What should you know about the month of Elul 2025? The Gaon Hinoka after the third meal in front ...

2:52 He had no connection at all to this world. So that is what is meant — that he was not here. He was there for the Jewish people, to teach the Jewish people Torah. But this had already begun from the bush. The new thing began from the bush. It is just that after he received the Torah and came down to the Jewish people, he had already, as it were, remained in Heaven. But from the bush on, he no longer had the mashcha d'chivya. But when he went up on high, then he was, as it were, turned into an angel.

3:19 Like Eliyahu HaNavi, remembered for good. That is why to this day no one knows where Moshe Rabbeinu's burial place is. No one knows. The avodah that I recommend to everyone now — you know that these days are very holy days. In Chesed LaAlafim, by Rav Papo, it is written that saying Tikkun Chatzos is of greater virtue than the Selichos.

3:48 First of all, this should shake the world — that, baruch Hashem, people [unclear] in saying Selichos, but it is very important to be careful about Tikkun Chatzos as well. It is very, very, very important to remember the destruction of our Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, our glory — a great virtue — "and you have surpassed them all." So whoever is awake for Selichos should be careful to say Tikkun Chatzos as well, to look to this and be careful about it, for the virtue is very, very great. - What should one do here about it?

4:13 - The question is where you joined that minyan. It depends whether you already have a minyan that has started. You know, sometimes they wait for a minyan to arrive — use that time: sit on the steps of the heichal, the holy ark, sit and say Tikkun Chatzos there. If you see they have already begun saying Selichos, say the Thirteen Attributes and so on together with the congregation, and afterward say Tikkun Chatzos. Because the whole virtue of Selichos, they say, is that a person does teshuvah with the many — its virtue is much greater. When people do teshuvah with the many — in Tractate Yoma, page 86, in the name of Rabbi Meir: when a person did teshuvah, he and the entire world are forgiven.

4:47 An individual who did teshuvah — he is forgiven. Here, many are doing teshuvah. You are taking part in the teshuvah of the many — the virtue of the teshuvah is much greater. Wait — when you do teshuvah with the many, Now, another very important thing for every person, for each one of us who reflects in these days — What was it you asked?

5:15 - What is the path the Rav recommends for the avodah of these days? All of Elul, until after Yom Kippur. - But there is one more thing I wanted to point out: notice, when we pray with the many — do you know how many blessings we are blessed with, without noticing? I'll give you an example. When we pray we say: "Grant peace, goodness and blessing upon us and upon all Israel, Your people," right? So when one says "upon us" — once you are praying in a minyan that has tzaddikim and holy people in it, then when they say "Grant peace, peace, goodness and blessing upon us and upon all Israel, Your people," "upon us" — you are blessed by the fact that he says "upon us."

5:48 You know? There was once a story with the Ateres Tzvi of Zidichov: someone wanted to receive a blessing from him, and it was very hard to receive his blessing in Zidichov. So he wanted to pray with him in a minyan, and he had this in mind: when he said "Grant peace, goodness and blessing upon us and upon all Israel, Your people" — he said: with "upon us" he has in mind everyone who is with him. So he wanted to have in mind to be included in his "upon us," so he would pray with him. We say "Bless upon us," "Bless us" — when people pray with the many, they are already blessed in the minyan they pray in. This was also the practice of Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna, when people would come to him —

6:19 from Bushtina — the first Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna — so he would bless the public as part of all those praying. In prayer with the congregation, all those praying together are blessed too. That is why there is a great virtue in it. And especially to be careful about prayers with the congregation — and the bigger the minyan, the more blessed it is. Baruch Hashem, the blessings rise and grow finer, and also the whole congregation that prays together — then the virtue is even greater, doubled and redoubled, and a greater blessing is drawn down upon it from Heaven.

6:49 There is a very, very great virtue in this. Now, as to what you asked: I recommend saying Tehillim, I recommend saying viduyim and teshuvah — for whoever has the Shaar Naftali, which I printed, he can read the Shaar Naftali, what I printed. It is very, very lofty, and I strongly recommend saying teshuvah precisely now, and doing teshuvah as quickly as possible. I recommend to everyone — let each one take a sheet of paper and a pen and write down — right from Rosh Chodesh Elul, even from tonight already — write down all his iniquities, all his sins, all his transgressions, everything he stumbled in during the year, everything he was hoping for from the Holy One, blessed be He, to have — to do teshuvah as quickly as possible, and when Rosh Hashanah arrives, he is not rushing to do teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah.

7:32 And I will explain to you: the important teshuvah — the time to do it is Erev Rosh Hashanah. On Erev Rosh Hashanah we do not say vidui — pay attention. Erev Rosh Hashanah is already — the revelation of the Yom Tov begins already from the Shacharis prayer in the morning. In the Shacharis prayer of Erev Rosh Hashanah, vidui is not said. We do hataras nedarim, the annulment of vows, the annulment of curses; we pray, go to the mikveh, get a haircut, change clothes; everyone wears white clothes, joyful, and so on, because we are joyful that we are winning the judgment.

