Marriage of the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), to Rebbetzin Nechamah Dinah (1882-1971).
Elul 13 is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (1835-1909), the renowned Sephardic Halachic authority and Kabbalist, known as "Ben Ish Chai" after his work by that name.
Links:
The Ben Ish Chai, A Biography
The Ultimate Employee (from the teachings of the Ben Ish Chai)
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 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
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
To whom does a Jew pray?
Can He be described? Does He have a name?
No, there is no description with which to imagine Him, no name with which to grasp Him.
Even the pronoun “Him” implies too much to be true—as though He could be a third party, absent or present. Even the title “Infinite Light” misses the mark, as though He were only light.
But He is not light. He is the source of light. At the source of all light, there is no absence or presence, no being or not being.
There is only “You.” Here, now, known to all beings. And yet beyond the grasp of any knowledge.
It is truly inconceivable, certainly outrageous, but we puny, mortal creatures turn to the heavens and beyond the heavens and say, “You.”
As Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch wrote:
You, that all know of You.
You, that all put their trust only in You.
You, that all plead only to You.
You, that no creation nor emanation knows who and what You are.
And so we pray to You alone, for You alone, the Unknowable, are known to all.