Question: Where does the name Elul come from? How can Elul be both the last month of the year and the prequel of the holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) that occur in the following month, Tishrei? Finally, can you please discuss the religious practices of Elul?
M. Goldman
Miami Beach, FL
Answer: The name Elul, as well as the names of all the other months of the year, are of Babylonian, not biblical, origin. They are the names the exiles brought back with them to the land of Judea after their 70-year expulsion.
The first mention of Elul in Tanach is in the Book of Nehemiah (6:15): “Vatishlam hachoma ba’esrim vachamisha le’elul lachamishim u’shenayim yom – So the wall [around the city of Jerusalem] was completed on the 25th of Elul in 52 days.” This verse appears amidst the story of the return of Ezra and Nehemiah with the exiles from Babylonia in their quest to resettle the land of Judea and restore Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.
As to its position in the calendar, Elul is actually not the last month of the year but the sixth; Nissan is considered the first month according to the Torah. Thus, we read in Parshat Bo (Exodus 12:2): “Hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chodashim, rishon hu lachem lechodshei hashana – This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Rashi (ad loc.) explains that this pasuk refers to Nissan. And if Nissan is the first month, Elul is the sixth.
It seems strange that the first day of the first month – i.e., Nissan – is not Rosh Hashanah. We read in the Gemara (Rosh Hashana 8a-b): “R. Nachman b. Yitzchak said: [The first of Tishrei is the New Year] for judgment, as the Torah states [Deuteronomy 11:12], “…einei Hashem Elokecha bah mereishit hashana ve’ad acharit shana – …the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to year’s end.” This means that from the beginning of the year, judgment is issued regarding what will occur until the year’s end.”
The Gemara asks, “How do we know that this verse refers to [the first of] Tishrei? Because Psalms 81:4 states, ‘Tik’u bachodesh shofar bakesseh leyom chagenu – Blow the shofar at the moon’s renewal, when [the moon] is covered on our festive day.’”
The Gemara asks further, “Now on which festival is the moon covered [i.e., not visible]? We must surely say this is Rosh Hashanah,” which falls on the first day of the month, when the moon is not visible, the only festival so placed in our calendar. Furthermore, the following verse (Psalms 81:5) reads: “Ki chok leYisrael hu, mishpat leElokei Yaakov – Because it is a statute for Israel, a judgment [day] unto the G-d of Jacob.” We thus see that Rosh Hashanah is the day of judgment.
As to clearly placing this day of judgment on the first (and second) of Tishrei, we read the following in Parshat Pinchas (Numbers 29:1): “Uvachodesh hashevi’i be’echad lachodesh mikra kodesh yihyeh lachem kol melechet avoda lo ta’asu yom teruah yihyeh lachem – In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a holy convocation for you, you shall do no laborious work, it shall be a day of shofar sounding for you.”
Thus we see that the day(s) specifically set aside for blowing the shofar is the first (and the second) of the seventh month (counting from Nissan).
Why, then, is Nissan counted as the first month? Because it celebrates the purpose of Hashem’s creation – the nationhood of the Children of Israel – as we were freed from slavery in Egypt at this time (see Rashi, Genesis 1:1 s.v. “Bereishit”).
We find two allusions to the name “Elul” in the Bach’s commentary to the Tur (Orach Chayim 581), citing the verse (Song of Songs 6:3), “Ani ledodi vedodi li – I am for my Beloved [Hashem] and my Beloved is for me.” The Bach notes that if we take the first letter of each word – aleph, lamed, vav, and lamed – we get the Hebrew word “Elul.” If we take the last letter of each word – yud, yud, yud, and yud – we have the gematria (numerical computation) of 40, which corresponds to the 40 days from Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur. During those 40 days of repentance it is traditionally understood that one’s heart is closer to the Beloved (Hashem) through repentance, and consequently that the Beloved is closer to accept our repentance with love.
The Bach notes that we find another verse alluding to Elul in Parshat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 30:6): “U’mal Hashem Elokecha et levav’cha ve’et levav zar’echa le’ahava et Hashem Elokecha bechol levav’cha u’vechol nafshecha lema’an chayyecha – Hashem your G-d will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Hashem your G-d with all your heart and all your soul, that you may live.”
The first four letter of the words “et levav’cha ve’et levav – your heart and the heart of [your offspring]” are aleph, lamed, vav, and lamed – i.e., Elul.
(To be continued)
