Elul: Yirah, Ahavah, and the First Opening of Teshuvah

Topics

• Elul and the Fear of Yom HaDin
• A Letter Written in Elul
• Even the Fish Tremble
• Elul and the Need to Connect
• Yefas To’ar as a Model for Elul
• Three Remazim for Elul
• Arlas Halev, Ahavah, and Pachad
• Pachad Is Not a Contradiction to Ahavah
• Ani Ledodi and Mal Hashem Elokecha
• Ani L’dodi and Dodi Li
• Elul as Milchamah and Shivyo
• The Captive Spark
• Elul as a Time of Love
• Reb Zev Edelman and the Feeling of Elul
• Pesulah and the Inner Point
• The meaning of Ani l’dodi v’dodi li
• A maaseh from the Brisker Rav
• The Chizuk of Passing by the House
• What We Are Really Davening For
• Elul and the Feeling of Gedolei Yisrael

Transcript

# Elul and the Fear of Yom HaDin

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Elul was a great time of avodah. It was a time of avodah for all of Klal Yisroel. Reb Yisroel Salanter was known for this. There was no one who did not tremble when he heard the word Elul. From earlier generations, I do not know of anyone like that. The yir’as ha’romemus was meant to be in the yeshivos, and the yeshivos carried the name of Elul. Perhaps today it is a little less, and in the yeshivos it is getting even less, unfortunately. Elul has become like school admissions: you got into school, you did not get into school. Is Elul a thing of the past, chas v’shalom? It would be a tremendous tragedy, a loss, if we let Elul become a thing of the past.

I have told many times different stories of avodah and of Reb Yisroel, of the pachad, the fear they had during Elul. They would say about Reb Yisroel Salanter: were you able to look at his face and see Elul? And when asked, is Elul a dove, a bear? That was the nusach. Is it a bear? Why are you so frightened? So Salanter would say: Dovid HaMelech said, “Gam ki eilech b’gei tzalmaves, lo ira ra, ki Atah imadi.” I am not afraid of the lion, not of the bear. I killed Golyas, and so on. Yet when it came to the mishpat of Hashem, “samer mipachdecha besar’i, umishpatecha yareisi.” He was afraid. He was afraid of the mishpat of Hashem. It is more than the dove, more than the bear.

## A Letter Written in Elul

The Placement Rebbe writes in his shiur on Parashas Ki Savo that he has a letter from the Bnei Yisroel. The letter is almost not legible. The Bnei Yisroel writes: I wrote it during Elul. My hands are shaking; I cannot write. I am going to have to stop short. That is given, pachad, b’kirbi pachad, yadu’a.

He said this to Reb Shmuel Bzavski: two weeks before Yom HaDin, there is nothing that brings him hana’ah anymore. He lost all his shem and everything from fear. He asked him, how can that be? “Mi zagt doch tzu in di slichos zaychalin v’rei’adin,” uncontrollable fear. “Mi yoym b’yekha, so mi zayim.” “Mi zagt az adai, zayim.” In the slichos, “zaychalin v’rei’adin, mi yoym b’yekha.”

## Even the Fish Tremble

It is known: the fish tremble in the water. The fish are trembling. What does it mean that even the fish in the water tremble? Rebbe, it is not so long ago. It was seventy years ago in Europe; they used to use this nusach. It is not hundreds of years ago, Rebbe. The fish in the water tremble. The fish in the water tremble.

He said, I am late with the kvot, my uncle. I am late with the kvot. You know, when a person is a contractor, everything he sees is through the contractor’s eyes. He sees a house, and the first thing he does is take measurements. You are an electrician; the first thing you do when you walk in is start looking. He gave a very nice mashal once to a travel agent. The travel agent said, I love this vort; I am going to get a lot of mileage out of this vort. You see that a yid identifies with what he is involved in.

“Zaychalin v’rei’adin.” Yidden were so scared. They saw a fish in the aquarium; they saw a fish jumping around. That is what it means: even the fish, even in the fish, in gezen, everything they looked at, everything they saw, the chair moves. It was all from the pachad, from the Yom HaDin.

# Elul and the Need to Connect

If we understand Elul, maybe we’ll be able to connect to Elul. It could be that we don’t understand the greatness of the time of Elul, how to utilize it. If we did, maybe we’d be able to connect; maybe it would truly speak to us and mean something to us. So let’s talk about Elul now, basically. Versus Elul by the Gedolim, I just told you. How about us? What is Elul for us?

