There is a special Davening of Elul. The month, which is really a 40-day run-up to Yom Kippur, is called Yemei Ratzon, days of favor, so it makes sense that there must be a way to take advantage. Tonight we will start Selichot, which is the Davening of these days. On Tuesday night, I will go further into the essence of this Davening, but there is something of this that I want to mention today.
Part of the special Davening of this month is the daily recitation of L’David, chapter 27 of Tehillim. We always point out that this chapter has many hints to this time of year. In the beginning of the chapter, Ori (my light) is a hint to Rosh Hashana and Yishee (my salvation) for Yom Kippur. Later, Hashem hides me in His Sukka, which is not just the Beit HaMikdash but a reference to our own personal Sukkot.
It makes sense that the chapter we say in Elul is full of hints. The month itself is awash in many hints, places where the word “Elul” appears in acrostics. Many know that the letters of “Elul” appear in the verse, Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Lee. In next week’s Parasha, Moshe says that Hashem will circumscribe the hearts, “Et Levav’cha V’et Levav Zarecha.” And R’ Felsen’s favorite -- Ani L’uman Vishtee Lavada, “I’m going to Uman and my wife is left alone.”
The hints in L’David come amidst harrowing images -- we are under attack. Evil ones are approaching, Tzarai, Oy’vai, my tormentors and enemies. There is war arrayed against me. By the end, the tormentors are identified as Eidei Sheker, witnesses of falsehood, and Yifai’ach Hamas, those who breathe violence.
Why so much torment? The vulnerability to attack in this month comes because of fatigue. The beginning of the year courses with great energy. During the Olympics, runners have to work hard to pace themselves during the surge at the beginning of the race. But as one approaches the end, one is often running on fumes. This is what L’David is describing. We are surrounded by forces, by negativity, over which we don’t have the strength to assert control.
On what does one rely on in these circumstances? David HaMelech makes it clear. We can rely on very little that is tangible. In fact, he says that were he not to have faith, the enemies, the negativity, would triumph. The Tur points to yet another hint in the chapter. He points out that the “Lulei” as in “Lulei Ha’amanti,” if I did not have faith, is also a hint to Elul. it is the letters of Elul backward. “If I did not have faith,” we say. Meaning, that if I DO have faith, I can withstand anything. If I turn Lulei around, if I do have faith, then I have the word Elul, the month of faith.
This is the faith going forward that the new year will in fact be different. It will not just be a repetition of this one. We have often pointed out the oxymoron of the phrase Rosh Hashana. Shana means a repeat cycle. Rosh, on the other hand, says that somehow this repeat has new beginning, never seen before. Our faith is that it will be a Rosh despite the fact that it is a Shana.
The Parasha began with Bikurrim, the first fruits. There is a strange word in this section about Bikurrim. We say that the fruits go in a basket, but we use a strange word for that basket. Instead of the word Sal, which is used elsewhere, we use the word Tena. The Baal HaTurim says that the Torah does not want to use the word Sal because it does not want to use the letter Somech. In fact, that letter does not appear anywhere in this section about first fruits. The Tur says that the Torah hints at this connection between Tena and the avoidance of the Somech because the Gematria of Tena is 60, which is the same as that of Somech. That is because a Somech is a circle, an endless repetition, and first fruits show that there is a possibility of beginnings. Endless repetition would only add to the exhaustion of the end of the year. There would be nothing to hope for, nothing to project one’s hopes towards.
This is what I told my own son Aharon on his Bar Mitzva in this Parasha, and that is what I tell this Bar Mitzva, Eliezer. The first fruits tell us that Hashem grants us gifts, new gifts, each year, and by acknowledging that, by seizing on the gratitude for that, we affirm that the new and the different is always possible.
