The final month on the Hebrew calendar is Elul. The Jewish people know it as a time of preparation for the new Hebrew calendar year that begins on Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the new month of Tishrei, the first month of the new Hebrew calendar year. That means Rosh Hashanah is the first day of a new calendar year when the number of the year changes. The current year of 5782 will change to the year 5783 on September 26, 2022.

It's easy to get confused about “the Jewish New Year,” because there are other New Years that represent Biblical and agricultural newness each calendar year. But the first one to learn and remember is Rosh Hashanah, which always occurs in the Fall season, in what many of us would call the “last quarter” of our familiar, annual calendar year beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of 2022, for example.



One striking difference between Elul, the final month on the Hebrew calendar, and December, the final month on our familiar calendar is what most of us are thinking about, what we are doing, and what we may be spending money on. The Jewish people have three things they are remembering and doing during Elul, preparing for Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of a new Hebrew calendar year.

Three Important Things For The Jewish People During Elul

Here are the three things the Jewish people are encouraged to think about and to do during the important month of Elul, written in transliterated Hebrew and in English translation:

1)      Teshuvah – The most common English translation of Teshuvah is “repentance.” There is much more to it in the life of a Jew, but it starts with taking stock of our lives, looking at our choices, knowing we can change for the better, and consciously making changes for the better.

2)      Tefilah – The translation of Tefilah is “prayer.” Once again, there is much more to this word and this concept in the life of a Jew, but it starts with thinking about and praying to God regularly. During Elul, this prayer includes praying about changing our lives for the better by becoming a better person in the new Hebrew calendar year.

3)      Tzedakah – The most common English translation of Tzedakah is “charity.” Of these three words, Tzedakah is the one that represents the greatest difference to the meaning of its simple, English translation. It represents a Jewish person’s desire to give and to contribute time, energy, and knowledge, as well as money to worthy causes.

Elul is a time of reckoning, of contemplating the past year and planning for the new year to come. Elul is a wonderful time to gather our thoughts and recent memories and then use them to build our fresh, new year in a conscious way through our Teshuva, Tefilah, and Tzedakah.