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HOLIDAYS AND HOLY DAYS
THE MONTH OF ELUL
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There is a sixth Biblical month dimension, beyond that which is known during these forty days. It is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and darkness, between natural and supernatural, and it lies between the pit of man's sins and the summit of his repentance. This is the dimension of teshuvah. It is an area which we call:
The month of Elul is the sixth month on the Biblical calender, it is generally a religious Jewish tradition for the time of repentance starting on the first day of Elul to the time of Yom Kippur on the tenth day in the seventh Biblical month of Tishri/Ethanim. They call this time "The Forty Days of Awe". They blow the shofar weekly, except during Shabbath, and read the Slichot Prayers, which are, according to Rico Cortes of Wisdom in Torah Ministries, special prayers of repentance.
In tradition, each letter of the word "Elul" is the Hebrew letters Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed (lwla), and each of these letters are abbreviations taken from each Hebrew word in the book Song of Songs 6:3 "Ani L'dodi, V'dodi Li" (Literal: I am my beloved, and my beloved is to me)
The word, Elul, is revealed in each of the first letters
This is what Wikipedia says regarding Elul:
Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל, Standard Elul Tiberian ʾĔlûl) is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar. The name of the month, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the Babylonian Exile, and originated from the Akkadian word for "Harvest". A similar month name was also used in Akkadian, in the form elūlu.
In the 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. The Talmud writes that the Hebrew word "Elul" can be expanded as an acronym for "Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li" - "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" (Song of Solomon 6:3). 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.[1]
During the month of Elul, there are a number of special rituals leading up to the High Holy Days. It is 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 him to begin the soul searching which will prepare him 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.[1] It is also customary to recite Psalm 27 every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul through Hoshanah Rabbah on Sukkot (in Tishrei).
Aside from the blowing of the shofar, the other major 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 4 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.
(Source: [1] Suissa, David. "Love in the Time of Elul" Jewish Journal Journal. 21 August 2013. 22 August 2013.)
In my
humble opinion, the tradition of the month of Elul is nothing more than
that, "a Rabbinical Jewish Traidition" that hwhy didn't command
us to do. It also my humble opionion that this was made up by the
Jewish Rabbis to, in many words in Poker terms, "raise one" on hwhy, by saying to Him something like
this:
If this is true, then what the Rabbinical religious Jews did was corrupting the "one day" of Yom Kippur where the High Priest were to make atonement for the Israelite people for that one day and made it "a forty day repentance program", making it "a burden" by adding their own "man made rules and traditions". These are examples in which Yeshua got after the Jewish leaders for their "man made traditions", and they are noted in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark
Matthew 15:1 Then came to Yeshua scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But He answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the Commandment of hwhy by your tradition? 4 For hwhy commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the Commandment of hwhy of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. 9 But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mark 7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not Thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the Commandment of hwhy, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the Commandment of hwhy, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban [Karban Offering], that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13 Making the Word of hwhy of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
If the High Priest were to go by what the religious Jews created, he would have to go to the Temple every day for forty days to atone for the people. That contradictes hwhy's word for the whole House of Israel to just repent for "ONE DAY". This also would distort Yeshua's "ONE TIME SACRIFICE" as "the Eternal High Priest" Himself for all the individuals in the world, to those who would accept it.
The only exception is the historic non-Biblical acccounts, which have been proven, of the Maccabeean Revolt resulting in Hanukkah in its historic "pure" Festive format and using the Hanukkiah for counting the day purposes only. Though there is no evidence yet to be discovered, Purim is in the canonized Bible, and it is accepted for its "hidden" content.
On the other hand, it wouldn't hurt to pray for repentance on a daily basis, because we are told by the apostle Paul in his letter to assembly in Thessalonica
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
and in the apostle John's epistle
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the Righteous: 2 And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
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DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed, from these different formats of teachings below, are solely those of the personnel and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Aleph-Tav Project.
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TEACHINGS/INFORMATION
RICO CORTES
Of Wisdom in Torah Ministries
Rico has a couple of good webpages regarding the month of Elul (Note: you have to be subscribed to his blog in order to access his videos and audios. It is only as low as $10 "per year". You can subscribe at his webpage: http://wisdomintorah.com/join-here/)
http://wisdomintorah.com/selichot-prayers-using-the-psalms-and-the-siddur/
http://wisdomintorah.com/these-are-songs-chanted-for-the-time-of-repentance/
This is Rico's PDF of the Slichot Prayers taken from the Siddur. Right click the link and choose "Save as".
Slichot Prayers PDF
HEBREW FOR CHRISTIANS
www.hebrew4christians.com
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/About_HFC/
Site_News/Archive-2009/August/august.html
This is their PDF form of the page above. Right click and choose "Save as".
Hebrew For Christians- Elul And Selichot, The Season Of Teshuvah PDF
THE SLICHOT PRAYERS IN HEBREW
Slichot Prayers PDF (Hebrew)
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VIDEOS
Click on each image to get to the teaching on the webpage
JIM STALEY
Passion For Truth Ministries
Teshuvah Repentance And The Biblical Month Of Elul
JONATHAN CAHN
Beth Israel Worship Center
Right Before The End (From the message, Thy Mystery Of Elul)
About eight minutes long
YISRAEL AVRAHAM
Of holylanguage.com
(He used to be on the Hebraic Roots Network in his "Hebrew Quest" teaching series.)
Month Of Romantic Love, Inner Awakening,
Soul Searching, And The Pursuit of Mashiach- Elul
ONE MORE VIDEO
THE ELUL ZONE (Forty Days of Repentance)
I pray this was informative to you.
Any questions or comments can be written to
the.aleph-tav.project@msn.com
SHALOM
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