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
Without miracles, we might come to believe that the laws of physics define reality. Once we witness the inexplicable, we see that it’s not a closed system, that there is a higher reality.
And then we look back at physics and say, “This too is a miracle.”
The miracle of a small flask of oil burning for eight days was this sort of miracle. The combustion of oil and oxygen generated light, and yet the quantity of oil did not diminish.
Then there are those small miracles that occur every day, those acts of synchronicity we call “coincidence,” because in them G‑d prefers to remain incognito, leaving all the laws of nature intact.
Indeed, that is an even greater miracle, that G‑d can achieve whatever He so desires non-invasively, as though He weren’t even there.
These were the sort of miracles the tiny band of Maccabees saw in their battles against the mighty Greek army. They fought bravely, but in their hearts they knew a great miracle happened here.
So too, when we open our eyes and hearts, we ponder those everyday coincidences and we awaken to the realization that there is truly no place void of this wondrous, unlimited G‑d.