ELLUL - A Month of Stocktaking

A Month of Stocktaking
by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger
Every storekeeper takes inventory from time to time. To see how his business is progressing, he reviews his accounts, sees what he has purchased and what he has sold, and in this way, gets a handle on where he will be going in the future.
Our Divine service must also be a living, ongoing concern with ups and, unfortunately, sometimes with downs, and we should make similar reckonings. Are we growing in our connection with G-d and our relationships with our fellow men or have we become more insensitive?
Where should we be focusing our attention? And which areas are holding us back from advancing?
A storekeeper generally does not do his accounts alone; he hires a bookkeeper or an accountant. Why? Because he wants an objective opinion.
Now if this is true with regard to a simple matters like buying and selling, it certainly applies with regard to delicate matters like our personal growth and spiritual sensitivity.
Simply put, a person shouldn't try to make his reckoning on his own.
Instead, he or she should consult some genuinely good friends and/or one's spouse. Ask them honestly: Have I become more refined and sensitive over the past year? Do you see me growing?
To grab a person's attention, Madison Avenue has taught us how to use slogans and catch phrases so that ideas stay in our conscious foreground. Thousands of years previously, our Sages coined acronyms for concepts that they wanted to attract our notice.
They explained that Elul is an acronym for 5 four-word Biblical verses.
Elul refers to the cities of refuge established for the unintentional manslaughterer. This alludes to Torah study, because "the words of Torah are a refuge."
Elul is an acronym for "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine". This points to prayer, for in prayer our love relationship with G-d finds expression.
A third verse suggests deeds of kindness. For Elul should be marked by heightened attention to all three fundamental elements of our Divine service - Torah study, prayer and acts of kindness.
Not surprisingly, when taking stock of our efforts throughout the year, we may discover shortcomings, things that have to be corrected. For this reason, Elul is also associated with teshuva, turning to G-d with "regret for the past and positive resolves for the future."
Our Sages also highlight the connection between Elul and teshuva with a verse that is an acronym for the name Elul.
There is a fifth phrase, "[Then Moses and the Children of Israel sang this song] to G-d and they spoke, saying, 'I shall sing....' " (In this phrase, the letters Elul are found in reverse order.) This phrase uses the future tense, for it refers to the Era of the Redemption and the Resurrection of the Dead when mankind will sing a true song of rejoicing to G-d.
Elul gives us a chance to experience a foretaste of this state. When we take time off to really think of who we are and what we should be doing with our lives, we should take the time to appreciate the wide-ranged picture.
Never should we be so involved in the details that we are unable to appreciate the fundamental nature of our relationship with G-d. And as we contemplate the true picture, we can appreciate how the concept of redemption is not a dream of a distant future, but a reality that is progressively unfolding before our eyes. Nor should we remain idle observers, but instead spread this awareness to others and in this manner hasten the time when its truth will be openly apparent to all.