days. It happened that
when all our enemies heard this, and all the nations around us saw, they fell
greatly in their own eyes, for they realized that this work was accomplished
by our G-d." (Nechemiah 6:15-16)
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Shofar Call of Elul
Elul is the sixth calendar month of
the biblical calendar year. It is also the last month of the civil year when
counting from Tishrei. The name "Elul" is the Babylonian name of the
month. The Bible also refers to this month as Elul, as in Nehemiah 6:15,
"So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of
Elul..."
Because of the approaching new year
and the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the month of Elul is
focused on repentance and reconciliation. Special prayers called Selichot (forgiveness)
are recited during this month. These prayers focus especially upon the thirteen
attributes of mercy revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai:
The LORD, The LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to
anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for
thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no
means leave the guilty unpunished1 ... (Exodus 34:6-7).
Another custom of during the month
of Elul is the sounding of the shofar (ram's horn trumpet) at the end of the
morning prayer service. The piercing, haunting sound of the shofar stirs our
hearts to seek God and repent of sin in our lives. Its sound resembles the
broken, sorrowful cry of our souls calling out to the Righteous Judge for mercy
and grace.
This wordless, yet deeply meaningful
sound is representative of yet another longing within us:
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the
pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we
ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our
body. (Romans 8:22-23)
As well as thirsting for
righteousness, our souls long for the day that our weary bodies are
resurrected. Paul says that even "creation waits eagerly for the revealing
of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19). The sound of the shofar is an
expression of that yearning for the coming of our Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth.
With great anticipation we await the New Creation that will be heralded
"with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the shofar of
God" (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
So this Elul, let the call of the
shofar pierce your heart and convict your soul. May we turn to Him in complete
faith, and fall upon his abundant mercy. May we also yearn for the coming of
Messiah as we approach a new year.
May you find wholeness and newness
of life this Elul!
Endnotes
1. How is this last phrase an
attribute of mercy? R' Eliyahu Kitov explains that God will clear those who
repent, but will not clear those do not repent.
The
Repentance of Elul
The traditions and customs of Elul
are centered on one thing—repentance. With the approach of Rosh Hashanah, the
Days of Awe, and Yom Kippur, Elul is dedicated to preparing oneself for these
appointed times. Everything from special prayers of s'lichot
(forgiveness), the blowing of the shofar after shacharit morning
prayers, renewing one's yearly giving of tzedakah (righteous giving), to
reciting Psalm 27 as an additional daily prayer, Elul is a month filled with
introspection, confession, and restitution.
It is at this time of year that we
especially take a look at our relationships with brothers and sisters.
Traditionally, this is the time of year when we put special effort into asking
forgiveness from our brother if we know that we have offended him (obviously,
this can be done any time of year). Our relationship with God is gauged by our
relationships with others.
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his
brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has
seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)
If there were ever a month that so
encapsulated the message of the Good News, it would be Elul. Our Master came
preaching repentance towards God and reconciliation between men. In parable after
parable, our Master taught us to not limit the mercy of God, nor to think too
highly of ourselves. After his ascension, the Apostles took his message to both
Jews and Gentiles and wrote to the congregations that they should continue to
love one another just as the Father loved them.
Can we honestly claim to be the
heirs of this legacy? Do we seek to live at peace with all men and to love
sacrificially? Do we die daily to bring others to the knowledge of God and
forgiveness in Messiah Yeshua? Or have we become just as self-righteous and out
of balance as those the Master rebuked in his day?
Take action this Elul. Ask
forgiveness from those you have hurt. Make restitution to those you have
cheated. If you bear a grudge against those who have sinned against you,
forgive them of their debt, even if they don't deserve it for "this is
God's will for you in Messiah Yeshua" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). By doing so,
we imitate the attributes of our Creator.
The LORD, the LORD, God, compassionate and gracious, slow to
anger, and abounding in kindness and truth, who keeps kindness for thousands,
who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, and who cleanses. (Exodus 34:6)
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The new moon – what does that mean?
Have you ever read that in Scripture and wondered what it was all about? To
most of us reading about the new moon in Scripture sounds rather foreign and
confusing. It brings to mind things like horoscopes and astrology. But the new
moon festival is far from what tends to come to our minds at first.
