Elul

Found 21 Search results

1. The Lord is My Light and My Salvation

   Psalm 27 - L'David Hashem Ori ve-Yishi

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   Psalm 27 can be divided into two parts, each part representing opposing points of view. The first half expresses a religious position of absolute trust in God, untainted by doubt while the second half expresses the psalmists anxiety and lack of confidence. Can the mizmor be read as one unified text nonetheless? What is the significance of presenting these two views side by side in one psalm?

2. Mizmor 27

   Rabbi Avi Baumol

   Mizmor 27 relates the constant struggle between absolute faith in God and uncertainty due to enemies leaving the poet with a "single" multifaceted request: to bestow upon him the glory of God, in all aspects of his life, to certify that his enemies will no longer detract from his uncompromising faith in his savior.

3. The Inconsistent Nature of Man

   Rabbi Avi Baumol

4. He Who Answered Avraham – He Who Answered Yitzhak

   HaTanakh.com Staff

5. He Who Answered Yaakov at Beit El

   HaTanakh.com Staff

6. He Who Answered Yosef in Prison

   HaTanakh.com Staff

7. The Lord is My Light and My Salvation (Psalm 27)

   Rabbi Yitzhak Bart

8. The Duality of Man's Stance before God

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

9. He Who Answered Our Ancestors at the Sea of Reeds

   HaTanakh.com Staff

10. He Who Answered Moshe at Horev

    HaTanakh.com Staff

11. The Power of Repentance - Ahav's Teshuva

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

12. He Who Answered Shmuel

    HaTanakh.com Staff

13. He Who Answered Yona

    HaTanakh.com Staff

14. He Who Answered Hizkiyahu

    HaTanakh.com Staff

15. He Who Answered Yehoshua

    HaTanakh.com Staff

16. The Path of Repentance throughout the Tanakh

    Elisheva Brauner

17. “From the Depths I Call to You” – Psalm 130

    Part 1

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    More often than not, biblical poetry is written in the form of prose and not in poetic form. Nonetheless, in order to understand the content of a psalm, one must determine its poetic structure. Psalm 130 can be divided into 4 stanzas and a concluding line which is both separate and integral to the rest of the psalm. 

18. “From the Depths I Call to You” – Psalm 130

    Part 2

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    The expression “from the depths” connotes “deep water”, and this is a metaphor for the dire straits in which the worshipper finds himself. The psalm describes a person who is praying because he feels that he is about to drown; thus, God’s aid is a vital and immediate need.

    The “depths” in which the worshipper finds himself, and from whence he called to God, are a metaphor for his sins.

    However, the great distress which the worshipper suffered in stanza a. is eased somewhat once he has given thought, in stanza b., to the well-known truth that “with God is forgiveness." Now he is certain that God has indeed heard his voice and has listened to his supplications.

19. “From the Depths I Call to You” – Psalm 130

    Part 3

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    The Psalmist draws a comparison between the hope for God’s appearance and the anticipation of the night-watchmen for the dawn illustrating emotional stress and insecurity, God’s “hidden” state, and the tremendous significance of God’s revelation.  

    The command to Israel, at the beginning of the final stanza comes as a surprise. The first three stanzas of this psalm are stamped with the individual personality who stands before God, waiting and hoping for Him. From this point forward, the individual worshipper is included amongst all of Israel, and his own waiting and hoping becomes part of theirs. His confidence in God’s response to them now includes himself. With regard to the nation, there is no doubt as to God’s positive response, bestowing His kindness of forgiveness and redemption from sins.

20. “From the Depths I Call to You” – Psalm 130

    Part 4

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    The Psalm reflects a gradual, dramatic process of hope for a two-way relationship between man, who seeks deliverance from his sins, and God, with Whom reside forgiveness, kindness and redemption. This two-way relationship does in fact exist, as described in the psalm, at different levels in the worshipper’s consciousness, but it is not yet manifest in the external reality.

    The analysis of this psalm highlights its appropriateness to the Yom Kippur experience and the inner process that the worshipper undergoes, from the somber Kol Nidrei until the closing Ne’ila prayer.

    At the start of this holy day, a person is bent and broken, mired in the depths of his sins. He begs God to listen to his desperate cry.

    The prayer service inspires and encourages the worshipper: God is waiting for his repentance and will certainly forgive his sins.

    As the time for the Ne’ila prayer arrives, and the sense that our prayers have indeed been heard on high grows firm, the synagogue is enveloped in tense anticipation: we await God’s positive response. This answer is not uttered explicitly, but the certainty of its existence accompanies the congregants to their homes. 

21. Chagai's Rosh Chodesh Elul Teshuva Derasha

    Shani Taragin | 4 minutes

    In this short shiur, Rabbanit Shani Taragin focuses on the first chapter of Haggai. Haggai tries to urge the returnees to Zion to recognize that God is in their midst and that it is time to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash. On the first day of Elul, Haggai turns to the people to look at their past actions and begin a process of transformation. He tells them that they can still change their fate for the coming year.