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Unchanging Love of Hashem

 

Hallel of Rosh Chodesh Elul

 

            As on every rosh chodesh (new month), on rosh chodesh Elul we recite the psalms that constitute Hallel—this time with a focus on finding themes of Elul in the verses.

 

♦ He transforms the barren wife into a glad mother of children, halleluyah!

            Psalms 113:9

            The Hebrew word for “transforms,” moshivi, is related to the words teshuvah and yeshiva, “being seated,” a term that denotes a stable and changeless state.

            Elul, the month of teshuvah, is a period of intense and unchanging love between ourselves and God. As we recite this verse, we celebrate the fact that, despite the distance that may have developed between us and God since last Rosh Hashanah, when we do teshuvah we can attain permanence in our relationship with Him.

 By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

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