A Few Words on Elul

 About a month ago, Ovadia sent me a text.

There is going to be a full Kiddush this week in shul for Shabbos Mevarchim Elul, it said. Your presence would be most appreciated.

Would you perhaps say a few words?

So I did, and shared a teaching from the Baal Shem Tov, which I connected to the month of Elul and the approaching Days of Awe. Here is a loose reconstruction.

The Talmud says that the Jewish people are more beloved than angels. Angels are always praising God, but in shifts. Some get to praise God once a day, some once a week, some once a month, some once a year, some once every seven years, and some every 50 years. And some get to praise Him only once, period.

Likewise, some angels are allotted only three words of praise ("Holy, holy, holy"), others just two words ("Holy, holy"), others only one ("Holy"). Some angels praise God indirectly, extolling His traits, such as His glory or His kindness; others, even less directly, extol His name. Some angels sing full verses, others only partial verses. It's a coordinated symphony, but regimented.

But the Jewish people can sing to God all they want, whenever they want; any time, any day, any place. The Jewish people can praise God to their hearts' desire.

That's the Talmud. The Baal Shem Tov deepens it with an analogy. 

A king's ministers approach him with trembling and trepidation, fearful that they might catch the king at a bad time; in ill humor, out of sorts, or before his afternoon nap. The king has a lot on his royal plate, and is in no mood for nonsense (not to mention the chopping block in the dungeon, just a few floors below, down the marble stairway). Whatever the ministers have to say, therefore, they make it fast.

V'hinei! says the Baal Shem Tov, the king's son is wholly unworried about any of this. For even if the king is upset, the sight of his beloved son, without a doubt, washes all troubles away and fills him with a sweet, sweet surge of unconditional love, joy, and delight. (A couple of our grandsons, I added, an analogy within an analogy, are now old enough to ride their bicycles to bubby and zaydy's house, and when I hear the knock and open the door, and see those smiling faces, I know exactly how the king feels.)

I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me. This verse, the books say, is the love song of Elul. We say it, and God says it.

We just heard how God feels when He says it. And you know what, we feel the same way about Him.

(Adapted from Keser Shem Tov, 245)