# Yefas To’ar as a Model for Elul

In this week’s parashah, we have the parashah of Yefas To’ar: “Vera’isa bashivyah eshes yefas to’ar, velakachta lecha le’ishah, uveisekha.” You bring her into the house, and there are halachos that she has to keep. The Torah says: what does she have to do? “Uvechasah es avihah ve’es imah” — she has to cry for her father and mother. You’re taking her away; she’s going to live by you, eventually become your wife. “Uvechasah es avihah ve’es imah yerech yamim,” a full month.

All the ba’alei mussar bring this down: this refers to the time of Elul. “Yerech yamim” is the days of Elul. “Uvechasah es avihah” — this is the Av HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The Yid has to cry. Cry, just like the Yefas To’ar cries because she’s missing her father. I’m not sure if this is exactly the lesson of Ezra; I didn’t see that in the Zohar. But the Shlah brings it down like that. There’s a different yesod: “Yisaf kuponim” — imos, Knesses Yisrael. In any case, “yerech yamim” is Elul.

How does the parashah of Yefas To’ar speak to us in Elul? It seems that the farthest thing from Elul is Yefas To’ar, yet Elul has to come together with Yefas To’ar. I think the Zohar is saying that this Yefas To’ar is us. Maybe even better said, it’s our neshamah. It really is us. We can look at the Yefas To’ar and it should speak to us; it’s telling us something, because we are in the same scenario. We are in the same matzav as the Yefas To’ar. What’s the connection? Let’s talk Elul a little bit, and then we’ll understand.

# Three Remazim for Elul

We know there are three remazim for Elul. Two are brought down by the Mishnah Berurah, and the third is from the Shlah. The famous one the Mishnah Berurah brings down is “Ani le’dodi ve’dodi li.” The second is the seifei teivos of “Umal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha ve’es levav zar’acha,” and that is also Elul. So the first is the roshei teivos, “Ani le’dodi,” and the second is the seifei teivos of “umal.”

The third one is “Aryeh shoag mi lo yira.” Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — the days of mishpat — are Elul. Aryeh. Elul. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ha’shanah. The days of mishpat. Elul. Rosh Hashanah. Aryeh. Aryeh.

It’s interesting. You see Dov, Aryeh, Reb Yisrael Salanter, ya’avor, ya’alin. You see the ענין of “Aryeh shoag,” “Yishan pitka chazayiv,” that roars. “Mi lo yira” — who would not be afraid? And it’s referring to Elul, included as they state in the Shlah. That’s the ha’beisai.

The three roshei teivos, the three remazim, are talking to three different avodos during Elul. There is an avodah during Elul. I’ll start with the third one: “Aryeh shoag pachad,” like I just showed you. Yisrael, incredible, tremendous fear. There’s also the ענין of “Umal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha,” to remove the orlah of the heart, to be mesaken. Milah — you have to cut it off and be mesaken.

# Arlas Halev, Ahavah, and Pachad

And not every person has to be told what the ta’anos are throughout the year. I do not have to spell them out clearly. There is an inyan of arlas halev, as opposed to arlas haguf. There is arlas halev, and milah is the avodah of tikun. Cheshbon hanefesh. Cheshbon hanefesh ha-beis. And the sakin, the orlah. And then there is, *Ani ledodi vedodi li*, ahavah. As we will speak, b’ezras Hashem, more about this soon. There is also an inyan of ahavah.

# Pachad Is Not a Contradiction to Ahavah

Now we are coming to a contradiction: pachad versus ahavah. You think of ahavah, and then you think of pachad. Shabbos, Yom Tov — you think of pachad. Pachad. It is not a contradiction.

The Gemara is discussing this. Why don’t we say Hallel? It is Yom Tov. It is a sakh haTorah. The Rambam asks the question: why don’t we say Hallel? It is Yom Tov, yemei din, yemei pachad, yemei mishpat. It is a serious matter. How do you say Hallel? Yemei din, pachad.

The Rambam says: you are running away from manay seylof, running to protection from the Yidid. Nevi’im and gevirim. There is a piyut: “I ran from You to You.” What does that mean? He is terrified. He is terrified, but from the pachad he realizes that he has where to run. I run from You; I flee to You. It is pachad, but you always have a safe haven. A child always knows that the last resort is a place to run to. That is always the last resort.

