by Moshe Kempinski
Elul 4, 5769,
The old city of Jerusalem during these evenings is awash with people. They arrive in large groups. They arrive with their families. They arrive alone. They do not come as tourists. They are not here to tour any location. They are not here to see anything.
They are here to feel and listen.
During the days of Elul and Tishrei each individual soul undergoes a spiritual voyage that is unparalleled in its intensity and awesome in its implications. It is in the month of Elul that we begin again the courtship with the Beloved. The Hebrew letters that make up the name Elul are also the first letters of the verse, Ani Ledodi VeDodi Lee - "I Am My Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine."
This powerful verse comes from the ultimate love poem written by King Solomon as beautiful allegory of a love story between the infinite and the finite. The great sage Rabbi Akiba declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is holy of holies." (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5) It is clearly an allegory, as the young maiden and her beloved keep changing roles. At times, he is a shepherd, at times a king; and the young maiden keeps changing as well just as the people of Israel do.
During the month of Elul, then, thousands of Israelis of all walks of life find their way into the Old City of Jerusalem. Especially in the late evening or early morning, the people make their way towards the Old City like love-stricken lovers. The late hours at the Western Wall sound and look like midday hustle and bustle. Everywhere you turn, you see people in prayer or simply standing in awe. A people living out the verse Ani Ledodi VeDodi Lee - "I Am My Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine" - sometimes without even being aware of it.
Yet, that verse from that sanctified poem of love and relationship, when literally translated, becomes somewhat confusing. Ani Ledodi Vedodi Lee really translates as, "I am entering into the month of betrothal to their ultimate, Divine Beloved. As a result, one individual after another continued to volunteer to help carry that part of the broken wagon through the long trek around the Temple Mount walls. They were individuals in love, and love means constantly moving forward, towards the beloved. They, the sons and daughters of Abraham, were driven forward just as their ancestor was bidden to go forth.
That is the deeper meaning of the verse Ani Ledodi VeDodi Lee - "I Am My Beloved's and my Beloved is Mine." The relationship is defined by the constant move towards - "I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me".
When we returned after the long walk, we saw a Western Wall plaza awash with streams of Jews of all sorts, filling its every available space.
The Jewish people, whether they are consciously aware of their relationship with G-d or not, are driven by an inner call to "come towards". That is their eternal strength; and with that we enter the betrothal month of Elul.
