[RBS] Is it Elul or Something?

[Jonathan and Shoshana Shooter]

The following is a chapter from my book 'The Spirit of the Seasons', that is 
relevent for Elul. To order this (60 nis)or any other of my other books, 
email back for details.

Get Ready

Rav Chaim of Brisk would relate the following parable. There was a 
businessman who made some illegal purchases, and was trying to smuggle them 
across the border. He hired a wagon driver to take him over to safety. The 
businessman was extremely tense and nervous about the risks involved. As the 
journey began the wagon driver was quite calm, he was used to this run, but 
as he got nearer the border he too felt anxious. Only one was untroubled and 
calm throughout.the horse.

The Lekach Tov cites the following. During the days of the Soviet regime a 
man was walking on his way. Suddenly a car pulled up next to him and a man 
jumped out and bundled him into the car. 'You have been arrested for crimes 
against the state, you will soon appear in court' declared the man coldly. 
Terrifying thoughts raced through the man's mind. What did the regime have 
in store for him - trumped up false charges, would they accuse him of 
spying, would he be sent to Siberia for years? The man was terrified, what 
would be with his family? Eventually the car stopped and the driver got out 
of his seat and came round to sit next to him. 'I know that you are a Jew, I 
am also a Jew. You thought I was bringing you to the ruthless courts of this 
country. What I wanted you to realise is that Rosh Hashana is fast 
approaching and you will soon be judged by Hashem. You should know what that 
fear should be like.' The man breathed a big sigh of relief, 'If it's only 
the judgement of Rosh Hashana then things aren't so bad. I was terrified 
about my fate had I been judged in front of man, but with the judgement of 
Rosh Hashana, with Hashem's help everything will be alright.' This story 
reflects a sad message for us. We would be terrified in front of human 
judges, but the judgement of Hashem doesn't seem to disturb us.

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein says that afflictions of the body and of the spirit 
have similarities. The most dangerous situation is when a sick person doesn't 
even know that he is sick. When a person knows he is ill he will seek out 
the cure, but if he isn't even aware of it, then he will only get worse, 
before he begins the process of getting better. The same is true with 
sickness of the spirit. When the person doesn't know of his illness, he is 
in great danger. This is the worst type of affliction, when the heart of a 
person is closed and he is blind to his spiritual situation. Yet this is our 
situation, we are sick but we don't even know it. The proof, says Rav 
Yeckezkel is that the days of Elul are no different to us than the rest of 
the year, that is a true sign that we are spiritually sick and in need of 
help.

The Chofetz Chaim was once overheard saying to himself 'Yisroel Meir, today 
you are 84, and you still haven't done teshuva. What will be with you?' 
Tzaddikim claim they have many sins, whilst Pharaoh said 'please forgive my 
sin just this time' (Shemos 10:17). Pharaoh was claiming that he only had 
one sin. This was in spite of all the sins he had. Everyday he slaughtered 
300 Jewish children to bathe in their blood, he cruelly enslaved the Jews to 
death, but in his eyes he only had one sin, and he was even claiming that it 
was a chet, an inadvertent sin. Rav Yaakov Naiman says that when one wears a 
silk garment, then the slightest stain shows, however when one is wearing a 
sackcloth, the stains don't show. When a tzaddik sins, because of his 
purity, he does teshuva immediately to remove the stain. Those who are far 
from Hashem, with soiled clothes, don't notice their sins. They hold they 
are righteous and can't see what's wrong. The truth is that if a person were 
to examine all of his actions, he would soon realise that he was stumbling 
most frequently, not guarding his eyes, not watching hisspeech, uncontrolled 
lusts, falsehoods, stealing etc.

Not Lasting
The Chasam Sofer asks why is it that after Yom Kippur is over we easily slip 
back into our old ways? What happened to all we resolved to do on Rosh 
Hashana? He answers that whilst we focused on adding more good things to our 
lives, we didn't spend time exorcising out our bad traits. When one sows in 
a field of weeds, it will not yield a good crop. When we fail to even begin 
uprooting our spiritual impurities, we will not reap the benefits of our 
additional mitzvos.

Rav Binyomin Moskovits cited Rav Leib Chasman and asked what was the 
difference between Avraham and Lot? On the surface they actually looked and 
seemed to act the same? The answer is that Avraham first removed the bad 
side that was within him, and then did good, therefore his good was pure and 
lasting and he went higher and higher. Lot however, did good, but he never 
exorcised the bad that was inside him and he ended up going downwards, even 
choosing to live in Sedom. Therefore all his good was done whilst the 
darkness was still within him. This idea explains many things, you have 
someone who is known as a Baal Teshuva, yet he still has the same rotten 
middos as before, never having worked to exorcise them. He took on mitzvos, 
but never changed his inner being, therefore the good was superimposed on 
the bad. True teshuva is not about adding externalities, rather one has to 
change ones inner-self.

We say in the month of Elul 'To Dovid, Hashem is my light and my salvation' 
(Tehillim 27:1). 'My light' refers to Rosh Hashana, whilst Yom Kippur is 
called 'my salvation.' We understand that Yom Kippur is a saviour to us, yet 
why is Rosh Hashana called a 'light'? Rabbi Pinchos Roberts says that every 
Jew has a spiritual mission to fulfil, to learn Torah and do mitzvos to 
bring honour to Hashem. All other activities are thus of secondary 
importance.

If we live with this ideal, then we may merit the World to Come. However 
Hashem has created the Satan, whose role it is to try and make a Jew forget 
his true purpose in this world, and lose sight of the correct priorities. 
The Satan entices him to focus more on matters of materialism and luxuries, 
so that before long man believes that this is his mission. Yet this is 
false, the Satan has just created an illusion for us to stumble upon. Rosh 
Hashana is a light, which causes the darkness and visions of the Satan to 
disappear. The rest of the year is spent in darkness, we are caught up 
chasing after what seems right, the good life. Yet on Rosh Hashana, when we 
stop and examine our lifestyle, we see life and death in front of us, and 
reconsider the way we have been living until now. We begin to question; have 
we been living our lives correctly, have we missed the whole point of life? 
Are we only working for this world, without a thought for the world to come? 
That is why Rosh Hashana is called a light, the light of truth seeps through 
and the deception of the Satan fades away. Let us endeavour to let this 
light affect us, the only one who does not take heed of the danger . is the 
horse.