8:02 Now, whoever wants to come and be on a higher level and prepare himself more — then the greatest virtue is that he does teshuvah much earlier — that is, even right on Rosh Chodesh Elul. I have already said: do teshuvah "behind a lion and not behind a woman." "Behind a lion" is the month of Av; do teshuvah behind the lion, and not behind the woman — whose mazal is the maiden — that is Elul.

8:27 So be careful to do teshuvah precisely at this time. But whoever did not do teshuvah in the month of Av, and did not finish the Shaar Naftali in the month of Av, and did not do the viduyim — then he has the opportunity to do it now — the more, the more praiseworthy. Exactly, that's it — this Shaar Naftali, you see? This is what I printed. - But how many pages? - Shaarei Teshuvah is possible, yes; there is mussar and there are viduyim. One can do something else: one can say psalm 25 and psalm 51.

8:53 Psalms 25 and 51 are psalms that have very, very great teshuvah in them, and in Nefilas Apayim, when psalm 25 is said, one must be very careful, for a person who does not have kavanah in it — Rabbi Avraham Chamui writes in his sefer, Yemalet Nafsho, that one who does not have kavanah while saying it can pass away before his time, Heaven forbid. He can arouse an accusation against himself, that he will pass away before his time, so one must be very, very careful about this.

9:19 So if a person says Nefilas Apayim without kavanah — one must be very careful about this; people were very careful about this. As the Magen Avraham wrote, and so on; that is why the Ashkenazim do not fall on their faces — the caution in this matter. But one must be very careful with psalm 25 when saying it. Now, whoever wants to merit doing teshuvah says psalm 25 and psalm 51. Being careful in this is a very, very, very important thing, and through it one does teshuvah.

9:43 And of course all the other piyutim, the Selichos, the important things — one should say them, the piyutim too — one may skip; there is no problem with saying them; whoever wants to say them, let him say them; whoever doesn't may skip; but the main thing is the true teshuvah that a person should do, as is written in Sefer Chasidim, siman 256, as Rabbi Yehudah HaChasid wrote in Sefer Chasidim. But whoever wants to do even more teshuvah, and also say the piyutim, and also say the Selichos, and also say everything together — may blessing come upon him.

10:14 Let him say it all — whoever wants, whoever can; I don't know — each one according to his strength and his abilities. But the most important thing is to do as much teshuvah as possible now, so that when the week before Rosh Hashanah arrives, the person knows: I have confessed before Hashem for everything. And then, when the week before Rosh Hashanah arrives, he does teshuvah on the teshuvah; he already says: Hashem, forgive me that I did not confess properly, that I did not do teshuvah properly. We must understand that this is a judgment in which a person is judged for life or for death; everyone is judged on this day.

10:43 And it is not a judgment on the whole year, but a judgment on all the years. The Holy One, blessed be He, can bring up some iniquity or sin from 30 years ago and 20 years ago and 10 years ago, and bring it to judgment on the day of Rosh Hashanah. So one must do teshuvah; there truly is a great and awesome judgment, in which all created beings are judged — for life or for death, for health or for illness, for livelihood, for healing — everything; all are judged.

11:09 "He Who fashions their hearts together, Who understands all their deeds" — on this day. And in one more month — one more month from today — we have this Day of Judgment. So in this month we have an opportunity to do teshuvah. Each one knows his own afflictions, takes upon himself more good resolutions, is careful about lashon hara — to stop lashon hara, to protest against those who speak lashon hara, to do teshuvah, to do good things, to give tzedakah, to do kindnesses, acts of lovingkindness, to do more of the things that will bring a person to be better, purer, and to come close to the Holy One, blessed be He.

11:44 Of course — these are the times, and this is the important time. One must understand this. And of course I recommend — it is very, very, very important — to take a sheet of paper and a pen and write down all the sins, the iniquities and the transgressions, so that a person even goes with it on Erev Rosh Hashanah, when it comes — he will be permitted to say this vidui that he wrote himself, and not the regular vidui. That is, to take a sheet of paper and a pen and write down all the sins, the iniquities and the transgressions that a person is accustomed to all year, what he sins in and is not properly careful about: that he did not pray with a minyan; I did not pray at sunrise; I did not get up for sunrise; I did not merit to keep Shabbos according to its law;

12:21 I grew distant from You, blessed be You; I did not learn Torah; I neglected Torah days and nights — to truly do teshuvah, to do teshuvah for all the sins, all the transgressions — that a person did not learn Torah, did not keep Shabbos, was not careful about things — to do teshuvah, to write down all the sins, all the iniquities, all the transgressions that he is accustomed to, to bring this, to say it every day in teshuvah, to ask of Hashem. On Erev Rosh Hashanah, when we will be forbidden to say vidui and Nefilas Apayim, the vidui that you wrote by hand — that you should say.

12:50 That is, after the Shacharis prayer, the person sits by himself, in seclusion — and there is a very important virtue to the private vidui that a person says every Erev Rosh Hashanah in his own words. It takes all the iniquities out of all of a person's bones. One does this vidui up until close to midday. When midday arrives, the vidui in the person's own words, by mouth, is over. This is very, very important, and it brings about the loosening and the forgiveness of all the iniquities of the whole year, until the person becomes clean.

