How important is it to refine our character and work on our midos? The Vilna Gaon (1720-1797), in Even Sh’leimah, writes that if we are not actively working to refine and perfect our midos, what is the purpose of our living?
Over the past Three Weeks, we have focused on the brachos in Shemoneh Esrei that ask for the rebuilding of Yerushalayim, the sprouting of Mashiach, and the return of the Sh’chinah to Zion.
The month of Elul is a great gift of love from Hashem. The four Hebrew letters of the month of Elul are used to provide us with an understanding of what this great month of opportunity is all about. Perhaps the most well-known one is “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li (I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine).” The first letter of each of the four words together spell the letters in the Hebrew form of the word Elul.
We are within the Three Weeks, where we turn our focus to mourning the loss of the Beis HaMikdash. The deeper aspects of what we mourn are the following: