(RNS) — Elul, the current and final month in the ancient Hebrew calendar, is a time of introspection, preparation and forgiveness as Jews prepare for the High Holidays: first the new year celebration ...

The new month of Elul has begun, the month prior to beginning the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Elul represents the spiritual alarm clock that reminds us of the period we are entering, the shift ...

The month of Elul is approaching and with it the High Holidays when each of us has to take stock of ourselves. In order to properly take advantage of the days of Elul, it is necessary to make a halt ...

Yet I want to suggest that it is the month of Elul – though it contains no holidays at all – that may be the key to the entire year. There is a concept in Judaism called hachana l’mitzvah, the ...

Elul: It’s the month that quietly ushers in one of the most spiritually significant seasons on the Jewish calendar, even though many Jews might not be familiar with it. It is the final month on the ...

Is it possible to do all your reflections about the previous year on a single day? And on a day when you do not even eat due to all the sins you committed? Of course not, according to the Jewish ...

Children dressed in crisp white shirts and dark blue skirts and slacks were accompanied by a special light that brightened classrooms in Jewish schools around the world Monday as Chassidim celebrated ...

Elul is the only month in the Jewish calendar where we are not busy with fasts or chagim and have the gift of a full month to contemplate and introspect. It’s an opportunity for inward reflection, ...

This coming week is the reading of Parshat Shoftim, the first parsha of the month of Elul. It is a month, of course, associated with teshuva (return) in preparation for the upcoming holidays. So it ...

Every year, on the last Shabbat before Elul—the final month of the year, we read a Torah portion that begins with the word re'eh—see. The passage reads, “See, I set before you a blessing and a curse.

Elul, the Jewish lunar month that began September 1, is a mysterious, emotionally fraught time in the ritual year. It is an annual event that has its own distinct message and special rituals. Elul’s ...

Abraham Joshua Heschel published The Earth Is the Lord’s in 1949. In his preface, he writes that, “The story about the life of the Jews in Eastern Europe which has come to an end in our days is what I ...