Elul

This year, the Jewish month of Elul begins at sundown on August 10, 2010.

Elul is the month leading up to the High Holidays of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. The name “Elul” comes from the acronym of “ani l’dodi v’dodi li” (alef-lamed-vav-lamed), which translates to a verse from the Song of Songs 6:3. “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.” The word “Elul” also means “search” in Aramaic, thus the name of the month has a double meaning. The Aramaic meaning is especially apropos because it is a time of introspection and repentance.

As Jews prepare for the High Holidays, there are specific traditions and rituals that are performed during Elul. Traditionally, the shofar is blown after the morning services, with the exception of Shabbat services. The shofar is a call to repentance. The shofar blasts are designed to awaken sleepers, in the spiritual sense, and inspire them to begin their period of contemplation.

Elul is also the time Jews begin the process of asking forgiveness for the wrongs they have done to others. We must ask forgiveness from those we have harmed before we can seek forgiveness from G~d. In the process, Elul is a time that one contemplates his own mortality. Many Jews visit cemeteries to remember their loved ones.

Tisha b'Av and the Three Weeks of Mourning

Tisha b’Av in the year 2010, begins at sundown on Monday, July 19 and ends at sundown on Tuesday, July 20.

Tisha b’Av (the 9th day of Av) is the saddest day in the Jewish year. It is day of communal mourning, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, in 586 BCE and 70 AD, respectively. Other major disasters that affect the Jewish people are also often remembered on this date.

Tisha b’Av is a major fasting holiday and is a “long fast” running from sundown to sundown. In 2010, Tisha b’Av falls on Tuesday, July 20. The fast, thus begins at sun down on Monday, July 19 and continues through sun down on Tuesday, July 20.

The period leading up to Tisha b’Av is known as “The Three Weeks”, known as bein hametzarim in Hebrew. The Three Weeks begins on the 17th day of Tammuz. The 17th day of Tammuz is a “short” fast day, when one fasts from sun up to sun down. Some Jewish communities observe the mourning customs during the entire bein hametzarim. Mourning observances and restrictions that signify mourning include :not wearing leather shoes; avoiding tending to one’s physical appearance, such as bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; and abstaining from sexual activities. One often sits on low-stools, or on the floor, another custom of mourning.

In addition, joyous events, such as weddings would never be scheduled during this three-week period. Some people also refrain from participating other forms of entertainment, such as listening to music or going to theater.

At the evening synagogue service on Tisha b’Av, the Book of Lamentations is read aloud. The ark is covered in black.

Other events that are said to have occurred on Tisha b’Av include:
- The edict of 1290 by King Edward I ordering the Jews of England to leave the country.
- The expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 by order of the Spanish Inquisition under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
- The beginning of World War I.
- In 1942, the deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began.

Lashon Harah ~ The Evil Tongue

Words are very powerful. They have the power to build up and the power to destroy. Judaism is very conscious of the power of words to destroy, so much so that there is a term for destructive words – Lashon harah, or the Evil Tongue. Lashon harah destroys three people – the speaker, the listener, and the target of the words.

The harm done by speech is considered even worse than stealing. Material goods can be replaced. Words, once spoken, can never be retracted.

One of my favorite Chasidic tales explains the dangers of Lashon Harah: An old woman went about telling stories and lies about her neighbors. After doing so for many years, she began to feel bad and went to the Rabbi for forgiveness. The Rabbi told her to go take her best feather pillow, cut it open, and throw the feathers to the wind, then return to him. She thought this was a strange request, but she wanted to atone for her ways, so went out and did as the Rabbi instructed. After she had completed this task, she went back to the Rabbi for further instructions. The Rabbi told the woman to go back out, collect all the feathers and return them to her pillow. “But, Rabbi,” cried the old woman, “that’s impossible! The feathers are all gone!” “Aha!” said the Rabbi, “your words are like the feathers. Once they leave your lips, they cannot be retrieved and you have no control over where the words will land.”

Talmud teaches that the tongue had the power to be so dangerous that it must be kept hidden from view ~ behind the protection of two walls, the lips and teeth, to prevent its misuse.

Mezuzah

The word "Mezuzah" is Hebrew for "doorpost." It is also the term used for the little case that many Jews place on the right side of the entrance to their homes. A mezuzah may also be placed on the doorpost of any internal rooms of a home as well, with the exception of the bathrooms. One will also find a mezuzah on the entrances of synagogues and Jewish schools, as well as Jewish-owned businesses.

The Mezuzah contains a scroll, which if it is a kosher scroll, will contain a handwritten verse of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4~9) and the passage from Deuteronomy 11:13~21.. The Shema (which is Hebrew for "Hear"), is the biblical passage in which G~d commands us to keep His words in our minds and hearts by placing them on the doorposts of our homes. Because the first letter of the Shema is Shin, a Shin generally is found on the mezuzah.

