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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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?