At the beginning of the Parasha, the pasuk says, (21:10) אויביך על למלמחה תצא כי, "When you go out to war against your enemies." The Imrei Elimelech of Gradzisk zt'l says this refers to the war of Rosh Hashanah.
But notice that it states למלחמה תצא כי, "When you go out to war." On Rosh Hashanah, no one is going out to war; we are already on the battlefield. The Imrei Elimelech explains that the pasuk refers to the month of Elul. That is when we go out to the war before it begins. He writes, "This pasuk refers to Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment when people stand before Hashem in judgment. But certainly, on Rosh Hashanah, the day of war, one can't say תצא כי, that he goes out to the war because he is already in the midst of the battle. Rather, the pasuk refers to going out to war before the day of judgment, when we prepare for the war with teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah. If we prepare, we will win and be found worthy in the judgment. The Torah promises us [that if we prepare for the war in Elul] בידך אלקיך 'ה ונתנו, that Hashem will give us success on the day of judgment."
The Imrei Elimelech tells us that we prepare for Rosh Hashanah in three ways: Teshuvah, Tefillah, and Tzedakah, as these three factors are mentioned in the Unesaneh Tokef. We save ourselves on the days of judgment with teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah. Let us discuss these three factors, which are required this time of year.
Teshuvah
It is easier to do teshuvah in Elul than the entire year. It is a time mesugal for improving our ways. In the year ש"ת, at the outbreak of the War, many cities in Romania came under Hungarian rule. The city of Satmar is an example of this. It used to be a Romanian city, and during the war, it became part of Hungary. Moshe Friedman, a bachur from Earmanshtat, Romania, studied in Satmar. He was orphaned from his father. His mother rushed to the yeshiva to take her son home with her. She explained that she was afraid that the borders may close, and then her son won't be able to return to Romania. However, her son didn't want to leave Satmar. He said, "It is better for Yidden in Hungary than in Romania, and besides, my Rebbe is here." They went to the Satmar Rebbe zt'l and asked him for his opinion. He agreed with the mother that the bachur should return home to Romania, and he said, "If I could do it, I would also return to Romania."
During Shalosh seudos, the Rebbe said in his divrei Torah the pasuk (Devarim 32:8) יצב עמים גבולות, "He sets the boundaries of nations." He explained that Hashem changes the borders of countries, ישראל בני למספר, and it is all for the Jewish nation. The Satmar Rebbe advised the bachur to escape when it was still possible. Had he waited, by year ד"תש, he wouldn't be able to escape.
This is a mashal for the month of Elul. Hakodosh Baruch Hu tells us that the days of judgment are coming, but now you can escape from your enemy, the yetzer hara. You can run and improve your ways with teshuvah.
The Divrei Chaim zt'l once told the following story at Shalosh Shudes in Elul. It is a mashal for teshuvah: Someone was lost in the forest, and he was delighted to meet a human being. He rushed over to him and asked, "What is the way out of the forest?" The man replied, "I am also lost. I also don't know the way out of the forest. But I can tell you the paths that you shouldn’t take. I tried them already, and I know that they are futile." When he said these words, everyone cried.
The Divrei Chaim was humbly saying that he doesn't know the path of teshuvah, but he can tell us which directions we shouldn't take, which deeds we shouldn't do, and which attitudes we shouldn't have.
The Noem Eliezer of Skulen zt'l compared teshuvah to a person sinking in quicksand. He throws his hands about, hoping to find something to grab onto. He throws his hands to the right, then to the left, and to all directions, and finally, someone grabs his hand and pulls him out of the quagmire. This is a mashal of teshuvah. We often don't know exactly what we must do to improve our ways. We know there is much to do, but where do we begin, how, and with what techniques? We try this sefer, we go to that drashah, we make one kabbalah, and then we try another kabbalah tovah. We say Tehillim. We seek the path that will pull us out of the quicksand of our destructive ways. We try, but we don't seem to find the path. But when we keep trying, Hashem will stretch out His right hand and pull us up to Him. This is alluded to in the words, פושעים לקבל פשוטה ימינך כי, Hashem's right hand stretches out to receive the sinners.