13:21 What? I mean: before midday of Erev Rosh Hashanah, to finish the private vidui. This is called marei d'chushbena, a master of the accounting — Zohar, Korach, page 178a — what a person does before going to sleep, he does in detail on Erev Rosh Hashanah, before midday. From midday on, he says nothing. - Is it worth also adding to the vidui here the work on one's character traits, [unclear] the service of Hashem?

13:46 - Say the work on character traits. Say what the person knows — all the bad that is in him, all that is not good — he writes it down. You can write it on a computer, on paper, by fax, in whatever way you have of writing. The writing causes a person, first of all, to pray about it; and second, that he will have a more personal vidui, for the things he is accustomed to and sins in more, so that he will truly know to confess and feel regret for it. Because if a person now does teshuvah for things that speak less to his heart — he does not stumble in forbidden foods; he does not eat pork and does not eat...

14:25 but he brings pork out — he speaks things that are more severe. It's possible, no problem; this is the time. Erev Rosh Hashanah is the time to ask about everything that is not good, about everything you want to be in the year that is coming upon us for peace. Whoever prays with us knows that I have a special prayer that I composed, in which we also declare our intent and make a condition about all the things we did not practice properly, and so on; we also make a protest and a declaration of intent.

14:58 It is worth reading it. Apparently before Rosh Hashanah they will distribute it to people so they can pray it, print it. It is worth saying, for everyone who prays, wherever he prays — the prayers that I composed for Rosh Hashanah. It is very, very important. People who say it feel salvations — that it is truly a different world; their Rosh Hashanah is a different world. Because it is a moda'ah, a notice, and a declaration of intent about Rosh Hashanah, that whether a person practices them properly or does not practice them properly — there I brought all the practices, what one must practice on this day — and the person declares his intent that on this day, on the strength of this prayer, he has fulfilled his obligation in everything.

15:34 And then, as it were, he has read it and he casts himself upon Hashem — and however Heaven deals with him on this day. I have done my part; I declared my intent as to how one should act on this day, what I want there to be. Beyond that — it is not my will, not my intent. And this way he can be less tense, and the dread of the judgment will not be upon him so that he falls into anxieties. Because it is also very dangerous to fall into imaginings and thoughts of Rosh Hashanah.

16:00 - [unclear] can you write and say so much... - I say again, I say once more: I recommend to everyone, today, Erev Rosh Chodesh, to take a sheet of paper and a pen, to write down such and such and such — everything a person is accustomed to that is not good; he sits and writes down his sins, his iniquities, his transgressions — all of it he writes on one side. On the other side he writes everything he hopes will change: in character traits, in desires, in learning, in doing, in finishing Shas, in Torah learning, in rising higher — where he wants to move forward.

16:33 All the virtues, all the levels. He writes this down. On Erev Rosh Hashanah... every day, from today — every day he should say the private vidui, in addition to the great vidui that is said. If now, at Selichos, you come to the Kotel, you say it at the Kotel; tomorrow you do Selichos, on Tuesday, Wednesday you do Selichos — you put the private vidui into the great vidui in the saying of Selichos, so that you already confess along the way for everything, so that by the time you reach Erev Rosh Hashanah, at least thirty times you have confessed your sins and your iniquities, the private transgressions that you sinned in.

17:09 - To really specify the sins? - Yes, to specify the sins and to confess them. And on Erev Rosh Hashanah, in the morning... - On Shabbos too? - On Shabbos it is not said. - Like 25 and 51 that the Rav mentioned — can't they be said on Shabbos [unclear]? - They can be said, yes. They can be said, no problem. If a person intends to say it with great kavanah, he can say it. Of course — I say: like the Yismach Moshe, who would confess on Shabbos — he would do vidui on Shabbos too. If a person feels that he is passing away, or if a person feels that he is going to his eternal home, or feels that any moment he... then "all who are put to death confess" — Yoreh De'ah, siman 338, se'if 2,

17:45 in the Shulchan Aruch. One can say vidui, there is no problem at all, because the person feels that he is passing away. But not every person feels, at this level, that any moment he is going up to Heaven. The tzaddikim, like the Yismach Moshe — on every birthday he would go to his grave and say the Tehillim there, holding some [unclear] that he had sewn for himself, and he would go down into the grave, say a few psalms every year, and come up. That is what he did on his birthday. The Yismach Moshe. So if you — if we today are on levels like that... I tell people not to go into these things; these are practices of tzaddikim.

18:16 There is no need to think that way; move forward, think good, be joyful in doing, in joy, with "strength and gladness in His place." The question is whether now, on Shabbos, one can say it. So one can do it. Now, I say — as quickly as possible: whoever did not do teshuvah in the month of Av — I spoke about this, about doing teshuvah in the month of Av, so that when Rosh Chodesh Elul arrives, a person has already done all the viduyim. Whoever was here before — I spoke about this back on Rosh Chodesh Av.

18:41 So that is how I instruct everyone to practice — the students, everyone: from Rosh Chodesh Av until Rosh Chodesh Elul, to finish the viduyim and everything. So whoever did not do that should do it now. Starting from Elul, one says three psalms of Tehillim; in Chabad the custom is to say three psalms; some have the custom of four psalms, some have the custom of one psalm — to say them every day, and this way they will finish the Tehillim several times before Rosh Hashanah and before Yom Kippur.

