Every year at this time [Chodesh Elul] the Jew is called upon to take account of all his thoughts, words and deeds during the outgoing year, with a view to prepare himself for Rosh Hashanah when he accepts upon himself the absolute sovereignty of the Creator of the World and King of the World. If such preparedness is called for in any year, surely this should be done with even greater dedication and devotion at the conclusion of the Hakhel-Year. For the significance of Hakhel, in a spiritual sense, is that it indicates and demands the gathering of all one’s thoughts, words and deeds, in order to orientate them toward, and place them in, one’s inner “Beis Hamikdosh,” with wholehearted submission to the King’s command—the Will of G‑d.
This year, at the conclusion of the Hakhel-Year, every Jew must undertake a special “stock‑taking” in the spirit of Hakhel, with a firm resolve to:
- Change those thoughts, words, and deeds in the daily life which require a change;
- Repair and improve those which require more perfection;
- And instill more enthusiasm and vitality into those which, though accomplished to perfection in relation to the spiritual level in commonplace months, are yet to be revitalized in the spirit of the present moment, on the eve of the “Coronation” of the King, when all thoughts, words, and deeds must be on quite a different plane of exultation ...
From a Letter of The Lubavitcher Rebbe, from the Days of Selichos, 5727
Excerpt from Hakhel: The Inside Story
Published by Sichos in English
