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בס"ד, Sichat Chai Elul 5712

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A: 1. Chai Elul Brings Life to Elul

My honored teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe [the Frierdiker Rebbe], says (in one of his sichot) in the name of the elder chassidim:

"Chai Elul is the day that brought and brings vitality [chayut] into Elul."

2. The Nature of Elul – A Mixture of Joy and Soul-Accounting

It needs to be understood:

In the month of Elul, there are various matters and different types of avodot (divine service): matters of joy, and also matters of the opposite of joy — such as the concept of "cheshbon hanefesh" (soul-accounting) that is associated with the month of Elul.

As is known, the month of Elul is the month of accounting for the entire year. Particularly from Chai Elul, as my honored teacher and father-in-law, the Rebbe, says — the personal accounting for all twelve months of the year is conducted during the twelve days from Chai Elul until Rosh Hashanah, "a day for a month, a day for a month."

3. The Bittersweet Nature of Cheshbon Hanefesh

This "cheshbon hanefesh" is connected with a movement that is the opposite of joy in two respects:

1. From the general nature of accounting, which needs to be done with focused attention and without excitement (which is the concept of joy).
2. From the specifics of the accounting — for when a person makes a soul-accounting of all his thoughts, words, and deeds throughout the year, knowing that:
   • "The Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting even with those close to Him (even with tzaddikim) as a hair’s breadth,"
   • Also, "He places no trust even in His angels,"
   • And even "the heavens (the entire order of creation) are not pure in His eyes" — how much more so when it comes to him, since he had thoughts, words, and deeds that were not as they should have been.

For example: avak lashon hara (the dust of slander) — about which it is stated in the Gemara that "everyone is affected by avak lashon hara." Through such things, he became distanced from the Holy One, blessed be He, which brings him to a feeling of great bitterness.

4. The Joy of Chai Elul