# Ani Ledodi and Mal Hashem Elokecha

So yes, we have an avodah, and we also have *Ani ledodi*. How do we say that in Yom Kippur: *Mal Hashem Elokecha* with *Ani ledodi*? They are connected. How are they connected? If this is Rashi teivos and this is sof teivos, how does it work out that *Ani ledodi* comes before *Mal Hashem Elokecha*? Because if you have *Mal Hashem Elokecha*, you can feel the *Ani ledodi*.

A mensch is fatumavit; he does not feel anything. Had we been on the madreigah of Mitzrayim, our eyes would see the love of the Ribbono Shel Olam. We have not spoken about that. The reason we do not feel the *Ani ledodi* is that it is a little too far. Mitzrayim — what do you expect? No distance. When you are close, you see the Hashem doydi. What do you expect? To move thousands of miles away and then what? The malach could say: you moved away, you are far. Then you do not feel the *Ani ledodi*.

So in order to feel the *Ani ledodi*, you have to be an arbiter of them. That is what they say. You have to see the sheteriz and know what you are doing. They say maybe you should get a hair and elbow. *Ani ledodi* is Rashi teivos. How does it begin? *Ani ledodi* is how it begins. I come to the Ribbono Shel Olam, and the Ribbono Shel Olam, and the sof teivos, and the malach, and the *Hashem Elokecha*, and the malach, and the malach, and the malach, and the malach, and the malach, and the malach, and the malach.

# Ani L’dodi and Dodi Li

The B’nai Nishlam took this and stayed with it. They said, it’s not me; they stayed with compassion. Ani l’dodi is me.

There are actually two pesukim, and it is important that the olam should hear what Ani l’dodi means. In Shir HaShirim, in perek 6, pasuk 3, we have: **Ani l’dodi v’dodi li, haro’eh bashoshanim**. In perek 2, pasuk 16, it is: **Dodi li va’ani lo haro’eh bashoshanim**. Same words, but in the beginning it is Dodi li va’ani lo; later on in Shir HaShirim it is Ani l’dodi v’dodi li, with the same ending, haro’eh bashoshanim.

It is not a ta’am. It is es’ruisa d’le’ela and es’ruisa d’lesata. Who does the first step? You all know—there is a big machlokes. **Ha’shiveinu Hashem eilecha v’nashuvah**; or **v’nashuvah eilecha**. Rabbeinu Shel Olam, You do the first step. Who does the first step in teshuvah? V’nashuvah eilecha, or Ha’shiveinu Hashem? Rabbeinu Shel Olam, we tell You: You do the first. You take us back. It is two pesukim in Tanach.

So there are two bechinos: there is Dodi li va’ani lo, and there is Ani l’dodi v’dodi li. Elul is Ani l’dodi v’dodi li. I take the first step. This is called es’ruisa d’lesata. The Torah of Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen has great arichus about this.

Nisan is es’ruisa d’le’ela. Klal Yisrael was not ready for anything. Rabbeinu Shel Olam came down, He was me’ir them, He brought them. That is Nisan—es’ruisa d’le’ela. Then you have es’ruisa d’lesata, which means that Rabbeinu Shel Olam is telling us that we have to move. That becomes es’ruisa d’lesata: Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.

In the yeshivos they use this pasuk. Another nusach is es’ruisa d’le’ela, she’hechera peiram. In the yeshivos they say: **Pis’cha li pesach kechuda shel machat**; **Yiftach lachem k’pischo shel ulam**. You have to start, you have to make a small hole, and Rabbeinu Shel Olam says, I will do the rest. That is what is written: Ani l’dodi, v’dodi li. Rashi teivos and sof teivos—**Yismach Hashem li’kha**.

When you come to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, what can you do? What can you be mesaken in a month? If you understand how much tikun we need, it is a lot. And the teretz is: pis’cha li pesach. You have to start, you have to open the hole, and Rabbeinu Shel Olam continues it. That is pis’cha li pesach; Ani l’dodi, v’dodi li. Rabbeinu Shel Olam comes and helps too. **Yimol Hashem li’vavcha v’es levav zar’echa**.

