Elul: The Penitential Season

According to an ancient collection of legends (Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer-The Teachings of Rabbi Eliezer), the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul marks the beginning of an especially solemn period of forty days that concludes with Yom Kippur. When you add the 30 days of Elul to the special 10 day period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur (1^st to the 10^th of Tishrei-the 10 days of repentance) you arrive at the number 40, which is exactly the amount of days Moses spent in heaven before receiving the second set of tablets. This period is the most auspicious time on the Jewish calendar for cheshbon hanefesh...an accounting of one's soul, something the Jewish people engage in during the penitential season.

If you are visiting Israel, or any observant Jewish community in the Diaspora, you may notice or hear that there are special customs and observances that mark this period. Below are some of them:

1. Except on the Sabbath, the shofar is sounded every morning during the month of Elul as a reminder to everyone that this is the time to repent. The piercing blasts of the shofar are supposed to wake us up from our spiritual slumber. Essentially, the shofar acts as spiritual alarm clock reminding us that this is the time to repair our relationships with the environment, other human beings, and of cour