What is Elul really asking of us?

We usually enter this month thinking about what needs to be fixed. Which habits need to change. Which aveiros need to stop. All of that matters. But Rav Adin Steinsaltz offers us a much bigger question:

האם אני עליתי למעלה
Have I actually gone higher?

Through the lives of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David discover three movements that have to exist in a Jewish life: the courage to begin something new, the strength to keep going after the excitement disappears, and the willingness to begin again rather than remain where we were.

And underneath all of it is perhaps the deepest question of Elul: I may believe in Hashem, but do I actually trust Him?

Because if I trust Him, then I can start walking.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening & Dedications
01:07 In Memory of Rav Weinberger’s Mother
02:22 Entering Elul
05:16 The Old Approach to Elul
08:21 When Will My Actions Reach Those of the Avot?
11:48 Avraham: Do I Really Trust Hashem?
15:32 Emunah vs. Bitachon
22:59 Echad Haya Avraham: Beginning Again
24:15 Yitzchak: The Harder Task of Continuing
27:47 When the Excitement of Elul Wears Off
28:51 Marriage and the Avodah of Continuing
31:07 Yitzchak: Carrying the Baton Forward
33:39 Why We Can Never Remain Where We Are
41:02 Rav Steinsaltz’s Avodah for Elul
45:29 Teshuvah Means Owning Your Free Will
47:56 Choosing Where You Want to Go
49:34 What Emunah Really Demands
51:14 What “I’ll Get There” Really Means
53:04 Do I Truly Trust Hashem?

Tel Aviv
Elul
September, 2022

slichot, slichos, shirat david, high holidays, shlomo katz, shirat david, efrat

When looking into the Slichot prayers, one notices that very little has to do with asking for forgiveness, as much as asking for redemption.

slichot, mashiach, redemption, shlomo katz, shirat david, efrat

When it comes to tshuva, the observant Jew whose tshuva isn't about starting to keep kosher or shabbos has a much more difficult task at hand.
Rav Setinzaltz addresses the difficulty as well as the beauty of what awaits this type of person.

torah, tshuva, repentance, shlomo katz, chabad, elul, rosh hashana, jew, shirat david, efrat

In this deep and stirring Elul episode, Rav Shlomo Katz reflects on a teaching from Rav Adin Steinsaltz about Tehillim 27 — “L’David Hashem Ori V’Yishi” — a chapter we say every day throughout Elul, but rarely pause to enter fully.

David HaMelech is surrounded by enemies. He’s under siege. And yet, his spontaneous, gut reaction isn’t a battle cry or a plea for escape — it’s a yearning: “One thing I ask… to dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life.”

Why is that his instinct?

What does it reveal about who David really is — and what does it invite us to ask about ourselves?

Rav Shlomo explores how it’s not in our crafted responses, but in our spontaneous ones, that our truest self is revealed. Elul, then, becomes not just a time to check off what we’ve done wrong, but to ask something much deeper: Where is my heart anchored? What do I truly long for when no one is watching?

Teshuva, in this light, is less about perfecting your record and more about redefining your belonging. It's about standing, even in confusion or failure, and saying: “Ribono Shel Olam — I want to be Yours.”

You don’t have to be there yet. But you can start.

elul, steinsaltz, tshuva, king david, chassidut, shlomo katz, shirat david

What place does learning have in the month of Elul, a month where the prayers and beseeching is generally highlighted?

rebbe, elul, torah, shlomo katz, shirat david