Elul marks the beginning of the countdown toward the Yomim Noraim [High Holy Days]. What is the significance of this month?
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto writes that time is a forward-moving spiral. Every year the same spiritual forces are available on that day as in history. For example, just as on Rosh Hashanah the first man, Adam, was created, so too, every year on this day we have the potential for being re-created.
What does the month of Elul correspond to in history? The Bnei Yissachar writes that it corresponds to the period before creation. What existed before creation? Only Hashem’s will to do good to another, to give of Himself and thus to create the world. So the month of Elul corresponds to the period before creation when Hashem is ready to give to those who want to receive. Thus these days are called 'yemai ratzon', [days of desire] days when Hashem’s desire for us to come close to Him is manifest more than at any other time of the year.
Accordingly, Elul is the time that is most conducive to genuine growth. In what way can a person strive to make real changes during this period? In order to answer this, it is first necessary to discuss the incorrect ways of approaching teshuva [repentance]. One common occurrence is that a person does little real contemplation about what is holding him back, before Yom Kippur. When that holy day arrives, he suffices with apologizing for all of his sins, without having any concrete plan of how to avoid committing them in the future. Inevitably, the day after Yom Kippur, he returns to his bad habits and nothing has really changed.
A more positive approach is to at least take on a small undertaking such as davening from a siddur. Nonetheless, Rabbi Yitzchok Berkovits, Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, argues that such undertakings can distract us from the real changes that will enable us to remove the obstacles that prevent us from coming closer to Hashem.
It is also praiseworthy to learn seforim that discuss teshuva. However, it is not sufficient to merely learn about teshuva, rather one must actively go about doing it in an effective manner. Rav Berkovits explains that this time offers a great opportunity for a person to really analyze and understand himself, and to identify those factors that are preventing him from reaching his true potential. In order to properly do teshuva during Aseres Yemei Teshuva, it is essential that one begin this cheshbon hanefesh [accounting of the soul] early in Elul, and not wait until Rosh Hashanah to start thinking about how he can change.
It is not sufficient to merely identify the sins that one commits. The Vilna Gaon (beginning of Even Shlamah) writes that character traits lie at the root of every sin and mitzvah. Accordingly, the key is for each person to understand and identify the underlying character traits that cause him to stray from the ideal path. Often, one particular trait can be the cause of a large variety of sins. For example, a person may note that he is weak in getting up in the morning for Shacharis, wastes too much time, and gets easily frustrated with those around him, causing him to speak to them in an overly harsh manner. It is conceivable that all these sins arise from laziness, or a desire for comfort. This understandably causes a person to find it hard to arise in the morning and wasting time. But it can also be the cause of frustration. This feeling comes about as a result of things not being the way one wanted them to be. This is often the way that is most comfortable, and therefore when other people cause a person to do things that he does not want to do, he feels that they are causing him a lack of comfort. Consequently, he becomes frustrated with them.
Elul is a time of great opportunity, and simultaneously, great fear. The Pirkei DeRebbe Eliezer tells us that we blow the shofar on Elul to demonstrate the fear that we feel as we approach the Yomim Noraim. What is the reason for the fear of Elul? Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski explains that the fear of Elul is the fear of missing the great opportunity that is present. This is the time that is most conducive to bring oneself back to Hashem. May we all merit to not waste this golden opportunity and make real, lasting changes.
One of the primary challenges we face when trying to motivate ourselves to make yet another attempt at serious soul-searching and teshuva is a lack of confidence resulting from repeated failed efforts in previous years. Recognizing that we were unsuccessful in creating enduring change last Elul, and for that matter, the previous few decades of Elul’s, leaves us despondent and convinced that we simply lack the tools to engage in true teshuva and self-improvement to become the people we would like to be.
Rav Chaim Brim suggests that Parshas Shoftim contains the Torah’s response to this misguided thinking, comparing (Devorim 20:19) a man to a tree in the field. In what way is man analogous to a tree? Unlike other plants, trees don’t annually recreate themselves from scratch. Rather, they continue getting taller each year, and over time, that consistent growth accumulates and produces a sizeable tree. In this sense, our spiritual growth is likened to a tree, as each year, we improve and change in small increments. Although we may not perceive it, the growth that we achieve each year remains an integral part of us, and every Elul, we build on previous years’ accomplishments and become even greater. (R’ Yehonasan Gefen and R’ Ozer Alport)