The Divrei Chaim told a parable to describe what occurs when people want to do teshuvah. A poor widow found an egg and showed it to her children. The children were happy that they would have something nourishing to eat. But the mother said, "We aren't going to eat this egg. We will place it under the neighbor's chicken, and it will hatch, and then we will have a chicken. The chicken will have even more eggs, and they will hatch. When we have many eggs and many chickens, we will sell them and buy a cow. We will sell the milk... When we have many cows, we will buy fields..." She waves her arms about with excitement as she discussed the wealth that will soon be theirs. The egg fell from her hands, and all of her dreams crashed and cracked together with the egg. The Divrei Chaim said this is how it is with people and their kabalos for the new year. They make kabalos and have grand plans, but they end up being the same each year. All their grand plans crash to the ground.
How do police know if someone is speeding on a highway? This is one of the older techniques: A cop parks his car near the highway and marks when a car passes by. There's another police car parked ten minutes down the highway. If the driver is riding within the speed limit, he should arrive in ten minutes. If he reaches the other policeman in five minutes, that's a sign that he was speeding.
It states (Shmos 21:13) לך ושמתי לידו אנה והאלקים שמה ינוס אשר מקום, "...I will make a place for you to which he shall flee." Seforim Hakedoshim write that the roshei teivos of ךל שמתיו ידול נהא spell out the word אלול. These are the days that we can escape from the yetzer hara and our bad ways and begin on a new path.
In Shu't Divrei Chaim (Yorah Deiah vol.1 33), Reb Chaim of Sanz responds in length to someone's halachic shailah, but the person who sent him the question also wrote to him a pilpul, a lomdishe thesis, not related to halachah. The Divrei Chaim refused to comment on that part of the letter. He wrote, משכיות חדרי לבדוק צריך כי גורם הזמן אין בעלמא ולפלפולא ז"תרי אלול הללו נוראים בימים לבב, "Just to discuss pilpul, this isn’t the best time, because we have to check the corners of our hearts in these awesome days of Elul, 5617."
Beautiful words, which carry an important lesson. What could be better than discussing divrei Torah? The Divrei Chaim certainly did discuss divrei Torah all day long, also in Elul, as he was busy with the teshuvos and his regular learning schedule. Nevertheless, he didn't have extra time for pilpul because he needed time for self-reflection, to think about his deeds, and to see what he could do to improve his ways.
So, what do wise drivers do when they see a police car? They slow down. This can be a lesson for Elul. The entire year we are rushing, and we don't check to see whether we are going in the right direction. When Elul arrives, we slow down. It is time to think and improve our ways.
I once saw a sign in a hallway of a beis medresh, "Don't be upset if you made a mess. You aren't a malach. But if you don't clean up, then you aren't even a mentch." This is our avodah in Elul. To clean up the mess we created with our aveiros.
Teβillah
The Torah hints to Elul in this week's parashah with the words (21:13) אביה את ובכתה ימים ירח אמה ואת, "[She shall] weep for her father and her mother for a full month." The Zohar (Zohar Chadash 72.) states, "This pasuk refers to the month of Elul." The crying can allude to the teshuvah, prayers, and pleading before Hashem that we do in Elul.
Reb Chaim vital (Eitz HaDaas, ירמוז או) writes, "The primary teshuvah is in Elul, called ירח ימים because that is when your tefillos are answered."
The Chasam Sofer (Sefer Zikaron, Drashos Chasam Sofer Erev Yom Kippur) says it is also an excellent time to daven for Moshiach. The Chasam Sofer says, "Elul is called ימים ירח, which is the same gematriya as ח"שי, prayer, hinting that, this month, one should pour out his heart in prayers before Hashem, and Hashem will accept him. There are forty days from rosh chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur. [Forty is gematriya 'מ.] If you add the 'מ to ח"שי, it becomes ח"משי, because this brings the redemption near."
It states (Devarim 3:23) ההוא בעת 'ד אל ואתחנן לאמר, "I prayed to Hashem at that time, saying." The Bnei Yissaschar (Elul 1:9) asks: When was that particular time? When was the ההוא בעת?
