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Suddenly the magnitude of Elul is here, and I find myself struggling to fit in all the learning and preparation that this introspective month demands. Furthermore, it’s in the middle of the summer and not so long after the “3 weeks.” What’s going on here, what’s the connection? Couldn’t we have a break just a little longer?

All year round the chagim (festivals) focus on the community. Pesach we left Egypt; Yom Haatzmaut we got Israel; Yom Yerushalyim we got Jerusalem; Shavuot we got the Torah; Tisha B’Av we lost our Temples; Sukkot we dwelled in Sukkahs in the desert; Chanukah, Purim and Yom HoShoah we survived after our enemies tried to destroy us, etc. But Elul, it seems, is entirely different. It’s a time for the individual. Each and everyone of us must reflect upon our year, make changes and draw closer to Hashem. This process climaxes on Yom Kippur when our sins are hopefully atoned. Why should Elul (and Yom Kippur) be any different from the above?

In the time of the Beis HaMikdash (the Holy Temple), Yom Kippur was equally communal as it was individual. The Kohen Gadol would confess upon the goat (the seyir hamishtaleach) Israel’s sins as a Nation and it would get sent away. According to Rambam in Hilchot Teshuva 1:5-6, however, it would only atone for major sins if Teshuva (repentance) was also performed otherwise it would just atone for minor sins. Already here, we have the individual connecting himself and influencing the community.

In our times though, we may view Teshuva as entirely dependent upon the individual. Yet Rav Soloveitchik* adds a very important point. First the individual must repent and then Hashem will not only forgive us as individuals but as a Nation. This is reflected by our vidoy (confession) service on Yom Kippur where we first confess our sins privately and then the Chazzan with the community will confess together. Indeed, our individual repentence provokes communal atonement.

For me, this is a very opportune time coming not long after the 3 weeks. The 3 weeks brought with it a great sense of unity as the whole nation mourned together. With this strength we are taken into Elul where we do all we can to improve ourselves and serve Hashem, enabling each and every individual to contribute their personal teshuva to the overall atonement of the community.

Let the fact that we can influence the community’s atonement, as well as our own, to return wholeheartedly to Hashem in prayer and tzedaka (charity), bringing about the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash.

*From his sefer Al HaTeshuva, heard here