It's Elul, Are We Afraid?

Divrei Torah for the Shabbos Table

It's Elul, Are We Afraid?

This week is Rosh Chodesh Elul, and we begin the forty-day period of the Yomim Noraim culminating in Yom Kippur. When contemplating these awesome days, the Navi asks, aryeh shoag mi lo yeʼra, who does not tremble when they hear the roar of the lion? The meforshim explain that the word aryeh is an acronym. The aleph stands for Elul, the reish for Rosh Hashanah, the yud for Yom Kippur, and the hei refers to Hoshanah Rabbah. Just as the lion's roar strikes fear in all the nearby creatures, the approaching Yomim Noraim should shake us out of our everyday routines and cause us to do teshuva. These are days of judgment for the entire world, and the Navi seems confident that everyone is walking around in an an appropriately fearful state of mind.

Yet, if we look around us — and perhaps inside us - life seems to be going on as usual, and the fear is not palpable. What is wrong with us? How did something that was taken for granted years ago become such a rarity? Why don't we take this time as seriously as we should?

To understand this, let's go back to the mashal of the lion. We have all been to the zoo, seen the lion and heard its fearsome roar. Yet it is probably safe to say that none of us trembled. Why were we not afraid? Because there is a barrier between us and the lion, and we know it cannot break out of its enclosure and attack us. We can approach the lion, and stand quite near to it, as long as there is a strong separation between us. When we see the solid fence, we feel detached from the lion, as if we are in a completely different setting, and we are not afraid.

Unfortunately, it seems that the very same concept allows us to remain unaffected during Elul. There is a mechitzah shel barzel, an iron barrier, between us and Hashem. This allows us to feel distanced, and so we remain unaffected by the spirit of the time. Our task during Elul is to break down this separation and draw close to Him, through sincere teshuva, tefilah, and tzedaka.

How does one go about breaking barriers? We know that the wall of Yericho came down after Klal Yisroel encircled the city seven times, and then blew the shofar. Apparently, one of the segulos of the shofar is the ability to break down walls and separations. On Rosh Chodesh Elul, we begin to blow the shofar, to start the process of tearing down the barriers between us and Hakadosh Baruch Hu. By instilling in us the fear of Hashem, we begin to relate to Him properly once more.

How do we go about reconnecting ourselves to Hashem? In fact, the pasuk says u'vo sidbok, the Torah commands us to become attached to Hashem. Yet Hashem doesn't have any physical manifestation. How are we expected to become connected to Him?

Since Hashem is not physical, we can only measure our closeness to Him by our spiritual acts and growth. Perhaps the most direct way to connect to Hashem is to perform a mitzvah – to give tzedokah, visit someone who is sick, say Shema, or keep Shabbos. The Shela HaKadosh explains that the word “mitzvah” comes from the word "tzavsa,” which means attachment. When we do a mitzvah, we are using our guf and our neshama to fulfill the ratzon Hashem. In this way, we become like Him and grow closer to Him. The more we resemble Him by aligning our will to His will, the closer we become to Him.

The Chida (in his sefer Nachal Kedumim) explains that the very word mitzvah hints at this connection. Hashem's Name has four letters – the yud, the hei, the vav, and another hei. Amazingly, the letters of the word mitzvah correspond exactly to these four letters. The second two letters of the word mitzvah, vav and hei, are the very same as the last two letters of Hashem's Name. The first two letters, the mem and tzadik, correspond to the first two letters of Hashem's Name, the yud and hei, according to the system of at-bash. Thus, the word mitzvah is really another way of expressing the four-letter Name of Hashem, because doing the mitzvos connects us and draws us nearer to Him.

Now, we also know that there are two categories of mitzvos. There are mitzvos aseh, the positive commandments, and mitzvos lo saseh, the negative commandments. The seforim teach us the Name of Hashem is comprised of two distinct parts, and each part corresponds to a type of mitzvah. The yud and the hei represent the mitzvos aseh, while the vav and the hei represent the mitzvos lo saseh.

With this background, the Chida offers an incredible interpretation of a pasuk in this week's parsha. The Torah (18:14) refers to the nations of Eretz Cana'an and describes how they would heed the advice of the astrologers and sorcerers. The Torah cautions us not to follow in their ways – v'ata lo chen nasan lecha Hashem Elokecha, Hashem gave us another way.

The Chida explains that the non-Jews do not perform the mitzvos of the Torah. Therefore, they cannot access all the spiritual energies inherent in the mitzvos. Instead, they must turn to astrology or kishuf, the various manifestations of the koach hatumah. However, we do not need to turn to them, because we were given 'lo' and ‘chen', which literally means 'no' and 'yes'. These refer to the mitzvos aseh and mitzvos lo saseh. We connect directly to Hashem, the source of all power, through the mitzvos.

Imagine the following common scenario: You walk into shul between mincha and ma'ariv. The Rav is delivering a shiur, and many people are listening. However, there is another group sitting outside the beis hamedrash, schmoozing about politics, while yet another group sits in the corner speaking lashon haʼra. You are now faced with a choice. Now, let's consider: What are you guilty of if you choose to waste your time instead of learning? There is certainly bitul Torah involved, perhaps there will be some lashon haʼra. It is probably a bizayon for the Rav, a serious transgression of its own. (Incidentally, this might be the case even if someone is learning while the Rav speaks!)

However, the Chofetz Chaim (pesicha to Sefer HaMitzvos, asei 6) makes a novel suggestion. He says that you will be mevatel the mitzvas aseh of u'vo sidbok! If you squander an opportunity to hear words of Torah, and decide to join a moishev leitzim instead, you have shown that you are not too interested in dveikus, in becoming closer to Hashem, and your priorities lie elsewhere.

During the days of Elul, we are all searching for ways to break down the barriers and become closer to Hashem. By evaluating our daily choices and making more efforts to be involved in those matters that will bring us closer to Him, we can refine our relationship with our Creator and enter Rosh Hashanah in an entirely different place - closer to Hashem, closer to our true goals and aspirations. (R' Moshe Oelbaum shlita)