19:08 That too is worthwhile. - Can one finish it before Rosh Hashanah? - Yes. Also in the Ten Days of Teshuvah, until Hoshana Rabbah. Until Hoshana Rabbah it is not over. From Hoshana Rabbah the judgment is over — that's it. But it is very important that this private page of the person's — I will tell you why one must keep it: for Erev Rosh Hashanah. Remember: on Erev Rosh Hashanah vidui is not said; in the Shacharis prayer in the morning vidui is not said; one takes this private page and says it before midday.

19:41 Before midday the person sits and secludes himself with Hashem at this time and says: Here is everything I am accustomed to — such and such I sinned, such and such I transgressed before You — he says this vidui, his private vidui. As soon as his own words come — this conversation, as he secludes himself before his Maker, before the Holy One, blessed be He — he tells Hashem all the ordeals that he went through all year, he tells the Holy One, blessed be He, everything he went through all year, he tells the Holy One, blessed be He, how much he would want a new year, to walk in a new path, to believe that it is possible to change, to repair.

20:14 See how many times the Holy One, blessed be He, has acted with great kindness, giving us a new opportunity. Pay attention: once a year we have Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Seemingly it should have been the other way around. See what a kindness Hashem, blessed be He, did with us. He should have made for us the day of Rosh Hashanah — He would have made for us — the Day of Judgment He would have made also as, like, Kippur; Rosh Hashanah — He would have made them together.

20:39 How many allowances, as it were, He makes: Rosh Hashanah, the judgment. Fine — if that is not all right, here, you have until Kippur. Fine — if that is not all right, you have until Hoshana Rabbah. In Chasidus, with Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin, it is written: even until Chanukah — with Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin. Zos Chanukah — so fine, it is not over. You have much to do, but you have several allowances. Now, more than that: every day you have — you have an opportunity to repair yesterday.

21:05 What happened yesterday? You repair it the next day. You have the possibility of repairing the day from the middle of the day. If the day began not as it should, midday arrives — a renewal: you can repair it from midday; you repair it. Like a person who did not fast and wants to fast — he continues to fast; he does not say to himself: Well, I ate, I erred, the fast is gone. He fasts from the moment he remembers; he continues his fast. Erev Shabbos atones for the whole week.

21:31 Erev Shabbos arrives — all of a person's iniquities of the whole week are forgiven; he is forgiven, he rises in level — Shabbos. Rosh — Erev Rosh Chodesh arrives; as the holy Shelah writes, when a person prays the Musaf prayer of Erev — of Rosh Chodesh, all his sins and [unclear] of Av, of the whole month, are forgiven him. The whole month is atoned for; there are no iniquities. So now, the month of Elul — in the Rosh Chodesh prayer, pray with kavanah; it atones for the whole month of Av.

21:56 So whoever knows of things that were not good in the month of Av erases it completely — all the sins, all the iniquities — and it can be done there; he prays with kavanah. With kavanah he does teshuvah; he intends to confess before Hashem: forgive me, atone for me, pardon me. Now, we are still in Shabbos, we are still at the third meal; but when we pray the Arvis prayer — the Arvis of Motza'ei Shabbos, which we will say now — pray it with kavanah; it lifts up the whole month of Av, all its prayers that one prayed, because it is the last prayer.

22:28 - How's that? - You pray with kavanah, you think of the Holy One, blessed be He, you think of the meaning of the words, you direct your heart to Heaven — that is all. Simple. One prays, directing himself to the Holy One, blessed be He, keeping the meaning of the words in mind, being careful, closing the eyes, not opening the eyes. It is written in the Zohar, Va'eschanan, page 260b, that one who opens his eyes, Heaven forbid, will not die by the death of the kiss, and he is brazen-faced, he is insolent, for he gazes toward the holy Shechinah.

23:03 And so he will see, Heaven forbid, the angel, after he passes away; and in return for this he will not merit to behold the pleasantness of Hashem, because he opens his eyes during the prayer. Even... so close your eyes; since you are praying, close your eyes, or keep your head in the siddur, and have the meaning of the words in mind, and pray with kavanah; understand what you are saying. The Divrei Chaim of Sanz said that the chazzan's repetition — one who concentrates during the chazzan's repetition, it will help him to have concentration, with Heaven's help, in his learning.

23:30 There are those who do not know the greatness, the importance and the segulah of the chazzan's repetition: it helps and sharpens a person's memory and his learning and his understanding. For right when a person, during the chazzan's repetition, prays, he repeats it — then the power of a settled mind and of learning that he receives is far higher. So there is very great importance to the repetition, when a person repeats the prayer. - It is best to say it either at midnight or at midnight.

24:02 If your custom is to say Tikkun Chatzos and Selichos, and you also say the morning blessings alone, without the blessings on the Torah, at midnight, and you put some reminder for yourself in the siddur that 'I have said the morning blessings,' and you put a bookmark so that the siddur starts from the blessings on the Torah — then that is the highest level. That is, say the declaration of intent there, and then, whatever happens that day, you know that you made the moda'ah, the declaration of intent. That is the best.

24:27 If not... - After? Can it be before, or can it be after? - It makes no difference. But it is very important. Now, even if a person goes to sleep, it makes no difference. But if you have now got up in the morning and you say the morning blessings and the blessings on the Torah, then put the declaration before you, the moda'ah and declaration of intent, and say it, so that it counts for the whole day.

24:52 It is very, very, very important to make the moda'ah and declaration of intent. It removes a great many troubles and a great many problems from a person. To deliver a moda'ah and declaration of intent to Hashem. - Where is the free choice? What is one to do teshuvah for? - I don't understand. - When Hashem did, does and will do every deed, what is the free choice over? He does everything, He did everything. - Teiku.

25:29 When Mashiach comes we will know the answer to that. 'And Yours, my L-rd, is kindness, for You repay each man according to his deeds.' Everything is from Hashem, blessed be He. Look, whether there is free choice or there is no free choice — when Mashiach comes. According to the Rambam there is free choice. And according to the verse, 'And Yours, my L-rd, is kindness, for You repay each man according to his deeds,' there is free choice. And a person must be responsible for his deeds, and give thought, and give an accounting, for everything in which he acted improperly.

25:59 It is simply that, where there is no free choice — Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin explains that the choice and the will are more in a person's thought. More in steering your will. That is, in deed a person somehow has to take the responsibility, but the choice is in the will. For sometimes a person — a person is judged: why did you want this, and not want that? That such and such a thing came your way — it came your way. 'I wanted to pray with a minyan.' The car got stuck, the person got stuck on the road, he did not pray with a minyan.

26:26 But as for the will — he did want to pray with a minyan. So in Heaven they will judge the will: that he wanted to pray with a minyan. But in actual deed, he did not pray with a minyan. - In the will you do have a choice? - How's that? - In the will you do have a choice? - In the will, do you have a choice? Yes. You have a choice in thoughts [unclear]. Yes? You cannot incline your thought? You do not control it? What do you want to think? Someone is pressing that thought on you? No — but it is you who thinks. You think; you can incline the thought.

26:53 So there are no two thoughts — thoughts cannot be there together. You can, by your will, incline the thought to the right or to the left. You can think good thoughts, and then you say to yourself, 'No, forget it, my situation is not good' — you start thinking bad thoughts and you fall into sadness. Or you say, 'Why should I think that? I think good — I, only good.' You turn your mind away from the bad thoughts. Sometimes there is a surge of bad thoughts that really confuses a person, and here he goes through a trial and a war — and on the contrary, the Alter Rebbe explains that he is at a great level, for he goes through 'and you shall guard yourself from every evil thing'; he rises and is uplifted, he overcomes his inclination,

27:31 so he refines himself, he goes up a level, he goes up a storey; he overcomes his inclination, so he will be given reward for it — so let him rejoice, even though he has a trial. It is a good thing; there is no need to be alarmed by it. But the main thing is that a person not think bad thoughts; and it is in a person's hand to rule over his thought, with his will. The most important thought for a person to think is any thought that brings him to yearning and longing before Hashem, blessed be He, for that is the most important thing.

28:01 When a person is always thinking of, craving and longing for Hashem, blessed be He — those are the thoughts and the desires, the choicest things, that the Holy One, blessed be He, wants from a person. For this whole world was created so that a Jew should come and yearn, crave and long for Hashem, blessed be He. Look at the created beings today. They have all kinds of foreign and fallen loves. Is a person allowed to show extra affection to his sons and daughters in the synagogue? Why? Not to show it — so that there is no other affection before the Omnipresent.

28:28 There is none — I love only Hashem, blessed be He. The house of Hashem is the house of Hashem. One still has to reach such a level that this holds in the whole world, that even when he is outside the synagogue, he can show affection to the children — [unclear] — but he will always remember the love of his Maker. 'And you shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart.' There is a beautiful discourse in Likutei Halachos, Hilchos Arev, halachah 3, by Moharnat; there he writes of the greatness of the will and the craving and the yearning and the longing that the holy soul has for Hashem, blessed be He.

28:58 Every soul among us has a great longing for Hashem. Look now at what Jews are doing here: standing, walking, crowded together like this. They want Hashem, blessed be He. They want to come close to the holy King. They want Hashem, they want to hear the word of Hashem, they want to learn Torah, they want to pray. The souls press together; they do not care now about material things — sleep, eating, drinking. They sit on the floor, they move about, they want to hear Hashem. This shows the root of the souls of Israel, that they are a holy nation and the souls are holy, and they want the King.

29:28 So this desire for the holy King is revealed in this will, and in the end this is what tips the scale to the side of merit. For now these days are coming, the days of judgment and justice, when many tzaddikim — it is the custom of tzaddikim to say Tehillim; they would say Tehillim, the whole of Tehillim every day. There are those whose custom was to say the whole of Tehillim every day in the month of Elul — every day the whole of Tehillim. A fast of speech, more hisbodedus, the graves of tzaddikim, travelling to pray. The month of Elul is the month of mercy and forgiveness; it is a month that we use to come close to the King.

