The Month of Elul

Elul is the month of Divine mercy and Teshuvah, the graceful preparation for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The Alter Rebbe gives the famous parable of the King in the field: before a king returns to his palace he passes through the fields, and there anyone may approach him, and he receives them all with a shining countenance. So too in Elul, the King — the Master of the world — is accessible to every person with a smiling face. The name Elul is an acronym of 'Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li,' I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine. The avodah of the month is to answer that closeness with a genuine accounting of the soul and a return to one's truest self.