The reverberating call of the month of Elul

Rosh Chodesh Elul is this coming Sunday and Monday. And as of Monday the sound of the shofar will once again be heard across the Jewish world. The high holy days are indeed upon us.

Tradition has it the month of Elul is the opener to the high holy day sea- son. Not only do we blow the shofar, but in all our synagogues there are additions to the prayer services while Sephardi communities commence recitation of Selichot.

The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, the shortened version of the Code of Jewish Law, is a very dry manual of religious practice. As a general rule, laws are stated briefly and succinctly. There are no sources in the text, let alone midrashic explanations.

However, there is one significant exception. Chapter 128 commences with a lengthy introduction giving a historical basis for the month of Elul and the high holy days being a time of repentance and forgiveness.

Those 40 days represent the third of three 40-day periods spent by Moshe Rabbenu on Mount Sinai, which culminated in his descent on Yom Kippur carrying the second set of tablets, thereby symbolising the forgiveness of the nation.