So what is the es’ruisa d’lesata? What is it? Rabbeinu Shel Olam said, melelen dachag meredik ezachta—meredik. That an elder, Rabbeinu Shel Olam, is looking. He is looking for the pis’cha li pesach. So what is it? Er vagim, etot shuvim, et tikun, et altz. But what is that pesach? In Shir HaShirim, the whole conversation is: I am searching for Rabbeinu Shel Olam, Rabbeinu Shel Olam is searching for me. That is what it is, the whole Shir HaShirim. I am longing for You, and You are longing for me. **Mat agid lo she’echpat lo?** That is what it is.

I have it in my heart, I have it in my heart, I have it in my heart. I am even mentioned. How many times do we mention? My clothing are not dirty yet. But I am searching. Ki chayisah? I am not looking for You. In Yiddish we call it banking. I am longing for the Yiddish. Ani l’dodi, l’havin et elach, l’havin et elach, l’sheh izim. Too long, too much. I miss. I miss. I miss Yiddish. I miss.

Ani l’dodi, v’dodi li—this is Shir HaShirim. They found the avon et elach in the l’sheh izim. L’sheh izim is this: I am searching for the Yiddish, and the Yiddish is looking for Klal Yisrael. Back and forth. What does that mean, that the Yiddish is looking for Klal Yisrael? I am searching for the Yiddish, and the Yiddish is searching for me. What does that mean?

# Elul as Milchamah and Shivyo

That is the pshat, Rabbeinu. “V’ro’i sov ba-shivyo” — it is us; it is the mishomel. “Shivyo” means we are captured, in captivity to the yetzer hara, Rabbeinu.

“V’ro’i sov u’milchamah” — I saw this last week. The Baran, Shivas Atzal, finds the whole parashah of Elul in the parashah of milchamah, last week’s parashah of Shoftim. It is a milchamah. You know, we blow the shofar. The Meir Simcha, the Mishnah Berurah brings down, because it is like a milchamah. The Bialah brings it as well: we blow the shofar because it is like a milchamah.

Shivas Atzal, the first Shmueyit, Meir Adik, finds Elul in the parashah of milchamah from last week. There must be a shot in the milchamah of last week. “Mi yorei v’rach haleivav” — of choyzau, aveirah sheb’yadoi. Even an aveirah, a cow, socked by tefillin, tefillin, and the Rosh Yeshiva brings the ra’ayah with teshuvah, with teshuvah. Meir Adik, you hear? Tell me, are you not yorei v’rach haleivav of the Rosh Yeshiva? Are you not afraid?

The Rosh Yeshiva says, from the busha: why didn’t you have a halachah that if you are married, house, it is all a cover-up in case you have the aveirah sheb’yadoi? You are embarrassed to go back for the aveirah sheb’yadoi. What kind of aveirah is this? He walks around with a bag over his head. What happened? “I said a word by mistake.” We do not even know what chet is; we are not embarrassed about chet.

And he says that is what went wrong in Elul. Why do we not have the Elul today? What happened? It comes around every year, Elul, and we have survived it. Second of all, what happened? Seventy years ago, the Torah said, “It is okay, you get used to it.” And the second thing he says: he started stopping to feel. This is the word I was telling you about. He wants to say, you want to feel me? That is where I got it from. Otherwise you do not feel anything.

## The Captive Spark

Okay, so in the milchamah, it is a milchamah, Rabbeinu. Now that you are going to the milchamah, what do you see in the shivyo? You see a spark. There is something there. That is why you will look. That is what the Zohar is saying, Rabbeinu. You come Elul, in the milchamah, all of a sudden you see something captive. What is captive? You. Something. You have to cry. What are you crying? “I miss you.” That is what you are crying: I miss you. I am not, not. A whole year I was distracted.

Knesses Yisrael — what is Knesses Yisrael? The Yid. The Knesses Yisrael.

## Elul as a Time of Love

I want to tell you over from the get-go, and the truth I found in the Rabbi Tzadik. You know, in the yeshivos they say many gedolim took Elul as a time of love, tremendous ahavah for the Rabbeinu Shalom. I saw something that moved me very much. I saw Rabbi Chatzik brings down that Rabbi Yitzchak Blaser stood up in the Knesses and he was Jewish. “Elul, Elul.” In the middle he got so overwhelmed that he opened up the Hanukkah Yiddish and he said, “Thank You for this month.”