29:58 This is important. It is the Day of Judgment. In another month there is a judgment in which a person is judged for life or for death; it is no joke. How many people do you see who were here, and are not here today, this year? A person is truly judged for life or for death. The Holy One, blessed be He, looks at the case. They say: 'Nu, here is So-and-so son of So-and-so before You.' And then the holy King asks: 'Nu, what does he do?' They tell Him: 'Here — yes, livelihood again, this again, that again.'

30:22 'What change is there in him since last year? What has he done before Me? How is he changing? Is he still crying "Give me, give me"?' In Tikkun 6, on page 22, in the Tikkunei Zohar, it is written about those who ask for children, life and sustenance — all the time they want livelihood; they do not ask about the King. So it is like 'hav, hav' — a dog that cries 'hav, hav.' One must ask for livelihood too, for everything too. But as Rabbi Elazar HaKapar said: 'Whoever joins the Name of Heaven to his distress, his livelihood is doubled' — to ask also of Hashem, blessed be He, for aims — to ask of Hashem, blessed be He: 'I want to do teshuvah, I want to come close to You, holy King'; to ask the King for the good things,

30:57 the requests that will bring me close to Him, blessed be He. And of course to do teshuvah and everything. And then the person is judged, and they say: 'Nu, look at what he is before You.' And then they say: 'Look, here — he did teshuvah, he is coming close, he wants You, he wants the revelation of Your kingship.' 'Good, he has aims, he has aims; even in what he does with his money he has good aims. Leave him be.' If there is a person — the same thing, the same year, the same thing; every year he arrives, swaying like this, with no change in him; he takes no resolutions upon himself, he does not truly regret his deeds, he thinks he is the most righteous, he is the best, he does not truly understand the place he is in —

31:34 then they can, simply, in one light moment, over even some small thing — that is the fear on Rosh Hashanah. A small thing can tip a person toward death. A small thing. That is why one must do teshuvah. A small thing, something really — a person may make light of some small mitzvah — something small can tip the scale to the side of merit, and something small can tip it to the side of guilt; the other way too — that is, it can also tip to the side of merit, and the person will be saved. That is why we do teshuvah in these days: to be upright, to be good, to do acts of kindness, to change, to take good resolutions upon ourselves — all these things that a person does and lives by.

32:13 To be careful, to do good things, to be careful with mitzvos, not to make light [unclear] of mitzvos. And you know the story of Yissachar of Kfar Barkai, who worked with gloves — in Tractate Pesachim, on page 57 there; several times in the Shas. So the Gemara says that he spoke about the meat of a kid goat. When the king and the queen were sitting, and said: which is finer? The meat of a lamb — as the queen said — or a kid goat, as the king. And then he made a gesture with his hand, and they cut off his hands. For he used to work with gloves: it was not fitting for him to touch the meat and the fat and the blood.

32:47 You are serving, you are ministering in the holy — you do not despise mitzvos; you eat in holiness, you use... you do mitzvos before the Holy One, blessed be He; being particular about the Torah, that a person keeps the mitzvos, values holiness. So — rather, to be a person who lives the mitzvos, lives holiness, to value it as the most precious and exalted thing in the world. When a mitzvah comes, when a prayer comes, something of Hashem's — that is the greatest thing in the world.

33:12 Nothing is of greater importance than that. For that, too, he was punished. As it were — not to show that there is something more important than this. There is nothing more important than the Holy One, blessed be He. There is nothing more important than touching mitzvos and the word of Hashem. It is the most exalted and the highest thing there is in this world. This privilege, to pray — the time of prayer has come: it is the most exalted moment in the world. The time of Selichos has come: it is the most exalted moment in the world. The time of tefillin has come: it is the highest moment in the world.

33:38 At that moment, to be alone with it, and to know that this is the highest thing in the world. So writes the Imrei Kodesh. The holy Seraph says, the holy one of Strelisk: when he would pray, he would write a will. He says: in case, out of his great craving for Hashem, he might pass away at the very time he is fulfilling the mitzvah. So he would write a will for the family and the children, so greatly did he pray — only from the mitzvah itself. Not to think too many thoughts ahead; there are those who think thoughts, 'What will be with me, and what about this' — not to picture the length of the day as great: 'Oy, now there is Shacharis, and after that Minchah, and Selichos' — no, in no way.

34:16 'I have only Shacharis now. What a privilege,' and so on. Afterwards, when Mussaf comes: 'I have only Mussaf; there is nothing else.' And after Mussaf: 'I have a little learning.' And afterwards, when Minchah comes: 'I have only Minchah; there is nothing else.' Each time, to join yourself wholly to the time, to the mitzvah, to the occasion — this gives a person a great, great many tools to get through everything in peace. For it is not good when a person comes — many people live all the time just getting the time to pass; they do not live the present.

