View source for Elul

{{Short description|6th month of the Hebrew calendar}}
{{Infobox month
| image       = Liten askenasisk sjofar 5380.jpg
| alt         = An Ashkenazi shofar
| caption     = The [[shofar]] is blown every morning from the first day of Elul until [[Rosh Hashanah]] (except on [[Shabbat]]).
| native_name = {{Native name|he| {{Script/Hebrew|אֱלוּל}}}}
| calendar    = [[Hebrew calendar]]
| num         = 6
| days        = 29
| season      = Summer (Northern Hemisphere)
| gregorian   = August–September
| holidays    = 
| prev_month  = [[Av (month)|Av]]
| next_month  = [[Tishrei]]
}}
{{Teshuva}}
'''Elul''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|אֱלוּל}}, <small>[[Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew|Standard]]</small> {{Transliteration|he|ʾElūl}}, <small>[[Tiberian vocalization|Tiberian]]</small> {{Transliteration|he|ʾĔlūl}}) is the twelfth [[month]] of the civil year and the sixth month of the [[Jewish religious year|religious year]] in the [[Hebrew calendar]]. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the [[Gregorian calendar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/rosh-chodesh-elul |title=Rosh Chodesh Elul |script-title=he:ראש חודש אלול |access-date=1 September 2019}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The name of the month Elul, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the [[Babylonian captivity]], and originated from the Akkadian word for "harvest". A similar month name was also used in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], in the form ''Elūlu''. The month is known as ''Araḫ Ulūlu'' "harvest month" in the [[Babylonian calendar]]. The only difference is that in the Babylonian calendar, Ulūlu can serve as a [[leap month]], while in the [[Jewish calendar]], only [[Adar]] can serve as a leap month.<ref>It has been argued that one of [[Jeroboam]]'s sins was that he added an extra Elul to the calendar, causing the holiday of [[Sukkot]] to fall out in the eighth month instead of the seventh month. See {{cite journal | last1=Klein |first1=Reuven Chaim |year=2018 |title=The Leap-Month Fabricated by Jeroboam
 | url=https://tobias-lib.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10900/148217/jbq_461_kleinjeroboam.pdf |journal=Jewish Bible Quarterly
|volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=13–18 |doi=10.17613/M6P843V9D}}</ref>

Eylül is also the name for September in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]; this is derived from {{langx|ar|أيلول}} ''ʾAylūl'', used in [[Iraq]] and the [[Levant]] (see [[Arabic names of Gregorian months]]), from {{langx|syc|ܐܝܼܠܘܼܠ|translit=Īlūl}}, also tracing its origin from the Akkadian word ''Elūlu''. In Hebrew, a popular [[backronym]] for Elul is from a verse in the [[Song of Songs]]: ''Ani LeDodi VeDodi Li'' (Chapter 6, verse 3A).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-08-07 |title=Welcome to Elul: Relationship is the key |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/2013/08/07/welcome-to-elul-relationship-is-the-key/ |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Customs==
In Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a time of [[repentance]] in preparation for the [[High Holy Days]] of [[Rosh Hashanah]] and [[Yom Kippur]]. The word "Elul" is similar to the root of the verb "search" in [[Aramaic]]. Jewish sources from the 14th century and on write that the Hebrew word "Elul" can be understood to be an [[Backronym|bacronym]] for the phrase "Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li" – "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine", referring to one's relationship with God.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16450/jewish/Chapter-6.htm |title=Shir Hashirim - Song of Songs - Chapter 6 |website=Chabad.org |access-date=1 September 2019}}</ref> Elul is seen as a time to search one's heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, [[Rosh Hashanah]], and Day of Atonement, [[Yom Kippur]].<ref name="Suissa">{{cite web |last=Suissa |first=David |url=https://jewishjournal.com/opinion/120753/ |title=Love in the time of Elul |work=Jewish Journal |date=21 August 2013 |access-date=1 September 2019}}</ref> Rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]] compared, by way of analogy, the month of Elul to a king visiting his peasants in the field before returning to his palace.

During the month of Elul, there are a number of special [[rituals]] leading up to the High Holy Days. It is [[Minhag|customary]] to blow the [[shofar]] every morning (except on [[Shabbat]]) from [[Rosh Hodesh]] Elul (the first day of the month) until the day before Rosh Hashanah. The blasts are meant to awaken one's spirits and inspire believers to begin the soul searching which will prepare them for the High Holy Days. As part of this preparation, Elul is the time to begin the sometimes-difficult process of granting and asking for [[forgiveness]].<ref name="Suissa" /> It is also customary to recite a [[Psalms|Psalm]] ([https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2627.htm 27]) every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul through [[Hoshanah Rabbah]] on [[Sukkot]] (in Tishrei).

Aside from the blowing of the shofar, the other significant ritual practice during Elul is to recite [[selichot]] (special penitential [[prayers]]) either every morning before [[sunrise]] beginning on the Sunday immediately before Rosh Hashanah, or, if starting Sunday would not afford four days of [[selichot]], then the Sunday one week prior ([[Ashkenazi]] tradition) or every morning during the entire month of Elul ([[Sephardi]] tradition). Ashkenazi Jews begin the recitation of selichot with a special service on Saturday night between solar mid-night (not 12:00) and morning light on the first day of Selichot.

