Cattle: Symbol of Elul
Exploring the connection between cattle and the Jewish month of Elul
Elul is a month of preparation for Rosh Hashanah — at least in modern Judaism. It’s interesting then, that the first of Elul is the “New Year of Cattle.”
In ancient Israel it’s the time when cattle and livestock were counted and tithed. Cows are mentioned from time-to-time in the Tanakh and other scripture — think about the seven cows (פָּרוֹת) of Pharoah’s dream (Genesis 41), the bullock (בָּקָר) regularly sacrificed, and of course the golden calf (עֵגֶל) that got us into a lot of trouble.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Making Magic/k/q to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.