The Yeshivah "Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch", the first to integrate the "revealed" part of Torah (Talmud and Halachah) with the esoteric teachings of Chassidism in a formal study program, was on this date founded by the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn.
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
When the Creator came to create the human being, Truth said, "Do not create him, for he is full of lies.
Kindness said, "Create him, for he will do acts of kindness."
What did the Creator do? He cast Truth earthward, and created the human being.
That is why it says, "Truth will sprout from the earth."
—Midrash Rabba
Every argument in Torah can be reduced to the same crucial question:
Do we follow rigid, immutable truth, regardless? Or do we take into account the particulars of this situation? Do we look only from above-down, or do we take the view from below as well?
The debate is never easy, because truth is no longer truth once compromised. Rather, we need to find a way to hold both ends of the stick at once.
That is why the debate must occur among us human beings here on earth, and from there the resolution must sprout. For only in that way will Truth come down to earth, where it truly belongs.