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
Worry is the opposite of faith. It is the worship of the forces of nature, the power of illness, the dynamics of the market, the belief that these and mortal beings are the masters of your life.
Faith is the inner knowledge that there is really nothing else but His abundant love. It is the conviction that you have only one Master, and His love to you knows no bounds.
And that if you cannot see this love, it is because it is such awesome love, it flows to you in ways far beyond your comprehension.
If so, when His caress seems harsh, embrace it with joy. When His kisses pour down in a torrent beyond your capacity to endure, open wide.
Perhaps He is carrying you higher, closer, far beyond your tiny cell into a vast palace of blinding light. Because He desires your closeness.
Perhaps He is cleansing your body and soul, your universe and all it contains, finely tuning them to resonate with His infinite presence.
Open your heart, your mind, your soul, and all entry to His Infinite Light.
The relentless forces of nature, the pain of the body, the vicissitudes of the market, the angry power of human beings—your eyes will open and they will dissipate into oblivion. For they are nothing more than channels of endless love from an infinite G‑d.
This is happiness: Life with Him alone.