Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he provides inspiration for the upcoming month of Elul.
We are about to begin the month of Elul, which God gave us to sanctify and elevate ourselves before the Days of Judgment, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This special status of the month of Elul began when Moses ascended to heaven to ask God for forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf and to give the Israelites another Two Tablets.
Before Moses ascended to heaven, he warned the Israelites not to make a mistake again like the first mistake they made. During the entire month of Elul, the Israelites did their utmost to increase their holiness and purity. Our sages say that they spent those days in great remorse and with broken hearts, not knowing whether Moses would succeed in obtaining God’s forgiveness. Would God give them the Torah again? They blew the shofar as evidence of their heartbroken and remorseful mindset.
Blowing the shofar has a profound ability to express what is inside a person. To blow a shofar, a person blows out the air inside of him. This inner air exhaled outward, so to speak, symbolizes bringing our hearts to the fore and crying out to God that we feel regret and asking for forgiveness. Our inner hearts ask for forgiveness from God for what we did. This is the deeper meaning of blowing a shofar.
The Israelites cried and prayed every day during the month of Elul that Moses would succeed in his mission on their behalf. On the fortieth day, which was Yom Kippur, God said to Moses, "I have forgiven as you asked." (Deut. 14:20) God accepted the remorse and repentance of the Israelites and from then on, this day was hallowed for that purpose. "For on this day He will make atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord. You shall purify yourselves." (Leviticus 16:3)
God agreed on Yom Kippur and gave the Israelites another set of Two Tablets, and since then, the month of Elul has become a symbol for a time for repentance. During the same period of the year that Moses was in heaven, and the children of Israel wept and prayed and demonstrated remorse and begged God to give them another set of Two Tablets and a second chance after everything they did, all generations utilize this time for the same purpose.
The second Tablets of the Covenant were not like the extremely sublime first Tablets. The verse says about the first Tablets, "And the Tablets were made by God, and the writing was God's writing, engraved on the Tablets" (Ex. 32:16). The first Tablets were given by God whereas concerning the second Tablets, God told Moses, "Hew two Tablets of stone for yourself like the first ones" (Exodus 34:1). Moses had to bring the Tablets with him and ascend with them to heaven and then they wrote the Ten Commandments on them, which was far less sublime than the first Tablets created by God.
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to bring down the Torah at the time of the Giving of the Torah, these were the holiest moments that the Israelites had ever experienced. They reached the supreme level that existed when God created man before he sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. The body of Adam before he sinned was as holy as an altar.
The Gemara says (Sanhedrin 59b): the snake saw that the angels were roasting meat for Adam and giving him wine and it envied him. How was Adam eating meat when it is known that animal meat was only permitted to be eaten during the times of Noah? So what kind of meat was Adam eating? Since Adam was like an altar, the meat he was served was similar to the special meat God will serve the righteous at the End of Days when the Messiah comes and He makes a feast for them.
Adam lived on a lofty spiritual plane similar to the Israelites who ate the manna, the “bread” of the ministering angels, whose taste changed according to whatever food one wanted it to taste like. Having no cravings or urges of hunger and thirst, Adam was like an altar and whatever he ate was like a sacrifice offered on the altar. Once he sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he ruined everything. He lost his status of being an altar and became a being who has cravings and a desire to eat and drink. The world lost its specialness and holiness.
But God granted atonement and forgiveness both for the sin of the Tree of Knowledge and for the sin of the Golden Calf. Even though God forgave the sin of the Golden Calf, its rectification was not yet complete. God did not erase the sin of the Golden Calf, but put it aside. Similarly, when Adam sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, God did not forgive and ignore his sin. God put it aside but death came to the world.
From then until now, in every generation, everything that happens to a person in his life and all the struggles he has to deal with, is part of rectifying Adam’s sin and the sin of the Golden Calf which were put to the side but were not erased. The rectification is still not over and every Jew must do his part to correct his sins. When a Jew does this and pushes himself to correct his actions and behavior, his virtue is great and he corrects not only his private sins, but also the sins from ancient times that need rectification in order for the full Redemption to come.
May we merit during these holy days of the month of Elul to correct all our sins and rise to the greatest and highest spiritual achievements we are capable of.