Elul: preparation for Rosh Hashanah and Virgo
Elul is the sixth month counting from Nisan and the last month before the numbered Hebrew year changes at Rosh Hashanah. It has 29 days in the fixed calendar. It follows Av and precedes Tishrei, making it a useful place to study the distinction between month numbering and year numbering.
Prepared by Mazalogy · Published · Our editorial approach
| Hebrew name | אלול |
|---|---|
| Order counted from Nisan | 6 |
| Days in the fixed calendar | 29 |
| Gra letter | י · Yod |
| Gra zodiac correspondence | Virgo |
| Gra faculty, concise gloss | Action |
The year changes after Elul
Place the last day of Elul beside 1 Tishrei. The month advances and the numbered year advances at that boundary. By contrast, the transition from Adar to Nisan starts the Nisan-based month sequence within the numbered year. The two transitions have different jobs in the calendar.
If you are organizing a notebook or family calendar, label which cycle you are following. A school-year plan, a Hebrew-year record and a twelve-month correspondence chart need not begin at the same point. Writing the beginning explicitly prevents a copied month list from implying the wrong year boundary.
Sources: Chabad · The Jewish Month: order and fixed-calendar lengths
A season of preparation with different customs
Chabad’s Elul introduction describes the month as a period of preparation, repentance and reflection before the High Holidays. It discusses practices including shofar, charity and Selichot. Its account has a community setting; an overview of that account does not establish identical practice in every Jewish community.
For study, choose one practice described by the source and record who presents it and what it is for. For participation, check your own community’s schedule. Keep a general month description separate from the precise dates and times needed to attend an event or follow an observance.
Sources: Chabad · Elul month introduction
Yod, Virgo and the Gra version
In the Gra version of Sefer Yetzirah, Elul is associated with Yod (י) and Virgo; Mazalogy renders the connected faculty as “action.” This is a named textual correspondence, not a calculated natal Sun position.
The Gra correspondence places Yod, Virgo and action with Elul. As our contemporary exercise, choose one small task you can finish before a date you set. Record the task, time and outcome. Its usefulness comes from what you actually do, rather than a claim that birth in Elul determines behavior.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version, chapter 5:8 · Sefer Yetzirah · Compare another version, chapter 5:1–2
Use it in a calendar or birthday record
For an Elul birthday, compare the anniversary with the coming Rosh Hashanah using the same calendar year. Keep both events separately labeled. If a civil birth time is near the evening boundary, preserve the candidate dates before associating either month with its textual symbol.
Continue from Elul
Explore the Hebrew calendar · Find your Hebrew birthday · Study the correspondence system
Sources and approach
Prepared with AI assistance using the linked sources and original reading exercises. Calendar facts, named textual correspondences and contemporary applications are kept distinct. The Gra version is the reference for this table; other versions can assign faculties differently.