34:43 And this is a very great trouble that there is today in this generation, that people — it is a curse — that people do not find the world good, and it is hard for them, and bitter for them, and heavy upon them, and they want only to get the time to pass; it is not good for them. Prayer is heavy upon them, so they want all the time to finish; and after they finish, they go to learn, they begin the page — he wants to finish the learning, he already wants to finish the Shas. There is no need to finish the Shas; one needs to begin the Shas. All the time he wants to finish: he wants to finish the Shas, he wants to finish the Torah, he wants to finish the prayer, he wants to finish Minchah,

35:13 he wants to finish the meal, he wants... We do not want to finish; we want only to begin. The great virtue is the beginning. Take note: the Torah begins, 'In the beginning.' The great virtue is always only the beginning. If a person comes up to Heaven, they will marvel at him; they will say: 'Good, you finished the Shas — that is a great thing.' But they will demand of a person: 'Why did you not begin the Shas?' The beginning is what is important. To finish — anyone can finish; a little time, and you finish.

35:41 The great virtue is to begin, not to finish. To be a person who finishes — fine, you finish; fortunate are you, all honor to you. But let us see you begin. The greatness is to begin. - Is it better here to recite, or with explanation? - I say it again; here, I will say it once more. 'A person should always recite, even though he does not know what he is saying' — Tractate Avodah Zarah, on page 19. Reciting is a great thing, for all those who recite; but the great virtue is to learn Torah with understanding.

36:10 When a person learns Torah with understanding — not to say Tehillim by rote, not to recite the Selichos by rote, not to recite Zohar by rote, not to recite anything by rote. Nothing is recited by rote. One reads with understanding, with the explanation of the matter; that is the most important and most exalted thing there is. - The Ashkenazi piyutim are hard to understand. Today there are translations, but there are many that are hard to understand.

36:35 Is it better to skip — to read a little and try to understand what one is saying — or to go along with the congregation and read what they read and understand nothing? - So the most important principle is to move forward, to be with the congregation — whatever is with the congregation. And this is what you should do: put it aside for yourself. So writes Sefer Chasidim, in siman 256. Even though one does not understand — but it is possible to read the commentary alongside, and then one does understand. - Rav, about the will, Rav... - Look in Sefer Chasidim, siman 256.

37:10 - Rav, that is to say, a person wants to get up in the morning. From the side of the will he wants to get up, and he also has to set an alarm clock. So if the person did not set an alarm clock, does he have a choice in that or not? - Look, I can tell you the opposite: 'He Who rouses the sleeping and awakens the slumbering' — a person could just as well say, 'He did not wake me.' - Rav, Rav, Rav. Is the will in the free choice? Is it in thought, or is it in deed? - Each one of us has free choice.

37:36 The choice is revealed in our will and also in our deeds. - So in deed, too, there is free choice? - In deed, too, there is free choice. In deed, too, there is free choice. - [unclear] only according to the Rambam. - No, no. Look, this — in this or in that there is [unclear]. I can — you can make a derashah from here, just like that, that there is no free choice. I can make you another derashah, that there is free choice. 'He makes peace in His heights.' We have to cry out that there is free choice, and do everything in our power.

38:02 When a person is far off, a person — he is brought close little by little. There are things that one can, that one controls. Did you choose to be born to your parents? And did you choose how you would look? No. How long you live? No. When a person will go [unclear]? No. So who says that you control what is in the middle? - Rav. Rav, in the sefer Sha'arei Orah it is written that a person is shown his life.

38:27 You have a choice to learn, to get up — all the actions. So that means there is free choice — you choose the things? - So do you not have a choice now, in your own hand, to decide whether you want to learn or whether you want to get up now and go to sleep? Right? Do you have a choice now? You can, now — is anyone stopping you? I can get up and go, and say, 'Goodbye, I am going to sleep.' You decide to sit now and learn. That is from free choice — that you choose to come here.

38:54 Do you not have a choice whether to stay at home now or to come? You chose to go, to trudge on foot and come. That is from your free choice. The choice is in a person's hand, to incline his will: whether to trudge on foot and come to holiness, or to go to a place that is not good. A person must always compel his will to go to holiness. And they will judge that person simply by where his will leaned more, where his pull was. But what must be understood further is that this is in the root of the souls of Israel, which are called holy souls; and each one of us has a holy soul, and each one of us has [unclear]. - What does it mean? The Rav said one has to begin the Shas and not finish it. What does it mean, to begin? Whoever finishes has already begun it all. - True, but there are those who say: 'Listen, I have not finished, but I have not even begun yet.' [unclear]

39:39 - Rav... - That is, one has to begin, to begin, to begin, to begin, to begin. - Someone who has a birthday soon — how should he prepare? There is a birthday soon; I want to prepare for the birthday. What should one do on a birthday? - Mazal tov! [unclear] - The Ben Ish Chai, Parashas Re'eh, writes that the custom was to make a celebration on the birthday, and also on the day of the bris; it is a great thing. The Yerushalmi, Rosh Hashanah, chapter 3: there is a great virtue — for Amalek was a sorcerer, who would post a man on his birthday; that is a great thing.

40:05 What should one do? Be joyful, do teshuvah, say Tehillim, make requests; it is a time of favor, a person's birthday. 'You are My son; today I have begotten you. Ask of Me, and I will give.' Do you see what the verse says? 'You are My son; today I have begotten you' — today you are born — 'ask of Me, and I will give.' You can receive a request from the Holy One, blessed be He, so ask for something. And if you can, remember me too, mention me too.

