Rosh Chodesh Elul



The name of the Hebrew month is Elul. Elul is an acronym for a number of verses from the Tanach. The most famous is the Verse from Shir HaShirim below.

It reminds us that during the month of Elul that we can be very close to the Creator. This means that the experience of the Creator’s unconditional love is more accessible. The Kabbalists teach that this verse refers to desire. It is important for us to awaken a true desire for the Light before the month of Tishrei. By chanting or meditating on this verse, it helps us to awaken our desire for the Creator’s Light. It is appropriate to chant or meditate on this verse before doing a connection or other meditation during the month of Elul.

אני לדודי ודודי לי

Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.

The translation of the verse is:

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

A good Meditation to do during Elul is to develop the following Mantra like statements.

I am to my beloved in extreme desire to return to my soul-root in the Light.

My beloved is to me with Divine expression of mercy and forgiveness.

It is good to hear the sound of the Shofar during the month of Elul.

Here are examples of all 4 sounds. The Tekia; Shevarim; Teruah; and the Tekia Gedolah. We hope you will return to this page during the month of Elul (from the second to the twenty eight) and listen to the sounds of the Shofar. The purpose is to awaken us to reflect on our past years actions and do Tshuvah in preparation for the coming year.

Slicot Connections

Slicot is a ritual associated with the month of Elul and is done in preparation for the Judgment of Rosh HaShana. It is usually thought of as a "I am sorry" ritual but that is a corruption. Slichot comes from the Shoresh Slach spelled סלח Samech Lamed Chet. This shoresh has the meaning of "I am sorry" yet the Gematria of the Shoresh is 98 which connects to cleansing and that is what the Slichot ritual is all about.

The Slichot ritual uses 3 aspects to produce cleansing. One it uses the Shofar to awake the soul to do Tshuva. Two, it uses the 13 Attributes of Mercy and Three, it uses the Aleph Bet in forward order and reverse order to produce a change in the persons soul who is saying the prayer of Slichot. The Sephardic Minhag (custom) is to start the first Shabbat in Elul. The Ashkenazi Minhag is to say it the last Shabbat before Rosh HaShana. Both Minhag's say Slichot through Yom Kippur.

This ritual brochure comes frorm the website www.Kabbalah4All.com