The Yeshivah "Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch", the first to integrate the "revealed" part of Torah (Talmud and Halachah) with the esoteric teachings of Chassidism in a formal study program, was on this date founded by the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn.
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
A gift is a gift, but a gift to one in need is an investment, a seed planted in the ground.
Hidden beneath the earth, a seed decays to nothingness. Yet out of that nothingness it unlocks the endless, transformative power of the earth: The power to reproduce.
The seed germinates. A delicate sprout breaks through the earth’s surface. In time, it will grow and mature to provide many thousands of fruits and seeds like itself. And that process will replicate itself, theoretically, ad infinitum.
A seed ignites the power of the earth, but a gift of kindness seeds the very ground of the cosmos—for out of Divine Kindness the universe emerged, of Kindness it is built, and with Kindness it is sustained and nourished.
And what are the fruits for those who seed kindness? G‑d’s kindness. Beyond infinite, yet here for you in this world.
Invest kindness in those who are in need. The fruits of your investment will be beyond wonder.