Living Torah Archives

The Alter Rebbe gives a parable concerning the month of Elul: Throughout this month, G-d, so-to-speak, is like a king who stands in the field outside his royal city, where he greets all his subjects with a loving countenance. More

The Alter Rebbe gives a parable concerning the month of Elul: Throughout this month, G-d, so-to- speak, is like a king who stands in the field outside his royal city, where he greets all his subjects with a loving countenance.

The ‘field’ represents the material world, a spiritually uncultivated place. Man is given the mission to transform this world into a Divine dwelling – a holy ‘palace’ fit for the King of kings.

To transform material existence might seem a formidable challenge. Therefore, the Alter Rebbe emphasizes that the King is with you in the field. Although at first it appears barren, a field possesses enormous potential within; it only requires the human being to come and plant tiny seeds, and the field will bear fruit. And every step of the way, the King Himself is by your side, assisting, and blessing your every effort with success.

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The sages teach that “Elul” is an acronym for the verse in Song of Songs: “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.” More

The sages teach that “Elul” is an acronym for the verse in Song of Songs: “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.”

“Beloved” demonstrates a relationship and feeling of love, in which G-d declares openly: “Israel is My young one, and I love him.” Even the smallest Jewish child is educated to be constantly aware that G-d is his very best friend.

In the same spirit, each of the four words of this verse ends with the letter Yud. Numerically, the four Yuds together equal 40, corresponding to the 40 days between the first of Elul and Yom Kippur. By the time Yom Kippur arrives, G-d looks upon the Jews as holy angels. Even as they live in physical bodies, they wear untainted garments—which is why they wear white on Yom Kippur—demonstrating that they are cleansed of anything contrary to G-d’s will. And even if there was at one time a “stain,” the spiritual toil before Elul surely erased any stains, and even more so, transformed them to be “white as snow.”

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