Around this time of year, there is a coolness in the air in the Yirushalaim, a longed-for breeze not felt in months. The weather expresses something cosmic; almost exactly to the day we finish mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, a refreshing, merciful breeze sweeps through the hanging laundry and the dry leaves in the evening and then, as the Hebrew month of Elul approaches, it can even be felt in the middle of the afternoon.
Who thought the sight of blowing laundry or green grass actually moving can bring a sense of joy?
These weeks lead up to Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and correspond to repentance and mercy. It is the time Moshe (Moses) returned to speak to G-d on the mountain after we sinned with the golden calf. He pleaded with G-d for 40 days and nights, and on Yom Kippur, he returned with the second tablets of the Torah, our law and covenant with G-d. So during this time, we repent and take stock of our conduct during the year, but at the same time, it is a refreshing time of renewal, when mercy blows through the world like a gentle breeze, reminding us that our prayers of repentance will be heard and our covenant with G-d will ultimately be renewed.
According to Chassidic teaching, it is a time when the King (G-d) is in the field. During the rest of the year, G-d is a merciful yet can seem like a distant figure, who inhabits the palace of Heaven (actually Hashem is everywhere, but our awe of him and the concealment of His presence through much of the year can make it seem as if he is an invisible king in a distant palace).
However, during the month of Elul, the king comes to where we are, to simple workers in the field, to talk to us face to face and listen to our concerns. This is why prayer is such an important part of the month of Elul; it is an opportune time to speak to G-d.
Yet every one of Yakov’s descendants are actually children of G-d, not workers in the field. It is taught that our souls are a part of G-d in actual fact. So what are we doing in the field anyway, the field of the physical world with its responsibilities and problems, if, spiritually we princes and princesses and could have lived our entire lives in the palace? Couldn’t G-d have saved himself the trouble of having to come down to the field? Why couldn’t we have stayed in the palace of Heaven?
Hashem created the physical world, the field, because he wanted holiness to be revealed in the most mundane tasks, in our workday, in our taking care of our children, in our eating and drinking. The physical world has a spiritual and G-dly purpose and the month of Elul teaches is that not only can we experience the spiritual through the physical, but actually speak to G-d face to face in the most ordinary places.
(freely adapted from the teachings of the Alter Rebbe, Schneur Zalman of Liadi and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn)