The first section of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) authored by Rabbi Joseph Caro (1488-1575) was completed in the Holy Land on this date in 1555.
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.
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
The Ari, the greatest of the kabbalists, taught that the prerequisite for the creation of the cosmos was a complete and utter withdrawal of the primordial infinite light. Only then could a finite trickle of light return to generate and sustain a universe.
All the light was withdrawn. There is no information, no revelation, no enlightenment, but for an infinitesimal afterglow attainable to those who toil for a lifetime.
But the origin of light, the essential core of reality—that was never withdrawn. It is always accessible, everywhere, at all times, to all beings, in all things.
What do we call that essential reality?
We call it “You.”
Not “It,” not “Thou.”
We lift our eyes to beyond the heavens and say, “i wish to speak with You.”