# Reb Zev Edelman and the Feeling of Elul

I don’t believe it. The love that they felt, the daily Yisrael felt, toward Rabbi Nishleman this month. I thank you, Rabbi Nishleman, for having the simchah for the month.

I want to tell you about Meir Yitzchak. There is a sefer—I don’t know if you know it—*Edel Emench*. That is the name of the book. It is a perfect name, exactly for teichu delgadl. Do you know who Reb Zev Edelman was? I was eager to know. Every time I went to Eretz Yisrael, I would go to Bnei Brak to get a brachah from Reb Zev Edelman. He was kodesh kodashim. He was a real brisker; he was from Brisk. He wasn’t a genachte brisker, he was a real brisker. He was a peldik tzaddik Yisrael—mamash a peld, aish peld.

He brings a maiseh here. There was a Yid. When Avtali Kayin was coming, he said, “Hey, Rosh Hashanah in Eretz Yisrael.” Because most people learned in Ponevezh, and it turned into Rosh Hashanah in Eretz Yisrael. He was learning in Ponevezh, and before Yom Kippur—before Rosh Hashanah, excuse me, before Rosh Hashanah, hours before—he is sitting in the beis medrash and says, “Rebbi, I’m not worked up enough for Rosh Hashanah. What do I do? I’m going to go to Reb Zev Edelman. I’ll go to Reb Zev Edelman and get a shmuess from Reb Zev Edelman about Rosh Hashanah.”

He comes to Reb Zev Edelman and tells him, “I need chizuk elul.” Reb Zev Edelman didn’t talk to him about Rosh Hashanah. I remember I used to come to him, and he would only say one word. He would make hand motions, you know, with his hands. He tells me, little buzz-ups too, like, what do you say? I didn’t come to say; I came to hear. I cooked him one, that’s it. I want a Rosh Hashanah shmuess. Yeah. But I feel in him, I need Rosh Hashanah. I have to feel it.

As he says, I felt very let down. That’s all this gadol has to tell me hours before Rosh Hashanah? I figured he had so much, and I was so worked up. He says, but then when I walked into the beis medrash, I started to understand what he was saying. He said, every second of Elul, you have to walk around thinking, “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.” And he says, these are the last few minutes before Rosh Hashanah; we can still chaperai those moments of “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.” And Reb Zev Edelman started to cry. And the entire way, he kept on saying, “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.” The whole way through the beis medrash, Rosh Hashanah: “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.”

And I said, this is called longing. Longing for the Ani l’dodi—that’s what it means. I come up and search; I’m looking. That is “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li.”

# Pesulah and the Inner Point

What does the Chidushei HaRim say? What is pesulah? I’ll tell you pesulah. The Rebbe, the Chidushei HaRim, said: yes, chippa, I have it, but it is more. Pesulah is untouched. There is a part in every youth that is untouched—no aveiros, no outside goyim. It is light. It is pure.

He brings from the Frierdiker Rebbe, from the Chidushei HaRim, and from the Rezedes Hashem, Magen Avraham. There is a lot of Torah on this. There is a yeder pintel, a yeder man, and the Borei Olam says, “I protect it.” It can never be lost. And Elul, he says, is the avodah. And I think this is what he means: the avodah is pesulah, to tap into that, to bring it out. It is dormant, deep in there. There is a chelek of eid—what is eid? It is pure. That chelek has to be reawakened. Yisrael, Yisrael, wake it up. Connect to it. Connect to it.

You know, I think this is the peshat in the Basim. Give me just three more minutes, you’ll see.

# The meaning of *Ani l’dodi v’dodi li*

We could die. It would be worth it. The end of the pasuk, *harayah b’shashanim*, needs to be explained: *Ani l’dodi v’dodi li, haro’eh bashoshanim*—with flowers, *b’shaychus*.

In the past I have said many other peshatim. There is not time for them now, but I will tell you the peshat like this, as they say. A Yid is a *shoshan ben hachochim*. He remains pure even among thorns. Even his own *chochim*. *Chochim* does not have to mean only the nations. There is a *shoshan* there, even among the thorns. *Al kol panim*, with all his *goyim*, with all his tongues—there is a *shoshan* here. *Mi bon siach*, *shoshan chachamim*.

