We are right in the middle of the Hebrew month of Elul (אלול), a time when we are meant to be contemplating what we would like our future relationship with God to be like. Elul shares the same Gematria (numerical value) as the word Binah (בינה), understanding (they both equal 67). What is the significance of this numerical relationship?
For many (perhaps most) people the High Holidays are a time of resolving to improve their behavior, the actions they do each and every day. For some reason it never seems to work the way we want it to. Despite all the sincere resolutions of a better behaved future, people usually seem to revert to their old behavioral patterns pretty quickly. That is because resolving to be better without taking the time to achieve any understanding of why we act in the way we do will ultimately not accomplish anything.
Elul is the time for Binah, for taking the time to understand ourselves and where we stand before God and why. Once we arrive at that understanding we can move on and truly change.
