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
There is a beast inside. It awaits a human soul to tame it.
Start with meditation and prayer, because that beast inside needs to experience something beyond itself.
But in prayer and meditation you have not yet met that beast on its own ground.
So next, eat your breakfast like a human being is meant to eat—a step higher than the food you consume, raising it up rather than letting it pull you down.
Then, yes, you have met your human beast on its own ground. But not on its own terms. You are still fighting against its desire to be pulled down into its food.
So then go out into the world and provide goods and services of value, and do that with integrity. At this point, the beast says, “You’re on my territory now, and on my terms, Mr. Soul. I’m the one who knows this game.”
Now you can no longer fight against the human beast. You have to work from within it, with all the talents and skills it has. Because if you don’t, you won’t be providing the value for which others are paying. And that is not integrity.
That is why the very first question asked of the soul when it returns from its mission in this world is not “Did you pray?” but “Did you do business with integrity?”
For that is when you truly made your dent in this vicious world.