02 Sep ELUL STRIVINGS!

We are now in the midst
of the most critical month
of the year: the month of
Elul. It is the time that we
have to prepare ourselves
for the Day of Judgement,
Rosh HaShanah, when
our life and the lives
of our loved ones are
up for renewal. It is a month of incredible
opportunity.
The very name ‘Elul’ clues us in to the various
areas we have to work upon. The most famous
acronym of Elul is, “Ani l’Dodi v’Dodi li –
I am to My Beloved [Hashem] and My
Beloved is to me.” This means that in direct
proportion to how close we get to Hashem, is
how close, attentive, and available Hashem is
to us. The Tur writes that during Elul, “Kol
hamosef l’vakeish zechus hu lo – The more
we ask [Hashem], the greater the merit.” This
is because when we turn to Hashem with our
requests, we are by definition getting closer
to Him. And that is the very meaning of ani
l’Dodi. It is why the Gemara tells us tefila,
prayer, is instead of a korban, a sacrifice, and
the root of korban is korav, to be close.
Of course, when we pray for Hashem’s return
with the coming of Moshiach, the rebuilding
of His House, the Beis HaMikdash, the
restoration of His Monarchy, the Malchus Beis
Dovid, that is the ultimate ani l’Dodi, I am for

My Beloved, for that is for Hashem Himself.
The 40-day time period that Moshe Rabbeinu
went up on Har Sinai to pray for forgiveness
for the sin of the golden calf was from Rosh
Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur. When
he came down victorious and proclaimed,
“Vayomer Hashem, ‘Salachti kidvorecha’
” – “Hashem declared, ‘I have forgiven them
as you asked,’ ” these 40 days became days
that are especially suitable for repentance
and forgiveness. Therefore, it is specifically
propitious during Elul to ask Hashem to
assist us in making changes, adjustments, and
improvements before the Day of Judgement.
One should especially zoom-in on refining
one’s mouth for, with the start of selichos
through Yom Kippur, we are going to be
incessantly pleading to Hashem for our life
and welfare. If our mouths are guilty of
lashon hara, hurtful words, vulgarity, lying, or
revealing secrets, it will not be able to succeed
when we petition Hashem for our betterment.
As we are taught, “Ein kateigor naases
saneiger – The prosecutor can never become
the defendant.”
Another acronym of the name Elul is, “Ish
l’rei’eihu u’matanos l’evyonim – A man to his
friend and gifts to the poor.” This highlights
an additional two important pursuits of Elul.
The first pursuit is bettering our relationships
with our fellow man. Included in this is
burying the hatchet with people we are at odds

with. To accomplish this, as an incentive, we
can be mindful that when Hashem sees that we
forgive our fellow, even if they are less than
worthy of it, Hashem will treat us accordingly
and forgive us even though we don’t deserve
it.
It means judging people favorable and giving
them the benefit of the doubt, especially our
spouses. For the Gemara tells us, “Kol hadon
es chaveirvo l’kaf zechus, donin oso l’kaf
zechus – Whoever judges his friend favorably
will be judged [by Hashem] favorably,” a very
handy merit to have before Rosh HaShanah.
The other half of the acronym, matanos
l’evyonim, is gifts to the poor. As we spoke
about at length last week, the mitzvah of
tzedakah is the greatest way to remove a
foreboding degree that might be, G-d forbid,
hovering over our heads.
Along the way, we should certainly pay acute
attention to every opportunity we have to say,
“Amein, Yehei Shmei rabbah,” for the Gemara
says the strong meaningful rejoinder of Amein,
Yehei Shmei rabbah can tear-up an evil decree
of even 70 years in the making. That’s one
hefty payday! It is certainly a reason for
women to go to shul on Shabbos so that they
also can answer Amein, Yehei Shmei rabbah
numerous times before the Day of Judgement.
We certainly have our work cut out for us!
In closing, Rav Elimelech Biderman, shlit”a,

says that Elul is also an acronym of the
Yiddish phrase, “Lebedig, un viter lebedig,”
to be enthusiastically active and even more
enthusiastic.
In the merit of our vigorous Elul strivings,
may Hashem bless us with a sweet, happy, and
wonderful New Year.