Elul 3 is the yahrtzeit of the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi (in modern times) of the Religious Zionist Jewish community in the Holy Land, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, who assumed his position upon the formation of the British Mandate in 1920. A leading philosopher and mystic, Rabbi Kook authored many books and letters, and is a founding father of the "Religious Zionist" movement.
Read some of his teachings here.
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 7</ br> Chapter 8 </ br> Chapter 9
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
We are one because we share a single soul, like a single, brilliant sun shining into many bodies. Since the soul is what counts, that makes us essentially one.
That is the meaning of the mitzvah of the Sukkah—a place that encompasses us all equally, rendering us a single whole.
We are also one because none of us are alike. Each of us reflects a different facet of that same soul, each of us with our strengths and our weaknesses, so that we all need one another to be whole and complete.
That is the meaning of the mitzvah of the Lulav, the Etrog, the Hadassim and the Aravot—four very diverse species, each containing that which the others lack.
And that is why this mitzvah is best done inside the Sukkah: To draw the oneness of our shared soul into the harmony of our diverse bodies.