Our struggle mirrors the journey of the accidental murderer who finds himself in a city of refuge. Just as he must leave his home and live in a foreign city until the death of the Kohen Gadol, we too find ourselves in a foreign land, disconnected from our true home with Hashem. We are exiled from our spiritual source, struggling to find our way back. But just as the accidental murderer has the opportunity to return home once the Kohen Gadol dies, we too have the chance to return to our spiritual home during the month of Elul.
As we engage in the process of teshuva during Elul, we are reminded of the connection between the Arei Miklat, Tisha BâAv, and Elul. They are all part of the same journey of return â a journey back to our true selves, back to our connection with Hashem, and back to our rightful place in this world. May we all merit to fully embrace this journey of return during the month of Elul and may we be inscribed in the Book of Life for a year of growth, blessing, and connection with Hashem.
(Photo Credit: Jewish Press)
Every year as we approach Elul, there is an underlying sense of dread as we prepare ourselves for another year of “New Year’s resolutions,” writing down the same list of goals, only to be forgotten two weeks later. For many, this is the unspoken dread of Elul – the feeling of despair and loneliness as we grapple to rebuild ourselves and what feels like a broken connection with Hashem. This is why Hashem created the Ir Miklat.
Ir Miklat: a Place for Those Without a Place
An Ir Miklat is a place for those without a place. When one loses his physical makom, he feels lost, abandoned, hopeless. At exactly this moment, he is given a sense of hope. He may have lost his place, but there is still a place for him to go in the interim until he can return home. This is what the Ir Miklat represents: hope for the hopeless, home for the homeless, stability for the unstable.
Hashem as the Makom of the World
There is an additional spiritual idea here that reveals the ultimate depth of this concept. Many people think that before Hashem created the world, there was nothing. On the contrary, until Hashem created the world, there was everything; there was only Hashem Himself. As the Arizal, Ramchal, and others explain, Hashem created the world by making a makom, a space, within Himself. Just as everything in the physical world requires space to exist, existence itself required a space to exist. If you have a cup completely filled with metal, you cannot pour any water into it. Only if there is a space in the cup, if there is room for the water, can you pour water into the cup. Before Hashem created the world, there was no space for us to exist, as all of existence was occupied by Hashem. To create the physical world, Hashem made space within Himself for us to exist. This is why Hashem is referred to as the “Makom of the world,” the place of the world (Midrash Tehillim 90; Rashi, Avos, chap. 2). We exist within Hashem, so to speak; He is our makom.
However, there are times in our lives when we feel distant from Hashem and when we question whether or not Hashem truly cares for us, loves us, or believes in us. It is specifically at these times that we refer to Hashem as “Makom.” For example, in a house of mourning, it is customary to tell the mourner, “HaMakom yenachem – The place will comfort you.” This is because at this specific time, the mourner (avel) feels most distant from both their loved one and from Hashem. We therefore remind the mourner that not only is Hashem still your Makom, but He is also still the Makom of your loved one. This helps the mourner feel close to Hashem and reminds him that the mes (dead relative) is still here, in existence, within Hashem, simply in a more spiritual dimension.
This is the idea of an Ir Miklat. When one loses their physical makom, they feel completely abandoned. We not only provide him with a different physical makom, but we also ensure that he realizes that he will always have an existential, spiritual Makom – Hashem!
Elul as Our Makom
This is the purpose of Elul. Tisha B’Av reminds us of how broken we can become, of the genuine difficulty and challenge of life. But there will always be an Elul, an Ir Miklat, a Makom. This connection between Elul and the Ir Miklat is alluded to in the Torah. The very first time the Torah mentions the Ir Miklat is in Parashas Mishpatim, with the words: “If G-d brought it about [meaning that the murder was unintentional], I will make a place for you…” (Shemos 21:13).
Elul is our Ir Miklat, reminding us that we will always have a place to stay until the chaos subsides. But even while in the midst of that chaos, we must remember that this is only a way station, and that we must arise and journey back to our true makom, to our true destination. Elul is our shelter amidst the storm, a lighthouse in the dark. It helps protect us from the darkness, but it also helps guide us back to our true destination.
When we pass by the month of Elul, Hashem covers every tree with white flags. Elul is Hashem’s way of saying, “There will always be a place for you.” In response, we must embrace that place and begin rebuilding from there toward our true destination.
This is the first step of teshuva: recognizing that we are not where we need to be, but that through constant effort and the help of Hashem, we can get there; we can return to our true makom, and we can ascend to a true Rosh Hashana. The foundation for this is our interim makom, our Ir Miklat, Elul – the place for those without a place. This allows us to gain our footing, create clarity and purpose, and begin our journey back home. May we all be inspired to pause, find our footing, and use this Elul to purposefully journey back to our true makom, i.e., Hashem.
To regenerate means to renew, restore, or revive something. It can refer to the process of regrowth or renewal of cells, tissues, or organisms. It can also refer to the restoration or improvement of something that has been damaged or worn out.
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