Rashi writes, ועוג סיחון ארץ שכבשתי לאחר, "after I conquered the lands of Sichon and Og...", and the Midrash (Bamidbar Raba 19:32) teaches that the wars of Sichon and Og were in Elul. So ההוא בעת is in Elul. That is when Moshe davened. It is an eis ratzon for tefillah.
We've seen that Elul is called עת. The months of Tamuz and Av are called דל רש, which both mean poor. These are poor, unfortunate months because these months fell into the portion of Eisav HaRasha. Afterward comes Elul, which is represented by the word עת. The Bnei Yissaschar says that if you bring the letters ת,ע into ל"וד ש"ר, you receive ת"ודל ר"שע, which represents an opening. They allude to the gates of heaven that open in Elul for teshuvah and to tefillah.
It states בתשובה לדופקי שער הפותח, Hashem opens the gates for those who knock on it to do teshuvah. The פתוחה דלת, the door is open for all those who want to do teshuvah, and Hashem accepts them with a happy countenance.
Furthermore, ושער דלת hints to us that the gates of heaven are opened this month to receive our tefillos. It states (Eichah 3:44) סכתה תפלה מעבור לך בענן, "You have enveloped Yourself in a cloud so that no prayer can pass through." But in Elul, the gates of heaven are open. The Bnei Yissaschar writes, "In Elul, the gates of heaven are opened to accept tefillah and teshuvah. Moshe Rabbeinu accomplished this for all generations. Moshe davened a lot ההוא בעת, in this month. לאמר, this means we should tell all future generations that at this time, the heavens are opened to receive with compassion the tefillos of Yisrael."
It states in parashas Eikev (9:25) לפני ואתנפל יום ארבעים 'ה, "I fell before Hashem for forty days." These were the days between rosh chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur (see Rashi Devarim 33:18). The Gr'a (Aderes Eliyahu, Ki Sisa 33:7) explains that during these forty days, Moshe didn't do anything, he only fell before Hashem [and prayed for Bnei Yisrael]. Therefore, these forty days were established as days of prayer, and on Yom Kippur, נתרצה להם ת"השי, Hashem accepts their tefillos and their teshuvah.
Chazal (Brachos 60.) say that during the first forty days of pregnancy, parents can daven that the child should be a boy or girl. After forty days, there is no reason for such a tefilla because the child has already been formed, and the gender won't change. The Shaar HaMelech (1:5) says this hints at the forty days from rosh chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur. During these forty days, with our tefillos, we can change what will be in the upcoming year. One can daven that if the year is destined to be נוקבא, female, representing din, it should become דוכרא, male, representing chessed.
Tehillim
The Rashab of Lubavitz zt'l once said, "Elul is the season for saying Tehillim." (He said this when he sent his gabbai to buy him a Tehillim in Elul.) Shaar HaMelech (1:2) encourages saying Tehillim every day in Elul after Shacharis. He writes, "I saw a good custom in many communities, and my parents also told me about this good custom. From rosh chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur, immediately after Shacharis, these communities say Tehillim with a crying and sweet voice. I decided to bring this good custom to our city. Tehillim is needed because our primary goal this month is to remove the mastinim (mekatrigim who speak against us)... and nothing stops them as well as when we say Tehillim. Tehillim is called mizmorim, which also means to shear, because the Tehillim shear away all thorns [of the mekatrigim]..."
The Nesivos Shalom zt'l (Slonim) was very ill at the end of Av, and the doctors determined he needed emergency surgery. The Nesivos Shalom said he wanted to postpone the operation until after the yomim noraim. He explained that we believe that Rosh Hashanah is when decrees are passed, and we can daven and merit a good year. The family realized that the Nesivos Shalom was firm with his resolve and asked the doctor to come to him. The doctor told him how to take care of himself throughout this waiting time. He told him what he could eat, how much he needed to sleep, etc. The day after Yom Kippur, he was brought in for surgery. The doctors checked him and saw that he no longer needed an operation. One doctor said, "Time was good for you." The Nesivos Shalom replied that it was indeed "Time" that helped him. The days of Elul and the yomim noraim were good for him because he changed his destiny with his tefillos during this time.