HaShem created the greater light
(the sun) and the lesser light (the moon) on the fourth day (and He created
light on the first…). He said in Genesis 1:14 that they were created to govern
the day and night and for counting days, months, seasons, and years. He
intended for us to pay attention to them as we pay attention to our clocks and
calendars today. A look at a concordance under “new moon” will reveal how
people in Bible times understood Rosh Chodesh and how they celebrated it. It
was like a Shabbat, it was considered a holy day (set apart) and a day of
family festivities and feasting. Have you ever read some of these scriptures
and wondered why the people were celebrating the moon and why He was okay with
it? Wasn’t HaShem clear about not getting involved in witch craft and astrology
and worshiping anything other than YHVH?
Rosh Chodesh is not a celebration of
the moon or a form of moon worship. It is a recognition of the beginning of a new
month. Rosh Chodesh literally means “head of the month”. When HaShem gave His
Biblical calendar to His people there wasn’t a fixed calendar in place. The
people did in fact use the heavens to determine their calendar – their days,
weeks and months, seasons and years. One could look up at the moon in the
evening and know just where they were in the month. They could look up at the
stars and see what season it was or navigate based on the constellations. The
sighting of the new moon signaled the new month to begin and it was a time for
a festive family celebration. It wasn’t until the fourth century CE (aka AD)
that Hillel II established a fixed calendar for the Jews in the diaspora.
Because the Jews had been dispersed from their land and were living among the
nations, they needed to have a fixed calendar in order to keep HaShem’s holy
days. Hillel II established this calendar based on mathematical calculations
and it was accepted by the Sanhedrian. This is what today is referred to as the
Jewish calendar.
The time spent waiting and looking
for the new moon is a vivid and practical reminder that we need to be always
watching and waiting for the Messiah to return. Messiah Yeshua will return when
the time is right and He was clear that His followers need to understand the
signs of the times, as he said in Matthew 16:3, even though the hour and day of
His return are unknown to everyone except YHVH, as explained in Mattew 24. So
while we wait and watch, straining to see the first glimmer of the new moon we
remember Matthew 24, that we are to be ever watchful and waiting for Messiah
Yeshua to return. When He returns it will usher in a new time of rejoicing and
we’ll all feast together as a family at a glorious wedding feast, together at
one table. In Isaiah 66:23 we read of a time when “all flesh” will come to bow
in worship of Him from Rosh Chodesh to Rosh Chodesh and from Shabbat to
Shabbat. In the new kingdom we will certainly be recognizing Rosh Chodesh and
Shabbat, as well as Sukkot. We know this because it says so in the Isaiah 66
passage and in Zechariah 14:16-19.
This is a subject that we are just
starting to try to wrap our brains around so I thought I’d share what
information I have for anyone interested. I’d appreciate anyone else with
information that you wish to pass along (or correct me) to feel free to post a
comment or e-mail me. Ask
Moses has a good introductory article about Rosh Chodesh. This
is another page with information, it is like an encyclopedia entry. In my
sidebar are links to First Fruits of Zion (aka FFOZ) and to Torah Resource where
one could find more information on Rosh Chodesh as well.
The new month of Elul is upon us and
the traditional calendar says it will start on Friday, meaning that the new
moon is expected to be spotted on Thursday night (tonight). We will be out with
our telescope and looking for any sign of the new moon (even though it’s cloudy
and one does not need a telescope to spot the new moon). I wrote a little about
Elul in another
entry this week. In that entry I listed some links for resources to study
the fall holy days that are coming and there is a link called “Elul Resources”
which our family will be working through together this month. The month of Elul
is a time of preparation for the fall feasts. Just like every Shabbat has a
preparation period and there are preparation periods for Pesach (Passover) and
Shavuot (Pentecost), there is a solemn preparation period before Yom Teruah
(Rosh Hashanah). Elul might just begin tonight! This is an exciting time and a
joyous time of anticipation and preparation. Not to mention the solemnity of it
all.
Just a note about the controversy
concerning the calendar, because of course there is one. The calendar that is
traditionally accepted is known to be “off” when it doesn’t seem to line up
correctly with the seasons. If I remember right, it is known to be missing
between 200 and 250 years as well. This will give
a little insight into the issue as well as this
giving an alternative view on the calendar and its rendering.
^^^^^http://followingtheancientpaths.wordpress.com/2006/08/24/the-new-moon-rosh-chodesh/^^^^^
other links:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/elul.html
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/elul.html
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/parashah.html
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/Shofar/shofar.html
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