Yesterday we spoke about the concept that the word Elul comes from Tehilim 100,3, דְּע֗וּ כִּֽי־יְהֹוָה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ (ולא) [וְל֣וֹ] אֲנַ֑חְנוּ עַ֝מּ֗וֹ וְצֹ֣אן מַרְעִיתֽוֹ We say, Hu Asanu God made us, V’Lo Anachnu. We discussed that the word Lo can be spelled either לא or לו and if you take those four letters, לא and לו , and scramble them, it spells Elul אלול . Then, while teaching a daily lesson for a different series ( you can sign up @ hachzek.com ), I saw a Rabbenu Yona on Pirkei Avot 4,22 where he gives an explanation of this pasuk from Tehilim, You should know Hashem is our God, Hu Asanu/he made us V’Lo Anachnu/ And we didn't make ourselves… He explains that the Mishna in Pirkei Avot describes God as the Yotzer and the Boreh , where Yotzer refers to the beginnings of a deed, (like man is created and conceived from the womb) whereas Boreh refers to the finishing touches. And he says that God is different than any other type of craftsman (this is a famous concept, but I never knew it connected to the pasuk that we're about to quote). He says, it's not like making a vessel. If a glass blower blows a glass pitcher and then the glass blower dies, the pitcher continues to exist. It doesn't need the glass blower anymore. It's a separate entity. He just took material and formed it. On the other hand, God doesn't just form material. God created the material itself, something from nothing. Therefore, we need God to constantly breathe life and existence into creation and into every body for that matter. And therefore, in his words, “I need God at every moment and every second,” and he quotes David Hamelech in our pasuk, דְּע֗וּ כִּֽי־יְהֹוָה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ (ולא) [וְל֣וֹ] אֲנַ֑חְנוּ עַ֝מּ֗וֹ וְצֹ֣אן מַרְעִיתֽוֹ׃ D’ooh/You should know Hashem is Elokim- there is only One Creator, Who is good. Goodness and badness comes from the same source. Hu Asanu/ He made us, V’Lo Anachnu/we belong to Him, ( or He made us and we didn't make ourselves). Amo/We are His nation. V’Son Maritoh/We are the sheep that He grazes. This means that we need Him at every second, every moment. And the mishna before it tells us some very important principles, which one of them is God is Yotzer and Boreh. It says three words לֵידַע לְהוֹדִיעַ וּלְהִוָּדַע Le’dah /a person needs to know from others That's the first step. Others teach you. L’Hode’ah /Your job is to teach others in this world and eventually, without being taught, U’Lehevadah , which Rabbenu Yona says, means in Olam Haba you'll realize this without a teacher because the clarity will such that I won’t need other people to teach me “ D’ooh Et Hashem/Know Hashem is your God,” because everyone will realize God. But right now, as long as we're in Olam Hazeh, our job is two out of these three important words: Le’dah/ we have to know from others. And once we are taught by others, L’hode’ah/we have to teach others. What do we have to teach them? It's a command from a Mishna in Pirkei Avot, that God is the אל El, which means He is strong. He's all powerful, Hu HaYotzer , Hu HaBoreh, which means we need Him every second. This is very applicable to the month that we're in now, to realize these important concepts. The Tanna of this mishna in Pirkei Avot, Rav Eliezer Hakapar, is telling us these important principles: הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר , הַיִּלּוֹדִים לָמוּת , וְהַמֵּתִים לְהֵחָיוֹת , וְהַחַיִּים לִדּוֹן . לֵידַע לְהוֹדִיעַ וּלְהִוָּדַע שֶׁהוּא אֵל , הוּא הַיּוֹצֵר , הוּא הַבּוֹרֵא , הוּא הַמֵּבִין , הוּא הַדַּיָּן , הוּא עֵד , הוּא בַעַל דִּין , וְהוּא עָתִיד לָדוּן . בָּרוּךְ הוּא , שֶׁאֵין לְפָנָיו לֹא עַוְלָה , וְלֹא שִׁכְחָה , וְלֹא מַשּׂוֹא פָנִים , וְלֹא מִקַּח שֹׁחַד , שֶׁהַכֹּל שֶׁלּוֹ . וְדַע שֶׁהַכֹּל לְפִי הַחֶשְׁבּוֹן . וְאַל יַבְטִיחֲךָ יִצְרְךָ שֶׁהַשְּׁאוֹל בֵּית מָנוֹס לְךָ , שֶׁעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה נוֹצָר , וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה נוֹלָד , וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה חַי , וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה מֵת , וְעַל כָּרְחֲךָ אַתָּה עָתִיד לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא : It's our responsibility to know and to teach that He's strong, He created us, and He’s constantly with us, He understands our deeds, He’s the judge (only He can judge because only He understands), He’s the witness, He is the one that demands the justice, He's going to judge us. And when He judges us, there's no iniquity, there's no forgetting. He doesn't play favorites (I don't care who you are. I don't care how pious you are, there's no favorites) and there's no bribing. You can't say, “Well, I did great mitzvot. I want to bribe God.” No, doesn't work that way. This pasuk, Hu Asanu V’Lo Anachnu, one of the sources for Elul, also contains this important lesson in Emunah and Bitachon, from Rabbenu Yona, which is that God is constantly pumping energy into creation and we need Him every second. So how could you even think that God is not supervising you? He's standing there pumping the energy into you. People have this idea that God leaves the world to be on its own. That’s impossible. He has to care and know about every fly. Is it beneath His dignity? Well, if He didn't want the fly to exist, it wouldn't exist. Everything needs God's constant will for it to be . Every year, on Rosh Hashanah, we reiterate that, and God has to will another year. I was extremely excited by the Tanna telling us that this is a responsibility. You have to know it and you have to teach it to others. Please do yourself a favor. Take out the Pirkei Avot, look at it inside, and appreciate it. Have a wonderful day.