"I to my beloved and my beloved to me"

The upcoming Jewish month is the last month of the year. It’s name - אלול / Elul - is not Hebraic, it was brought back to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Exile and it remains the way to say September in Turkey.

Jews have long regarded אלול as a mnemonic for אני לדודי ודודי לי (Ani LiDodi ViDodi Li) translated as the title of this post.

God wants humankind t…