THE MYSTERIOUS OBITUARIES OF ELUL

A few years ago, I encountered a Jewish medical doctor who told a most intriguing story.  He said that in his many travels, he would often occupy himself with reading the local obituary notices of whatever city he was currently traversing.  Over a 20-year period of tracking these death announcements, he observed a mysterious, yet altogether traceable thread of predictability surrounding these occurrences. 

In the weeks preceding the Biblical observance of Yom Kippur, there is a striking increase in the number of obituaries published.  This also coincides with the month of Elul on the Hebrew calendar.  My own husband, a Messianic Rabbi, passed away half-way through the Month of Elul in 2010.  During the days following the death of a loved one, Jewish families participate in a ritual prayer, remembrance and time of rest called "Sitting Shiva." This tradition helps to heal the grieving process.

If the increase in deaths during Elul is true, it could be tied into an incumbent piece of what the Book of Ecclesiastes calls "....an appointed time to die." (Eccl. 3:2) While there is no empirical evidence that such a phenomenon visits the Planet every August, tradition needs no such proof for the avid believer.

HOUSE OF JUDAH - PHOENIX, AZ 1998



Yom Kippur is the Day of the "Covering" when Torah observers prepare for and participate in traditions to ensure their sins are "covered" and to have their names recorded in the Book of Life for another year.  It is believed that those who die preceding this event, were not recorded in the "Book" during the previous Yom Kippur.

FOR THE MESSIANIC BELIEVER, our belief is in the finished work of Passover and First Fruits.  Our names are written in the "Lamb's Book of Life," once for all time.