8 Elul 5768
While our family was busy with our local fair, the month of Elul began last Tuesday evening. This is a wonderful month of preparation for the fall festivals which are rapidly approaching: Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets, aka Rosh Hashanah), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). In the month prior to these festivals there is a focus on repentance and forgiveness, a season to restore right relationships with G-d and man. Elul means “search” in Aramaic.
A term that is very commonly focused on in this season is “Teshuva”. The Month of Elul study workbook from Torah Family says this:
Teshuvah is a Hebrew word meaning “returning” and is associated with the English word “repentance”. What is teshuvah and how is it expressed?
The Hebrew root of teshuvah literally means “to turn”. It implies turning toward one thing and away from something else. In the Tanakh (Old Testament), G-d uses this word repeatedly to plead with His people to forsake sin and follow after Him.
If we spend this season searching our hearts, minds and the rest of our lives for areas where we have fallen short and seek to right the wrongs we’ve committed in the past year, we will be participating with a multitude of others who are preparing for the fall holy days. This is a time for some good old fashioned soul searching and “weed pulling”.
This is also the time to prepare for a family Succah. We were able to find a PDF last year (though I forget where I downloaded it from) and modify the plans to fit our family. We simply doubled the size and did not include a floor (which in hindsight might have been a very nice thing to have!). For those who are planing on making a Succah this year for the first time or who are planning a new/different Succah than in previous years, we really liked these plans, Succah Construction Instructions. I posted some pictures from our family Sukkot celebration last year here.
A few other resources for those who are interested in finding out more about the preparations in the month of Elul are these:
The Monthly eRosh from FFOZ.org
Fall Holidays Overview from BiblicalHolidays.com
Elul at Wikipedia
Lisa,
I love the photos of your Succah! I’m looking forward to celebrating Sukkot with an actual Succah for the first time this year. My husband cut out the wood last weekend and we are hoping to put it up for a trial run this coming weekend (so I can see how big it is and decide how to decorate it).
Your pictures made me look forward to having family and friends in our Succah for dinner and/or dessert. I hope to get the chance to sleep at least one night in it too (if the weather cooperates).
Thanks for the informative post!
Paula
I am way behind on reading your blog. I have 6 posts on bloglines marked with “Keep New.” I won’t rush through reading them, because you always challenge me to think.
I had marked the first day of Elul on my calendar. I had hoped that this year I would be better prepared for the fall holidays than I was last year. But, my mom and younger sister came to visit for 2-1/2 weeks… I was at my older sister’s home (sleeping on an air mattress)… Marissa and I fought constantly about TV (an area we don’t have to fight about at home since we don’t have TV)… and I feel like I am going into the fall holidays flustered instead of prepared. And, I just learned my husband will be traveling for the Feast of Trumpets. It is hard to follow a different liturgical calendar than the rest of the world.
Since coming home, Marissa and I have been reviewing the purpose of the fall feasts. We have been making a plan… trying BABY steps… you are an inspiration ~
It’s a little harder each year because we have the same resources every year and nothing new, really, to work with. It would be nice to have input from others and their experiences. Someday…