Elul is the sixth month counting from Nissan, and the last month before Tishri, the month of the High Holy Days: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Elul follows the months of Tammuz and Av when various catastrophes from Jewish history are remembered and mourned.

 

Yet we have learned in the preceding month of Av that it is also a period of comfort. The period starting immediately after the tragic Tisha be-av and continuing for seven weeks, which includes the whole month of Elul, is called the “seven weeks of comfort”. The Shabbat following after 9th of Av is called Shabbat Nachamu and as a Haftara the portion of Isaiah 40 is read, which starts with the famous words “nachamu, nachamu ami” in Isaiah 40:1, which were chosen as the theme verse for the ICEJ.

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