“Hashem is King, Hashem was King, Hashem will be King...” (Rosh Hashanah Shacharis Prayers)
As we enter the sacred days of Elul, we encounter a month of closeness with Hashem, of introspection within ourselves, and of possibility for our future. But what does that gift really mean?
Let me offer a perspective.
Elul is spelled Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed. If you reverse those letters, you get the word Lule, which in Hebrew means “if only.” If only I had made that call; if only I had apologized; if only I had made the right choice when I still had the chance.
Lule is the language of regret.
Elul is the opportunity to reverse Lule. It’s the moment Hashem gives us to avoid living with “if only.” Elul empowers us to act now—to repair, to call, to reconnect—before the window closes. That is the transformative power of this month.
The Gemara (Shabbos 88a) states that when the Jewish People received the Torah, Hashem held Har Sinai over them like a barrel, declaring, “If you accept the Torah, good. But if not, ‘Sham tehei kevuraschem—There will be your burial place.’”
Why does Hashem state that “there” will be your burial place? If the Jewish people were underneath the mountain, wouldn’t it make more sense to say “here”?
Rav Yaakov Galinsky zt”l offered a piercing insight. So many people live with a “Sham” mindset. When I get there, then I’ll learn. When I retire, when the kids are older, when things settle down... then I’ll daven better, then I’ll give more tzedakah, then I’ll change.
But what happens? That “Sham,” that imaginary future, never comes. It’s a moving target. A person waits their whole life for the next stage, and the next, and the next... until the opportunity is gone. Sham tehei kevuraschem. If you live always waiting for “there,” that may become your spiritual burial.
Elul calls us back to the now.
The Torah tells us, “Mipnei seivah takum—Before the elderly, you shall rise” (Vayikra 19:32). The Kotzker Rebbe interpreted this homiletically. Before things get stale—before your inspiration becomes old and fades—get up. Act now. Don’t let the moment expire. Don’t let the feeling pass. Seize the awakening while it’s fresh.
Too often we wait... and we wait... until it’s too late.
That is why the order in our daily tefillah is so striking. We say, “Hashem Melech, Hashem Malach, Hashem Yimloch—Hashem is King, Hashem was King, Hashem will be King.” But that seems out of order. Normally, we speak in terms of past, present, and future. Why begin with the present?
Because if we start by looking only at the past—at our mistakes, our missed opportunities—we may become overwhelmed. It’s too much, I can’t fix all this, I’ve fallen too far. We freeze and we give up. So Hashem tells us: don’t begin with the past. Begin with the present. Hashem Melech—Right now, I am your King. Start now. Take the first step and begin today, and then, with that momentum, you’ll reach back and repair the past. Ultimately, with that approach, you’ll chart a path to a brighter future.
It’s like Daf Yomi. If someone falls behind by fifty blatt (pages), they may say, “I’ll never catch up,” and so they stop. But what’s the advice of the wise? Start with today’s Daf. Keep going from there. The past will come in time.
So too with teshuva. Don’t be stuck in “Lule” and don’t live with “Sham.” Don’t let inspiration go stale. Mipnei seivah takum. Start with now and you will get there.
That’s the gift of Elul.