Have you ever noticed? What does it mean? Everybody sings it. Everybody says it by the *chassan*. You do not know what it means. There is no *peshat*. What does it mean, *mi bon siach*? *Mi bon siach*—do you know what you are saying? With flowers. As a Yid told me. I will tell you a simple *peshat*. What is the *peshat*? *Mi bon* is *binah*—to understand. *Siach* is the talk of the *shoshan ben hachochim*.

Klal Yisroel, which is *shoshan ben hachochim*—why do I have to call it *shoshan ben hachochim*? Why is Klal Yisroel’s name in this context *shoshan ben hachochim*? You know, people get married, they go to the mikveh, they have goals, they talk about what? The house. It is mundane, more or less, right? They talk about the practical side, what is really there. *Mi bon*—one who understands the *siach* of the *shoshan ben hachochim*. It is understanding what the *shoshan* is. Deep down, there is a *shoshan ben hachochim* among the thorns.

The guy, when he talks about getting married, it is about his life. When we talk about getting married, it is all about *kiddushin*, *shemayim*, *avodas Hashem*. *Mi bon*—who is the one? *Hu yivarech es hachassan v’es hakallah*.

# A maaseh from the Brisker Rav

I want to tell you a mystery, which I tell you every time I think about it. I saw it recently. I picked up a sefer on Elul—my bread and butter Elul, that is what I am busy with in Elul, any sefer. I think it is a chashuve sefer on Elul. I do not know who it is. It seems like he was a heilige mashgiach, and that is in Eretz Yisroel. This person—I do not know who it is. I am going to find out. But he brings a maaseh from the Brisker Rav. I could not believe it. He had a maaseh; he brings a maaseh from the Brisker Rav.

There was a person living in Brisk, in the city. He had a problem. What was his problem? He lived in Brisk, and his mother lived in a place called Rugabach. Do we have any Russians here? Do you know where this is—Rugabach? It was very hard for him to take care of his mother in Rugabach, because to get to Brisk is many, many miles of travel. His mother was getting old, and he needed his mother to come and move to Brisk. His mother did not want to move. So he went to the Brisker Rav, that the Brisker Rav should talk to his mother and convince her to move to Brisk. It is for her benefit; like this she could be around her son.

The Brisker Rav calls her over. He says, why do you not come to Brisk? Brisk—what can you say? You got into Brisk, I will come to Brisk. You know what she says? A kid. Why? I had a zayde in this Rugabach city. You know what I am saying? The first time I heard it, you should know, it was actually good. Every time I think about this story, my head shakes. You know what it does to me? It is nice. I had a zayde in Rugabach.

His whole life he dreamed of buying an esrog. That was his goal. You know, people used to buy one esrog for the shtetl, and everybody would use it. His dream was an esrog. So they saved up penny by penny for an esrog. By then, they decided they had better buy the esrog now, because who knows if they will live until next year—they were getting old. He comes into the meicher. The prices went up every year, you know, especially in the month of the city. Can you imagine the prices? You could charge. Not enough money. He comes home. He tells his wife. His wife says, what do we need the house for?

# The Chizuk of Passing by the House

Sell the house, buy the asterisk, and finish. They can’t have it; they bought the asterisk with the house. She says, “It’s my Zeda, my brother. Every time I pass by the house that could have been mine, I remind myself that they gave it up for the asterisk, the lulav.” It gives me tremendous chizuk. Tremendous chizuk.

I don’t want to leave this city. I want to live here because I can pass by the house, because this is my title in life. But it means to him, the Rebbe in Eretz Yisrael, nobody could translate it into words. Nobody could translate it into words.

# What We Are Really Davening For

This is the peshat, rabosai. We say, we daven. We daven for life. You know what we’re really davening for? That’s what we’re davening for. That’s what we’re davening for, at the end of the day: l’mancha, aleichem chaim. What is l’mancha? I don’t mean me. I mean because I want You. Aleichem chaim, because I know what life is.

# Elul and the Feeling of Gedolei Yisrael

Verse 11. Verse 11 is zayit nikushim. Rabosai, this is a me’ein of what Gedolei Yisrael felt this month. Try to understand the month. Try to understand the ma’alos of the month. What you do, you’ll slowly connect. You’ll have a tremendous cheshik, tremendous gefil for Elul. Tremendous gefil.

Gedolei Yisrael segilept. Elul was alive. Segilept. Like I told you, when they saw the fish, they saw Elul. Everything they said, “Oh, this is Elul.”

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