Many Jews also visit the [[graves]] of loved ones throughout the month in order to remember and honor those people in our past who inspire us to live more fully in the future.

Another social custom is to begin or end all letters written during the month of Elul with wishes that the recipient have a good year. The standard blessing is "{{Transliteration|he|K'tiva VaHatima Tova}}" ("a good writing and sealing [of judgement]"), meaning that the person should be written and sealed in the [[Book of Life]] for a good year. Tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, each person is written down for a good or a poor year, based on their actions in the previous one, and their sincere efforts at atoning for mistakes or harm. On Yom Kippur, that fate is "sealed."

==In Jewish history==
* '''1 Elul''' (1313 BCE) – [[Moses]] ascends [[Mount Sinai]] for 3rd set of 40 days
* '''1 Elul''' (520 BCE) – The Prophet [[Haggai]] commands that the rebuilding of the [[Second Temple]] continue
* '''2 Elul''' (1555) – [[Shulchan Aruch]] published
* '''3 Elul''' (1935) – Death of [[Abraham Isaac Kook]]
* '''5 Elul''' – [[Ezekiel]] the prophet has a prophecy of the destruction of [[Solomon's Temple]]
* '''10 Elul''' (2105 BCE) – [[Noah]] dispatches raven
* '''12 Elul''' (1294) – Birth of [[Nachmanides]]
* '''12 Elul''' (1945) – Rabbi [[Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft]] publicly performs the first [[shechitah]] on German soil since it was outlawed by the [[Nazism|Nazis]] in 1933.<ref>[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=12353&st=&pgnum=7&hilite= Hapardes Rabbinical Monthly Journal Volume 19 Issue 7 October 1945 Page 7] (retrieved July 19, 2020)</ref><ref name="Hamodia 2012">{{cite journal |title=[[Hamodia]], Inyan Magazine (Vol. XV, Issue 706), April 25 2012 Kinyan L'Shabbos Page 16}}</ref>
* '''13 Elul''' (1909) – Death of [[Yosef Hayyim]]
* '''14 Elul''' (1983) – Birth of [[Shlomo Rafuel Ben Moshe Dovid]]
* '''14 Elul''' (2024) – “Operation Grim Beeper”
* '''15 Elul''' (1964) – birth of [[Watson de Emmanuel, OBE]]
* '''17 Elul''' (2105 BCE) – [[Noah]] dispatches dove
* '''18 Elul''' (1609) – Death of [[Judah Loew ben Bezalel]]
* '''18 Elul''' (1698) – Birth of [[Baal Shem Tov]]
* '''18 Elul''' (1745) – Birth of rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]]
* '''23 Elul''' (2105 BCE) – Dove brings olive Leaf to [[Noah]] 
* '''23 Elul''' (1942) – Death of the Grand Rabbi of [[Aleksander (Hasidic dynasty)|Aleksander]], Yitzchak Menachem Danziger, in [[Treblinka]]
* '''23 Elul''' (1978) – [[Vladimir Horowitz]] Golden Jubilee Concert was broadcast live by [[NBC]] from [[Avery Fisher Hall]] of [[New York Philharmonic]] conducted by [[Zubin Mehta]]
* '''23 Elul''' (2001) – [[September 11 attacks]]
* '''24 Elul''' (1933) – Death of [[Israel Meir Kagan]]
* '''25 Elul''' (3761 BCE) – The 1st day of the world according to the [[Genesis creation narrative]]
* '''25 Elul''' (335 BCE) – [[Jerusalem]] Walls Rebuilt
* '''25 Elul''' (2nd century CE) – Death of [[Eleazar ben Simeon]], son of [[Simeon bar Yochai]]
* '''25 Elul''' (2016) - Death of [[Shimon Peres]]
* '''27 Elul''' (1855 CE) – Death of [[Sholom Rokeach]]
* '''28 Elul''' (1983 CE) – Death of Rabbi [[Yoel Halpern]]
* '''29 Elul''' (1789 CE) – Birth of [[Menachem Mendel Schneersohn]]

==See also==
* [[Jewish astrology]]
* [[Repentance in Judaism]]
* [[Rosh Hashanah LeMa'sar Behemah]]
* [[Song of Songs]]
* [[Ellul]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/rosh-chodesh-elul Dates of Elul]
* [https://www.inner.org/video/elul-1-the-song-of-songs-of-elul Resources on the Month of Elul] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417092302/https://www.inner.org/video/elul-1-the-song-of-songs-of-elul |date=2020-04-17 }}
* [https://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4685/jewish/Elul.htm The month of Elul]
* An in-depth discussion of the tradition of hearing shofar on Elul, plus meditations on the sound of shofar for each day of the month, can be found at [https://web.archive.org/web/20091002211051/http://hearingshofar.com/Book1.htm#_PART_TWO_%E2%80%93 The Shofar of Elul]
* [http://www.jewelsofelul.com/ Jewels of Elul]: A reading for each day of Elul from a diverse background of Jewish sources.

{{Jewish and Israeli holidays}}

[[Category:Elul| ]]
[[Category:Months of the Hebrew calendar]]