In Askenazic tradition, the mezuzah is placed at an angle on the right side of the doorpost as one enters the room. Placing a mezuzah on a new home is a small family ceremony, called a Chanakkat HaBayit (which means the dedication of the home). The following blessing is recited before the mezuzah is affixed to the doorpost:

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
Asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu lik'bo'ah mezuzah.

Blessed are you, Lord, our G~d, sovereign of the universe
Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to affix a mezuzah

Every time one pass through a door with a mezuzah on it, one touch the mezuzah and then kiss the fingers that touched it, expressing love and respect for G~d and his mitzvot and reminding oneself of the mitzvot contained within them.

When a Jewish family moves, and a non-Jewish family moves into the home, the mezuzah should be removed. If a Jewish family moves into the home, then the mezuzah may remain on the doorpost.

Matzevah: Unveiling of the Tombstone

Matzevah is Hebrew for "tombstone" or "headstone." In Judaism, the tombstone is generally placed on the grave sometime after the burial. When the tombstone is placed on the grave, it generally done at a special unveiling ceremony. The dedication of the tombstone can be done at any time between Sheloshim, the first thirty days of mourning after the burial, and the anniversary of the death. The unveiling cannot take place during Pesach.

A cloth covering the tombstone is removed from in the presence of family and friends. A brief service at the dedication includes the reading of several psalms, often the 23rd Psalm, the Mourners' Kaddish, and the El Maleh Rachamim prayer.

The tombstone generally bears the Hebrew letters "pe" and "nun", which stands for "here lies buried." At the bottom of the tombstone, are the five Hebrew letters "tav", "nun", "tzadik", "bet", and "he." These letters stand for the phrase "May his/her sould be bound up in the bond of life eternal."

It is customary to leave a small stone on the tombstone. The origin of this custom is not known, but it may date back to Biblical times when bodies were buried beneath piles of stones. Today, the custom is a reminder that someone has visited the grave.

Yehuda Amichai ~ Israeli Poet

Yehuda Amichai (May 3, 1924 – September 22, 2000) is one of Israel’s most beloved Hebrew poets. Because he was the first to write poetry in modern Hebrew, his influence in Israeli literature is enormous.

Amichai was born Ludwig Pfeuffer in Wurzburg, Germany. He grew up in a traditionally Orthodox family. As a young boy, and as Hitler was rising to power, his family made aliyah to the Land of Israel, which was then under the British Mandate. Later, he became active in the pre-cursor to the Israel Defense Forces. He fought in World War II in the British Army in the Jewish Brigade.

Amicha’s poetry touches Israeli life and issues. His poems often reflect the conflict of the secular and the religious.

Amachai died in 2000 at age 76.

Below is one of Amachai's poems.

Wildpeace

Not the peace of a cease-fire
not even the vision of the wolf and the lamb,
but rather
as in the heart when the excitement is over
and you can talk only about a great weariness.
I know that I know how to kill, that makes me an adult.
And my son plays with a toy gun that knows
how to open and close its eyes and say Mama.
A peace
without the big noise of beating swords into ploughshares,
without words, without
the thud of the heavy rubber stamp: let it be
light, floating, like lazy white foam.
A little rest for the wounds - who speaks of healing?
(And the howl of the orphans is passed from one generation
to the next, as in a relay race:
the baton never falls.)

Let it come
like wildflowers,
suddenly, because the field
must have it: wildpeace.


Translated by Chana Bloch

Shavout

Shavout is the Feast of Weeks and is celebrated seven weeks after Passover. The word "Shavout" means "weeks", and the holiday is so named to denote the time lapsed between Passover and the holiday. Shavout marks the end of the counting of the Omer. Biblically, Shavout is one of the three pilgrimage festivals. In Exodus, the holiday is called Hag HaKatzir, or the Festival of the Harvest. In Numbers, the holiday is referred to as Hag HaBikkurim, or the Festival of the First Fruits. Both names emphasize its importance as an agricultural festival.

Passover, Counting of the Omer and Shavout are all interconnected by the ancient agricultural practices. The omer ~ the sheath of barley ~ was planted at Passover and came to fruition 50 days later ~ on or about Shavout.

Today Shavout is associated with the giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. This connection originated following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., when the Rabbi’s in exile linked the Shavout holiday with the revelation of Torah to the children of Israel. Tradition holds that all souls were present when G~d revealed Himself to Moses. Traditionally, the megillah of Ruth is read during Shavout to commemorate her presence during the Revelation. Ruth is Judaism's most famous convert. The Ten Commandments, as found in Exodus, are also traditionally read aloud during synagogue services on Shavout.

The synagogue is decorated with flowers for the Shavout holiday to mark the beginning of the harvest season. Jews also often stay up all night studying Torah, beginning at sunset at the beginning of Shavout.

Dairy foods are the traditional foods that are eaten on Shavout.

In 2010, Shavout begins at sunset on Tuesday, May 18.