Elul - The King is coming! He is in the field! Let's get ready!

   *I neglected to post this at the beginning of Elul but I guess better late than never....*

~ The month of Elul ~

During the month of Elul, the month preceding the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, we begin preparations for this special mo'ed(appointed time) by repairing relationships, bridging gaps between our fellow, and seeking forgiveness from those we have wronged and of course extending that forgiveness to those who have wronged us during the past year.

 It's a time to take stock of our life and seriously evaluate where we are in our service to the Creator. Are we just going along to get along? Have we gone deeper in our relationship with Him? Am I truly being an obedient servant, or do I retain my control by choosing to obey certain things in the Torah and purposefully neglect other instructions? Am I coasting?.....It seems only appropriate that "Elul" means "search" doesn't it? 

Another interesting fact that I learned in prior years is that the spelling of the word "Elul": aleph, lamed, vav, lamed, is the acronym for "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li," "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine," Mashiach is truly our Beloved who we wait to come and receive us as His bride. With this in mind Elul can be thought as our preparation to meet our bridegroom and King. Let us be diligent to be ready for His coming, with repentance and clothes without spot.

 ...and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 

-Isaiah 62:6

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. - 2nd Kefa 3:14

"Believing that the "beloved" refers to God, the sages take this verse to describe the particularly loving and close relationship between God and Israel. Elul, then, is our time to establish this closeness so that we can approach the Yamim Noraim, or Days of Awe[the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom HaKippurim], in trusting acceptance of God's judgment. We approach the trial not out of fear, but out of love."

 - The Month of Elul: Leading into the High Holidays by Rabbi Dr. Reuven Hammer 

~ Customs During Elul ~

 The Shofar - One of the most common customs of the month of Elul is the sounding of the shofar after the morning prayers. Rambam(Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon) explains this is to serve as a wake up call, a reminder to throw off our slumber and complacency and do teshuva(literally: change direction, or turning around). However it is not blow on the Shabbat or on the day just prior to Rosh Hashanah( to distinguish between the custom of blowing during the month and the biblical mitzvah to blow the shofar on the day of Rosh Hashanah)

Mikvah(Immersion) - The mikvah represents a change of state. It could be anything from the change from tamei(unlcean) to tahor(clean) to marking a change of heart or will (teshuva/repentance) it's the latter that Yochanan the Immerser was conducting(or more accurately - "witnessing") during the day of our Master Yeshua. In like manner those who placed their faith in Yeshua as Mashiach underwent mikvah in his name. You could perhaps say this acted as statement to those witnessing that you were accepting Him as your master, putting yourself under his authority and accepting his yoke.

The Tehillim - Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (founder of Chassidic Judaism) began the custom of reading 3 of the tehillim(Psalms) everyday starting on the 1st of Elul and continuing until Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur the remaining 36 psalms are recited to complete the reading of the entire book of Psalms. In like manner Psalm 27 is read daily following the shacharit/morning prayers.

No matter what customs you keep during this Elul I hope that they will inspire you to answer the call to repentance and be inscribed in the book for a good and sweet year to come!

More on Elul

http://www.jewfaq.org/elul.htm