By Dr. Susanna Kokkonen
Did you know that in the Hebrew calendar we are now in the month of Elul 5784?
The month of Elul comprises 29 days and it usually happens in August-September of our regular calendars. The month of Elul is a specific month in the Hebrew or Biblical calendar. It is just before the High Holidays also known as the Biblical Feasts. When we talk about Biblical Feasts, we mean the actual holidays mandated by God in the Torah (the Five Books of Moses). These all come with specific instructions.
The meaning of word Elul comes from the first letters of the verse in Hebrew “Ani le Dodi ve Dodi Li” meaning in English “I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me.” This verse expresses a close connection to and trust in God and His nearness.
During Elul the shofar, which is the ram’s horn, is blown every day until the beginning of the Jewish new year known as Rosh Hashanah. Elul is the sixth month of the Biblical calendar. This month is set apart for repenting because repentance has to take place before the New Year and Yom Kippur. The word for repentance in Hebrew is called teshuva, which actually means return. This of course is literally true – it is a return to God and to our former selves before we committed sins.
Elul the month of returning, repenting, and spiritual growth.
Even the normal greeting that is given to people during this month expresses a desire to repent and to be signed in God’s book for a new year. In Hebrew we say “Ktivah ve Chatimah tovah” which means “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”
It is believed that God is close to His people during the month of Elul .
There is a saying that during Elul “The king is in the field.” This interesting concept relates to Biblical times when a king would literally come to see the work in the fields. This would show him that he was dependent on harvest for food. This was an opportunity for people to interact with their king without the palace staff and normal boundaries and limitations. Consequently, Elul is a month when it is said that “The King is in the field.” Interestingly, the month is spent on prayer and repentance, but this happens “in the field,” that is regular work continues at the same time.
Psalm 27 is read in the morning and evening of elul until its very end at Simchat Torah, the end of the yearly Torah reading cycle. The Psalm expresses trust and hope.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?…
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the [b]beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock…” Psalm 27: 1-2, 4-5
May this month of Elul be a month if introspection and repentance to all of us. The world is at turmoil, but the King is here and near.
