Elul: The Month of Wings, Mercy, and New Beginnings

The season of Selichot has arrived. The air itself seems filled with the fragrance of repentance, purity, and renewal. This is Elul — the Month of Mercy.

The Kabbalists teach that God's desire to create the world first emerged during the month of Elul. Although the world itself was created on Rosh Hashanah, the Divine will to bring creation into existence was awakened in Elul. Because of this, these days are infused with the energy of new beginnings, with a desire to illuminate the world and fill it with both spiritual and material goodness.

You too, are a small world unto yourself.

Within you awakens the same desire — to fill your own world, and the world around you, with goodness. To shine. To heal. To cleanse. To clear away what no longer belongs, so that you can once again experience your own personal Bereishit — a fresh beginning, pure, clean, and renewed.

Elul Is Wings

Elul is wings. It is the ability to soar higher, to rise above limitations, to flee from wrongdoing, and to detach from everything that distances us from our true selves.

Elul is the longing to open a new page and begin again.

The Midrash tells a fascinating story about the verse, “The sons of God saw the daughters of men” (Genesis 6:2). According to the Midrash, these "sons of God" were angels who descended from Heaven. One day, they saw a virtuous young woman and desired to draw close to her.

But the young woman responded with a condition.

“If you want to come near me,” she said, “give me your wings. You have wings, and I want wings too.”

The angels agreed and handed over their wings.

The moment they did, she spread them wide and flew away.

She fled from sin and ascended higher and higher. The Midrash relates that she rose so high she reached the Throne of Glory itself. God saw her courage and purity, spread a great cloud over her, and established her among the constellations.

She became the constellation of Virgo — the Maiden.

Virgo is the sign of the month of Elul.

The Cost of a Moment's Desire

What happened to the angels?

For the sake of a fleeting desire, they had surrendered their wings.

Without them, they could no longer return to Heaven. Only years later, according to the Midrash, were they able to ascend again by means of Jacob's ladder.

The story carries a powerful lesson.

A moment of temptation can cost us our wings. A moment of spiritual courage can give them back.

Finding the Goodness of Elul

The Bnei Yissaschar points out that the zodiac sign of Elul is Virgo, represented by a woman. King Solomon writes in Proverbs, “He who finds a wife finds goodness” (18:22).

The Bnei Yissaschar explains that when a person discovers Elul — the month symbolized by the maiden, they discover goodness itself.

Elul is a month in which goodness pours down from Above. The air feels cleaner, the world feels softer, and heaven feels closer.

Anyone can sense it.

There is a fragrance of new beginnings in the atmosphere. If you have not yet noticed it, open a window and breathe deeply. Let yourself inhale the spirit of Elul, the scent of renewal, hope, and return.

The journey of Elul is ultimately a journey home — a return to the truest version of yourself, to the light within you, and to the One who has been waiting for you all along.

Adapted from the pages of "Shirat HaLev"