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Today’s daily dose is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Dovid Leib ben Kayla. May Hashem shower him with a complete healing amongst all of those sick and suffering in Klal Yisrael, b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen.

Hashem ‘designed’ this world in such a way that the month of Elul is conducive with spiritual growth and strengthening our connection to Him. Certainly this month encourages us to pray at no end for our requests to be answered for the very best, yet the true reward gained from tefillot this month is hundredfold.

Genuine closeness to Hashem by far surpasses the reward of having our requests answered. The exalted feeling of knowing that we are personally being guided and cared for by the Supreme Authority of the World, Melech Malchei HaMelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu, envelops us with a sense of tranquility and boundless inner joy.

The purpose of the Yomim Noraim is ‘Atah Horehta Lada’at ki Hashem Hu Elokim… (You have been shown, in order to know that Hashem is G-d….)” Tefillah is the means by which we implant this awareness. We inject the mindset that Hashem was, is and will always be with us particularly this month by intensifying our prayers. Communication is the means to mending any broken relationship.

It is a tremendous gift to be able to ‘talk’ to Hashem and express our inner feelings and thoughts to Him.  Speech is an expression of Malchut (Kingship); it enables us to ‘rule’ over our feelings.  We are better able to deal with our feelings by speaking and releasing them from within. The benefit of speaking to Hashem is double.  Firstly we empty out our burdens.  Secondly we implant the awareness that Hashem is with us, listening and caring about us in every way.

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Today’s Daily Dose of Emuna is dedicated L’iluy nishmat R’Kehas ben R’Avraham Yitzchak z’l. May his neshama bask in the Divine radiance together with all of the tzaddikim who have departed from this world, Amen.

The culmination of the Yamin Noraim is Simchat Torah. It is customary to open the tefillot of Simchat Torah with the passuk (Devarim 4:35): “You have been shown, in order to know that Hashem is G-d; there is none else besides Him.” From here we learn that the entire purpose of the Chagim and all of our avodah is to implant into our consciousness ‘Ein Od Milvado.’

The following parable describes the importance of remembering that Hashem is always with us:

A doctor was asked to work night shift in a hospital ward that cares for the terminally ill. He was fresh out of medical school. He was told that due to a shortage of doctors he would have to work his shift on his own. He was greatly concerned that he would not be able to properly tend to the patients on his own. When he aired his concerns to the head doctor the reply was, “Most probably it will be a quiet night. However if it becomes over whelming for you to handle, immediately call for assistance.”

From the onset of his shift he already experienced difficulty in tending to the needs of the sick. Patient after patient began to complain as the doctor lacked the medical knowledge to treat them and handle such dire illnesses on his own. As a result one of the patients died when he did not receive his vital medication in time.

The doctor was sued for medical negligence. His defense, “I performed my duty as a doctor with every bit of strength and care that I possessed. I gave my maximum to those patients. I ran from room to room, from floor to floor and didn’t rest the entire night. How can I be blamed for not having enough time to attend to the patient or for failing to make the right medical decisions? It was humanly impossible for me to do any more than I did.”

The judge then replied, “But weren’t you told to call for assistance in such a case where it became too much for you to handle alone? Who asked you to manage without help? The reason you are found guilty is because you didn’t ask for assistance as you were instructed to do in such a case.”

This is what Hashem will tell us on the Day of Judgment – “I understand that you faced many difficulties in life and it was challenging to cope with them. Who asked you to tackle them alone? Weren’t you taught that you could always reach out and ask Me for help – anytime, anywhere, no matter what? All you had to do was call out to Me, ‘I can’t handle it, I need Your help!’ I would have then come to your aide and directed you how to manage is such a situation.”

We cannot live our lives without Hashem in our lives. We do not have the strength or knowledge to choose which path is the correct. Therefore we are instructed to yell out, “Aba, please help!”

Ein Od Milvado – the reality that Hashem is always with us and there to help when we call His name is not just ‘Bubbly talk’. It is real. Hashem wants us to ask for help since He knows we cannot make it through life without Him!  That is one of the most important lessons of the High Holidays.  And of Jewish life…

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Elul is a time of special closeness – a desire to unite with Hashem. This month has the power to ignite within us a strong fiery passion to return to Hashem – a life of clarity and keen awareness that Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li (I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me).

A ‘Ba’al teshuva’ is defined as someone who ‘owns teshuva’. Teshuva is shaped by a desire to ascend spiritually, despite the inevitable downfalls of our past. Sefer Yirmiyahu (31:20) brings down: “Shuvy Bitulat Yisrael  (Return O virgin of Israel…”) After the teshuva process is completed, Ahm Yisrael returns to purity, a virgin incapable of being defiled. The Ramban ztk’l teaches that this indicates Hashem’s great love towards Knesset Yisrael. Hashem loves us and is ‘willing’ to give us a second chance and ‘waits’ until we make teshuva.

This teaching highlights the foundation of teshuva – the ability to start anew and rely on a second chance. When we embrace the Divine gift of teshuva, we reveal our innate pureness and all transgressions are completely eradicated, as though they never occurred. We return to our untarnished G-dly core like being reborn.

Klal Yisrael is Hashem’s bride. Elul reawakens the G-dly spark hidden within each of us by flooding us with feelings of yearning and the desire to reconnect with Hashem’s love. In the process of returning to our innocence, our mindset also shifts gear. We are motivated to look at life from a fresher perspective, with renewed enthusiasm. Our prayers, mitzvot and Torah study are injected with the freshness and excitement associated with anything new and novel. Like a newly married couple’s infatuation during their first year together, a complete teshuva process enables us to reignite our intense enchantment and love for Hashem.

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The basis of Torah is emuna in Hashem. Hashem awaits our return no matter what happens and despite our mistakes and deficiencies. Though it may be difficult to grasp intellectually and even emotionally, this concept of complete acceptance when we return represents emet Torah.

This month our relationship with Hashem takes a different turn – one of love weaved with reverence. Chodesh Elul holds tremendous power because it affects the entire following year. Generally, we are under the false impression that we deserve and have a right to everything we have and own. We become accustomed to our lives. For instance, our ability to see today leads me to assume we will see – and have a right to see – tomorrow. We presume that because Hashem has gifted us with life today, we deserve our life and our standard of living. Yet, this is falsehood in its truest form. We are constantly subject to Hashem’s endless compassion and care. For instance, Hashem owns our bodies to us and lends them to us every day because he trusts us and has mercy on us.

Though Hashem is close to us, we still ‘fear’ our impending judgment. This month is a time of great trepidation which should be used to motivate us to ‘return.’ Even if we don’t consciously grasp the idea of judgment or feel heartfelt fear, we are taught to create within ourselves a feeling of awe over the impending collective and individual decrees to be decided on Rosh Hashanah.

The days leading to Yom Kippur are known as Yemei Ratzon (the days of desire/true will). Implanting the desire to return from our erred roads and come back to Hashem is the main avodah of this important month. This month we open our hearts and plead, “Ha’Shiveinu Hashem Elecha v’Nashuva… (Help us return to You, and we shall return…).”

Yet, how can we practically achieve this level of awe and thus be motivated to return if we do not feel it? First, we can know there are two paths in front of us – a pathway to Gan Eden and a pathway to Gehinom. Second, we can actively and constantly remind ourselves of Hashem’s kindness, mercy and compassion by pointing out how much worse our lives could be. By acknowledging that we are ‘hanging’ by a rope, unsure of what the future has in store and reminding ourselves how every blessing can be taken away by Him in an instant, we build our desire to please our Aba and return to Him.