What is Elul?

Elul is the twelfth and final month of the Jewish calendar. Just as Elul ends, we start the month of Tishrei with the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. No holidays take place during the month itself, but it serves as a bridge between the outgoing and incoming years. For this reason, the shofar is blown at prayers every day of Elul as a way of calling on people to meditate on the past year and to reflect on their hopes for the coming year.

In 13th Century Vienna, Rabbi Chaim Eliezer noticed something interesting about the word Elul. He noticed that it contains four letters, and that each of those letters could contain a word from the beautiful line in the Song of Songs,
"I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine."