Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

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Permalink Reply by Betty K. (Tabor) Givin on July 18, 2009 at 5:54pm

Yes, Kim. I just finished listening, and will be joining you and others in this prayer! Thanks, Ross for your heart rending teaching. May we take these things to heart and return to Him and His Torah along with all His people and He will return to us...what a glorious promise!
This time of year and the coming weeks and 40 days of Repentance during the days of Elul and T'shuvah (repentance) leading up to Tishri and Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur are very sobering times. Yet they are followed by a time of rejoicing at Sukkoth!

As all nations, including our own, seem to be gathering against Israel as in Psalm 83, may we continue in our prayer for her and her people and may the words of Psalms 102:13ff, indeed come to pass in our day and at this time...

"Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for it is time to favour her; for the set time is come. For thy servants hold her stones dear, and cherish her very dust..." This is indeed a beautiful passage full of so much to take into our hearts with the spirit of self-examination and t'shuvah...

Shaloo Shalom, Yerushalayim!!! (Psalms 122:6) May these words along with the Shema be on our lips as we lie down at night and as we arise in the morning...

B'Ahava Rabba (with much love), Elisheva

Permalink Reply by Earth White Horse on September 13, 2011 at 9:14pm

Traditions of Elul.

 Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming Yom Kippur.

As the month of "Divine mercy and forgiveness," Elul is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return"), prayer, charity, and increased  Ahavat yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to the Creator. The month of Elul is compared to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."

The following are some of the basic customs and practices for the month of Elul:

• Each day of the month of Elul (except for Shabbat and the last day of Elul), we sound the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance.

• When writing a letter or meeting one another, we  bless one another by including the greeting Ketivah vachatimah tovah--which roughly translates as "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year."

• Chapter 27 of the Book of Psalms is added to daily prayers, in the morning and afternoon .

• During the last week of Elul, the Slichot prayers are recited, the first night at midnight, the following days in the early morning.