...לָתֶת לוֹ פִּי שְׁנַיִּם...כִּי־הוּא רֵאשִׁית אֹנוֹ...
...to give to him [to the firstborn] a double portion...because he is the first of his [father’s] strength... We learn from here that a firstborn gets a double portion of the father’s inheritance due to the fact that the first born is רֵאשִּית אֹנוֹ.
Targum Onkolos teaches that רֵאשִּית אֹנוֹ means “the first of his strength.” We can learn from here that whatever you give your ‘first strength’ to, it receives an extra blessing from Above. That is why the ideal way to conduct yourself in the morning after you wake up is to channel your first actions, speech and thoughts towards learning and prayer.
ELUL
אֲנִׁי לְדוֹדִׁי וְדוֹדִׁי לִׁי הָרֹעֶה בַּשּׁוֹשַּנִׁים - I am for My beloved, and My beloved is for me; He shepherds me among the roses (Shir HaShirim 6:3). The Ariza”l is quoted saying that based on a Kabbalistic teaching the fact that the first letters of the words אֲנִּי לְׁדוֹדִּי וְׁדוֹדִּי לִּי spell out אלול shows that there is a link between the message of those words and the month of Elul.
What is the link? The verse speaks about the love between us and Hashem. Hence, in the month of Elul, each Jew can increase his love for Hashem to a very great degree.
What is one possible way to achieve this growth? Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, [128:1] teaches us that the verse אֲנִּי לְׁדוֹדִּי וְׁדוֹדִּי לִּי is referring to tefilla, because tefilla is called רינת דודים - “a song of the beloved”
Hence, Elul is an opportune time to increase our love for Hashem by connecting to Him through powerful prayers. We still have many Shmoneh Esrei prayers that we are going to say before the new year begins. It’s within our power to raise each one of them to the level of רינת דודים.
