Powerful Days of Elul By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

The days of Elul are extremely powerful. After Bnai Yisroel transgressed with the Chet Ha’Egel, the Sin of the Golden Calf, and the Luchos were broken, Moshe Rabbeinu had to ascend to Har Sinai and daven for Bnai Yisroel to be forgiven. He went on Rosh Chodesh Elul and remained there for forty days until the tenth day of Tishrei, Yom Kippur, which signified the completion of the kapparah. It was at the end of this period that Hashem told Moshe, “p’sul lecho shnei luchos avanim karishonim – care for yourself two tablets of stone, like the first ones.”

The Tanna D’Bei Eliyahu tells us that the Bnai Yisroel fasted all the days that Moshe Rabbeinu went up on Har Sinai. On the fortieth day, Yom Kippur, they fasted day and night. Therefore, Yom Kippur has remained a day of kapparah forever. This period of forty days are deemed yemei ratzon – days of favor – and possess a unique power to evoke the midas harachamim – the Divine attribute of mercy. On each day that Moshe Rabbeinu was away, the Bnai Yisroel sounded the shofar in the camp so that they would not repeat their mistake in counting the days.

In commemoration, we too have the custom of blowing the shofar during the month of Elul, excluding Erev Rosh Hashanah when we do not blow in order to mark the difference between the tekios of Elul and the obligatory tekios of Rosh Hashanah.