Elul Sicha

THE MONTH OF ELUL

The Most Important Month of the Year

The month of Elul is a very important month. Since it is the last month of the year, Elul is our chance to correct whatever was amiss in our behaviour during the year that went by. This is why we call Elul "חוֹדֶשׁ הַחֶשׁבּוֹן", the month of accounting.

Multiple Choice

Elul is a very ___________________ month

• Important

• Common

• Simple

Multiple Choice

Since Elul is the last month, we can use it to…….

• Relax

• Correct our behaviour

• Make sure we have all the Matza we need

Multiple Choice

What title does Elul have in Hebrew?

• חוֹדֶשׁ הַחֶשׁבּוֹן

• יוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן

• חֹדֶשׁ הַגְּאֻלָּה

Multiple Choice

What title does the month of Elul have in English?

• The month of accounting

• the month of redemption

• The month of freedom

What does it mean to make an accounting? When a businessman wants to find out how his business is doing, he goes over his records and asks some important questions: Are my products selling well? How many expenses did I have? How much did I earn? How can I improve my business?

Multiple Select

What does a business person ask themselves when they make an accounting of their business?

• Are my products selling well

• How many expenses did I have

• How much did I earn

• How can I improve my business

• Why am i wasting my time doing this

We, too, must look back at the year that has gone by and ask ourselves some important questions: Did I do all of Hashem's mitzvos as they should have been done? Did I learn all the Torah I could have learned? After making an honest accounting, we may realize that we need to improve in some areas of Torah and mitzvos. We must try very hard to correct what needs to be corrected.

Multiple Select

What are some questions we should ask ourselves in the month of Elul?

• Did I do all of Hashem's mitzvos as they should have been done?

• Did I learn all the Torah I could have learned?

• Did I eat enough ice cream this year?

• Did I make enough money this year?

Multiple Choice

What should we do when we realise that we have something we must correct?

• Try hard to correct it!

• Forget about it

• Don't let it bother you

Besides looking back at the past year during Elul, we are also preparing ourselves for the new year that is about to begin on Rosh Hashana.

Rosh Hashana is the head of the year. It leads the whole year, just as the head leads the body. On Rosh Hashana we crown Hashem as our King. Accepting Hashem's authority over us on Rosh Hashana has an effect on the whole year to come. But in order to crown Hashem as our King on Rosh Hashana, we must first prepare ourselves during the month of Elul.

Multiple Choice

What does “crowning” Hashem mean?

• To accept Hashem's authority over us

• Making him a crown

• Learning Torah

Multiple Choice

When do we need to prepare ourselves for Rosh Hashana?

• During the month of Elul

• All year

• During the month of Tishrei

It is for this reason that Elul is the most important of month of the year. In this one month, we can make up whatever was missing in the year that has gone by and prepare ourselves for the year that is about to begin.

Multiple Select

Elul is the most important month, since:

• We can make up for what we missed in the past year

• We can prepare ourselves for the upcoming year

• It says so in Gemara

• It is the last month of the year