Elul: Searching Our Hearts

Question

Dear Rabbi,

Please tell me about the current Jewish month, Elul. I have heard that there is something special about it.

Thanks

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Several acronyms are renowned as hints to the nature of this month. It is, of course, the month preceding the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. For example, the first letters of the words “Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li – I am my Beloved’s (God’s) and my Beloved is mine” (Song of Songs 6:3) – spell “Elul” and are a reference to God’s closeness to us during this special month.

    The word Elul means “search,” because during the month of Elul we search our hearts for evil and repent in preparation for Rosh Hashanah

    A famous question is raised by commentaries who claim that the names of the months are Babylonian in nature and not Hebrew. Is it plausible that verses in the Torah would allude to non-Hebrew words?
    The names of the Jewish months came into use when the exiled Jews of Babylon, who spoke Aramaic, returned to the Land of Israel in the time of Ezra. Previously the months had no names, but were referred to by number.

    Nachmanides says that the names of the months are of Persian origin, but that doesn’t preclude their also having Aramaic roots, as the Persian Empire succeeded the Babylonian Empire, and the language of Babylon was Aramaic.

    So, how does this explain how the verses in the Hebrew Torah hinting to Aramaic words? Because Aramaic is a sister language of Hebrew. According to the Kabbalah, Aramaic is actually a dialect of Hebrew. That is why most of the Oral Law is written either in Aramaic, or in Mishnaic Hebrew, which is a mixture of Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team