The Month of Elul – the Month of Teshuvah

Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism by RABBI MOSHE MILLER

 

The Sefer Yetzirah, an ancient Kabbalistic text attributed to Abraham who passed it on orally to his descendants, was committed to writing by the great Tanna Rabbi Akiva (who lived during the latter part of the first century and the early part of the second century of the Common Era).

The  Sefer Yetzirah teaches that each month of the Jewish calendar is associated with one of the sections of the fingers of the right or left hand, with a channel between two sefirot and the corresponding soul power, with one of the twelve tribes, with a particular sense (there are twelve senses identified in Sefer Yetzirah as opposed to the five we commonly describe), with a limb or organ of the body, with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and finally with one of the signs of the Zodiac (which are actually based on the Sefer Yetzirah). Some authorities also associate each month with a color.
 
The month of Elul is the sixth month of the year (the months begin from Nissan, although the days of the year begin from Tishrei). It is the month in which we prepare for the Jewish new year.

Joint of the hand: The middle section of the right thumb. Even though the thumb ostensibly has only two sections extending out of the hand, nevertheless Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the Arizal) counts the metacarpal bone of the thumb as one of the digits.

Channel: From tiferet  to netzach, and in the soul powers – from compassion/mercy to victory/self-confidence.

Tribe: Gad

Sense: Action – this has the spiritual connotation of activating inner potentials and of rectifying that which needs rectification.

Limb or organ: Left hand

Letter: The letter yud (י)

Sign: Betulah (Virgin-Virgo)

Color: Red

The month of Elul is a preparation for the new year and particularly for the High Holy days. It is the time when the 13 Attributes of Mercy illuminate the world and a person can more easily rectify the past and lay down a path for the future. The letters of the word Elul (א-ל-ו-ל) spell out the initial letters of the verse אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי – I am (devoted) to my Beloved, and my Beloved is (devoted) to me (Song of Songs 6:3). The work of Elul is to actualize our devotion in daily living through teshuvah – returning to our soul root.

ABOUT:

 

 

Moshe Miller, a guest teacher at Ascent when he lived in Israel, was born in South Africa and received his yeshivah education in Israel and America. He is a prolific author and translator, with some twenty books to his name on a wide variety of topics, including a new, authoritative, annotated translation of the Zohar. He currently lives in Chicago.

The Sages of the Talmud and the Zohar state that “fifty gates of understanding were created in the world. All of them were given to Moshe (Moses) except for one” – the fiftieth gate. That one we have to complete by disseminating the wellsprings of the inner dimensions of the Torah (Rebbe Rashab).

And the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the ocean covers the sea-bed (Isaiah 11:9).

Written by: Rabbi Moshe Miller
Authorization granted for republication of the article: Kabbalah Decoded
Photography by: morguefile.com