The question Klal Yisrael should be asking itself is: Are we truly ready for the avodah of the month of Elul?
Rav Yisrael Salanter z”l, the founder of the mussar movement, shared a teaching with his talmidim that has been passed down to us about an important connection between the months of Av and Elul. In the month of Av, we are called upon to first work on bein adam l’chaveiro, repairing our interpersonal relationships; and only after that, in the month of Elul, can we focus our attention on bein adam laMakom, our relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
We now find ourselves in the special month of Elul; when we reflect back on Av, how well did we succeed in our efforts on bein adam l’chaveiro during the previous month?
Even the most casual observer of the current situation in Eretz Yisrael cannot help but conclude that our avodah for the month of Av must be far from complete. And the question that Klal Yisrael should be asking itself is: Are we truly ready for the avodah of the month of Elul?
The Alter of Kelm once gave a powerful mashal to describe our complicity in preventing the Beis Hamikdash from being rebuilt:
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