Rabbi Roodyn

As we start the month of Elul we embark on a journey that will take us to the clarity of purpose of Rosh Hashana, followed by ten days of introspection and closeness  to Hashem culminating in Yom Kippur when we literally rise above our bodies for 25 hours. We then re -enter the physical world with a renewed sense of emunah, which we incubate in the sukkah until we connect to Hashem and His Torah with love, unity and commitment on Shmini Atzeres and Simchas Torah.

These days are called yemei haratzon, ‘days of desire’, where we are able to access and actualise our deepest desires for ourselves. The ‘fear’ that we are meant to feel during these days is, according to the Toras Avraham, the fear of missing this opportunity and remaining the same people we have always been without growing past the issues that hold us back from fulfilling our potential.

On Rosh Hashana we articulate our vision of a perfected world under Hashem’s sole sovereignty, which is the goal of all of creation. Through identifying with this tachlis, goal, we become worthy of life on the yom hadin, when Hashem allocates the resources for the coming year. Although this may seem simple, in truth it takes time and effort to come to this sense of awareness to develop the desire to commit oneself to this truth, regardless of who they are and what they do in life.

This is the purpose of the yemei haratzon of Elul, the time of year that affords us the valuable opportunity to dig deep within ourselves, to develop these attitudes and to see whether our actions are indeed consistent with these values.

I would like to therefore take a break from the daily emails about Kabbalas Shabbos and focus on an Elul based theme that will please G-d take us right up to Rosh Hashana.  On both days of Rosh Hashana immediately before tekias shofar we recite Tehillim Chapter 47 seven times. This chapter contains far more than just a couple of passing references to the Shofar that are apparent from the text, in fact a close reading of the words through the eyes of the classic commentaries will reveal that this chapter beautifully and succinctly captures the themes of the day.

Over the next month I will be sharing  a short idea from this chapter every day  that will please G-d form a comprehensive study of this wonderful chapter, I hope that you enjoy the journey.