40:30 - The Rav said that... - I will bless you: may you have salvations, may you be a talmid chacham, may you rise higher and higher, as you already are. is supposed to make a celebration? - He is a tzaddik. You know, tzaddikim — their joy is already to take flight; they love — they do not want this world. - The Rav said that a person has no choice in this world over where he is born and how he is born.

40:59 In the sefer Sha'arei Orah it is written that before a person's soul is brought down, he sees his whole world and he agrees to everything that will pass over him — so he does have a choice. - True. But when I explain free choice, I mean a choice that comes from weighing things in the mind. Not a choice where a person has not revealed his mind and his will in his essence. He revealed his mind in the world above, in the world of souls. I understand what you are saying.

41:23 But when we speak of free choice, it is when a person is clothed in a body, with physical desires, with an understanding of good and bad — and not even when he is a child of three. Let us speak of a person who is a young man, aged 20, aged 30, who is at an age when he has a name, and he has an essence, and he has desires, and he has traits, and he has good and bad, and he knows right from left, and he inclines his will. You cannot find free choice when a person has no understanding and does not know.

41:52 A small child of three — you can put a rubber snake and a real snake here in front of him, and he does not know the difference; he will play with the cobra. He does not know what is harmful and what is not; he has no choice; he does not know what is good. I am speaking of the true essence of free choice — that is when a person is in his strength; and this is also a person's greatness: overcoming his evil inclination. With all the masters of mussar it is so — the Mesillas Yesharim, in the Orchos Tzaddikim, in the Menoras HaMaor — they all wrote that the main trial of a person is precisely at the time when you are able to compel the inclination and you overcome it. That a person returns at the age of 90,

42:23 at the age of 100 — that is a great thing, it is always good. But there is no — there is a difference of heaven and earth when a person compels his inclination and takes it and crowns the Holy One, blessed be He, as King precisely while he is still young, while he still has his strength — for that is what can truly bring him to return in teshuvah. And then he begins to count the whole true order of teshuvah, as the Rambam wrote in Hilchos Teshuvah. - What the Rav said, [unclear] Rosh Chodesh... - The Mishnah says: 'Against your will you are born.' - Rosh Chodesh Elul, and to say the vidui, to do teshuvah — does that mean also saying the vidui on Rosh Chodesh?

42:55 Can one? - One can say it... if your custom is to say it always, and you... - No, it is not my custom. - If you want to do teshuvah, then at that time you can do it between... - Before Mussaf. - Before Mussaf, exactly. Before Mussaf, one can. That is the view of the holy Shelah, and that is also how one should do. If a person does not do this, let him at least have the intention in thought, to do teshuvah in thought; for he writes that one who does not do this, it is as if he had not prayed Mussaf.

43:22 Therefore it is important to do teshuvah before the Mussaf prayer. And as the Arugos HaBosem wrote: to have in mind 'Prepare a new altar in Zion,' to have in mind 'Prepare a new altar in Zion' [unclear]. Well, tzaddikim, we will not trouble everyone. - But the Mishnah in Avos, 'Against your will you are born' — that is not like the sefer Sha'arei Orah, where he says that it is.

43:47 - That is what I explained. - No, but the Mishnah says 'Against your will you are born' — that is to say, before he comes to be one with free choice, he has no choice. But the Sha'arei Orah says that he does have a choice, whether to come or not to come. - What he explains is about the chain of descent of the souls, about each soul among us — how the soul goes up and comes down, and about the order of the souls, and the responsibility of the souls, and the tikkun of the souls, and the bond of the souls — that it all exists and it is all in order.

44:13 But what the Sages teach us in practice: you are already in this world — take responsibility and begin to serve the King. They speak of a more physical matter, a practical matter, that you are here as a body. What he speaks of is the chain of descent of the soul, in the inner dimension. This is one thing, and that is one thing. That is what I explained earlier, before the prayer. - But [unclear] under pressure in the days of Elul — what is the way, like...? - The way: first of all — it is very important, one last thing. I strongly recommend to everyone: a settled mind, which is the most important thing there is — that a person settle his mind, that a person be calm, that a person not be alarmed and not be in distress,

44:47 and be very calm, and that his thought be neither alarmed nor confused; not to be in worries and anxieties and fears and pressures, for the Holy One, blessed be He, is our Father, our King, and He surely judges all of us for a good life, and surely everything will be mercy and everything will be the best in the world, and there is nothing to worry about. One should be joyful. So first of all, to be calm, and to walk about with thoughts of the Father of mercy — that He is our Father, He is our King, He is our Savior, and He will save us. What a joy that we have Hashem, blessed be He, Who understands us so well: He also forms our thoughts, He also understands our pains, He also knows the desires, He also knows the inclinations — and He is also the One Who judges us.

45:25 So if He made us and He knows us, then He will surely also judge us to the side of merit, and everything will be for the very best. So first of all, to be calm and to be in good thoughts, and not to think bad thoughts, and not to be alarmed, not to be pressured, not to be afraid and not to worry; to be people who fear Hashem, and to be joyful before the King. Amen. And so, tzaddikim... - One second, I would be glad to begin.