{"id":497966,"date":"2026-08-12T10:13:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T08:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/news\/this-evening-after-shkiya-comes-the-first-of-two-days-of-rosh-chodesh-elul\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T10:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T08:34:06","slug":"this-evening-after-shkiya-comes-the-first-of-two-days-of-rosh-chodesh-elul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/en\/news\/this-evening-after-shkiya-comes-the-first-of-two-days-of-rosh-chodesh-elul\/","title":{"rendered":"This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh Elul"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"497966\" class=\"elementor elementor-497966 elementor-497949\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-476af982 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"476af982\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fcdb5f5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1fcdb5f5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; color: rgb(5, 5, 5);\">This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh (\u201cHead of the Month\u201d) in the month of Elul (when a month has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day of the following month serve as Rosh Chodesh of the following month).<\/p><div><span style=\"color: rgb(5, 5, 5);\">Elul is the 12th and final month in the Jewish calendar (the sixth month counting from Nisan). Leading up to the High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it is a month that connects the past year with the coming year\u2014a time when we reflect on where we stand and where we should be going.<br\/> <\/span><\/div>\n<p>Every day of Elul we blow the shofar, give additional charity, and recite special Psalms. In the final days of Elul, we rise early to say Selichot, prayers asking G\u2011d for forgiveness. <\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Jewish History<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Moses ascends Sinai for 3rd 40 days (1313 BCE)<\/strong><br\/>On the early morning of the 1st of Elul of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE) Moses ascended Mount Sinai, taking with him the stone tablets he had hewn by divine command (see \u201cToday in Jewish History\u201d for yesterday, Av 30), for G-d to re-inscribe the Ten Commandments. On the mountain, G-d allowed Moses to \u201csee My back, but not My face\u201d (which Maimonides interprets as a perception of G-d\u2019s reality but not His essence) \u2014 the closest any human being ever came to knowing G-d \u2014 and taught him the secret of His \u201cThirteen Attributes of Mercy\u201d (Exodus 33:18-34:8). <\/p>\n<p>Moses remained on the mountain for 40 days, until the 10th of Tishrei (Yom Kippur), during which time He obtained G-d\u2019s whole-hearted forgiveness and reconciliation with the people of Israel following their betrayal of the covenant between them with their worship of the Golden Calf. This was the third of Moses\u2019 three 40-day periods on Mount Sinai in connection with the Giving of the Torah. Ever since, the month of Elul serves as the \u201cmonth of Divine mercy and forgiveness.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Moroccan Jewry Saved From Portuguese Conquest (1578)<\/strong><br\/>In 1578, a Portuguese army led by King Sebastian I joined forces with the deposed Moroccan Sultan Abdallah Mohammed, who desired to regain the throne from his uncle, Abd al-Malik. Victory of the Portuguese king would inevitably lead to the infamous Inquisition taking hold in Morocco. On August 4, corresponding to 1 Elul, the Portuguese army was defeated in what is known as the Battle of the Three Kings. A number of Moroccan communities would commemorate this date each year as a day of celebration, thanking G\u2011d for His salvation.<br\/>   <\/p>\n<p><strong>Prophecy of Haggai Encouraging Building of the Second Temple (353 BCE)<\/strong><br\/>On this day,<strong> <\/strong>the prophet Haggai received a divine message to pass on to \u201cZerubavel son of She\u2019altiel ruler of Judah and Joshua son of Jehozadak the High Priest\u201d (Haggai 1:1), instructing them to continue their efforts to build the <u>Second Temple<\/u>, whose construction had been halted some seventeen years prior. (See entry for 21 Tishrei for a similar prophecy transmitted by Haggai seven weeks later.)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Laws and Customs<br\/><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rosh Chodesh Observances<\/strong><\/p><p><span>Special portions are added to the daily prayers: Hallel (Psalms 113-118) is recited \u2014 in its \u201cpartial\u201d form \u2014 following the Shacharit morning prayer, and the <em style=\"font-size: 18px;\">Yaaleh V\u2019yavo<\/em> prayer is added to the Amidah and to Grace After Meals;<\/span><span>the additional Musaf prayer is said (when Rosh Chodesh is Shabbat, special additions are made to the Shabbat Musaf). Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers are omitted.<br\/> <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Many have the custom to mark Rosh Chodesh with a festive meal and reduced work activity. The latter custom is prevalent amongst women, who have a special affinity with Rosh Chodesh \u2014 the month being the feminine aspect of the Jewish Calendar. <\/p>\n<p>Elul Observances<br\/>As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking \u2014 a time to review one\u2019s deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming \u201cDays of Awe\u201d of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.<br\/><\/p>\n<p>As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see \u201cToday in Jewish History\u201d for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for <em>teshuvah <\/em>(\u201creturn\u201d 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 \u201cthe king is in the field\u201d and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, \u201ceveryone 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.\u201d<br\/> <\/p>\n<p>Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram\u2019s 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). <\/p>\n<p>Elul is also the time to have one\u2019s tefillin and mezuzahs checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Good Year Greetings<\/strong><br\/>From the beginning of Elul and throughout the High Holiday season, we include the blessing \u201cMay you be inscribed and sealed for a good year\u201d (<em>Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim<\/em>) in letters and greetings to one another.<br\/><\/p>\n<p>The King and I<br\/>The month before Rosh Hashanah, taught Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, is a precious month. For thirty days, you can find the Ultimate King awaiting you outside the city, on a rustic path that winds through an empty meadow. <\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s the advantage of meeting the King in a meadow?<br\/><\/p>\n<p>Because when you meet the King in His palace of the Days of Awe from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, much stands between you and Him\u2014the carpet, the throne, the royal robes, the protocol, the language you must use, the awe and magnificence of the palace\u2026<br\/><\/p>\n<p>But in the field, the King wears blue jeans. And so do you. He even greets you with a smile, and expresses His delight that you came out to see Him.<br\/>Now it\u2019s just you with the King.  <\/p>\n<p>Now it\u2019s just you with the King.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh (\u201cHead of the Month\u201d) in the month of Elul (when a month has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day of the following month serve as Rosh Chodesh of the following month). Elul is the 12th <a href=\"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/en\/news\/this-evening-after-shkiya-comes-the-first-of-two-days-of-rosh-chodesh-elul\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh Elul<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-497966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh Elul - DJC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/djc.com.ua\/en\/news\/this-evening-after-shkiya-comes-the-first-of-two-days-of-rosh-chodesh-elul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh Elul - DJC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This evening after Shkiya comes the first of two days of Rosh Chodesh (\u201cHead of the Month\u201d) in the month of Elul (when a month has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day of the following month serve as Rosh Chodesh of the following month). Elul is the 12th ... 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