The Yeshivah "Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch", the first to integrate the "revealed" part of Torah (Talmud and Halachah) with the esoteric teachings of Chassidism in a formal study program, was on this date founded by the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn.
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
Joseph’s brothers called him a dreamer. Jacob chided him for sharing his dreams, but took them seriously. Pharoah called Joseph, “One who knows a dream to interpret it.”
Jacob and Pharaoh were both closer to the truth. Joseph was not living in a dream. He was untangling it.
The dream is the world of human business, a mess of incongruent opposites in utter discord, seemingly void of meaning.
Joseph’s brothers retreated from the dream to the stillness of the pasture and the starry night sky. They scorned Joseph, who seemed obsessed with counting, managing, and organizing everything about him—whether in his father’s house, in Potiphar’s estate, in an Egyptian dungeon, or as viceroy of Egypt.
But in truth, Joseph stood beyond the dream.
So far beyond, he was able to envision all its disparate parts in harmony, as a patchwork of many colors in a single garment.
So far beyond, he did not need to run from the dream, because he knew it could not harm him.
So far beyond, he was capable of entering the confusion of the dream without losing his vision, rearranging its parts from within.
Today, we are all Joseph. We must rearrange the dream from within.
As you enter the dream each day, enter with divine purpose—to discover G‑d in all your ways and make this world His dwelling place.
Hold tight to the wisdom of the Torah you have learned, and to the mitzvahs you keep. They are your needle and thread to sew the many colors of humanity into a beautiful world.
Master the dream from within.