Selichot – the opening service of the Yamim Noraim
Selichot are far more than just another prayer service. They encapsulate seasonal emotion as well as millennia of history.
On this Motzaei Shabbat (Saturday night) most congregations across Australia – and, for that matter, across the Jewish world – will commence the recitation of Selichot (penitential prayers).
The main exceptions will be the Sephardi congregations that already commenced the recitation of Selichot according to their custom on Rosh Chodesh Elul, and a handful of Orthodox congregations that commence the recitation of Selichot at dawn on Sunday morning in a manner parallel to the dawn recitation of Selichot that is the prevalent custom for the balance of the forthcoming Selichot period.
According to the dominant Ashkenazi custom, Selichot will be further recited on each of the ensuing weekdays prior to Rosh Hashanah. There will then be further recitation of Selichot including piyutim (poetic compositions separated by the 13 Divine attributes) for the six days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and at Kol Nidrei and Neilah on Yom Kippur itself.
Variants of Ashkenazic custom include the non-recital of Selichot during the days of Penitence (i.e. from the day after Tzom Gedaliah until Erev Yom Kippur) as per the custom of Chabad, and on the other hand, recital of a full range of Selichot in every one of the five services on Yom Kippur (rather than just after Kol Nidrei and at Neilah), as per the traditional Central European custom found in older machzorim.
Other than the Selichot of the first night, the most significant Selichot services are those of Erev Rosh Hashanah itself, popularly known as Zechor Brit (Remember the Covenant) after the poetic piece that begins with those words and the service held on the day preceding Erev Yom Kippur known as Sh’losh Esrai Middot because of its focal piyut (poem) that has the 13 Attributes of Mercy as its refrain and is also a centre piece of Neilah.
The origins of some of the prayers recited in the Selichot can already be found in the Talmud, where there is particular reference to prayers recited on days of fasting in times of trouble especially in times of drought caused by the absence of the all important seasonal rainfall. Those earliest Selichot invoke mercy on Israel in the merit of the forefathers and other significant personalities from the biblical era.
However, the earliest formal set of Selichot as we know it is to be found in the siddurim of the Gaonic period, particularly the siddur of Rav Amram Gaon.
Over generations the order of the Selichot has developed to the format we know today. Albeit that there are differences in regard to the poetic insertions recited each day according to different custom, the format is broadly the same. It begins with Ashrei (Psalm 145), and then continues with a series of prayers that revolve around the recitation of the 13 Attributes of Mercy interspersed with poetic insertions broadly termed “piyutim” but which actually have varied names according to their style which may or may not involve use of acrostics and differences in the length of stanzas and their metre.
The emphasis on the 13 Attributes has its origins in the paradigm of prayer for forgiveness associated with the actions of Moshe Rabbenu following the sin of the golden calf and the associated breaking of the tablets. It is in that portion (Shemot 34), read on every fast day, that we find the explicit description of the 13 Attributes, regarding which the sages taught that at any time of trouble they should be recited in order to invoke divine mercy on Israel. Many of the piyutim draw our attention to the many martyrs across the millennia of Jewish history and seek forgiveness in their merit.
Of course inasmuch as the initial midnight Selichot serve as the commencement of the Yamim Noraim prayer services they provide the first opportunity of the season to hear chazanut and nusach – the tunes used for prayers – utilising the tunes and tempo which feature on the Yamim Noraim themselves.
And inasmuch as they take place at a time when, unlike on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur itself travel is permitted, it is possible for members of a particular congregation to take the opportunity to hear chazanim they might not otherwise hear.
In New York’s East Side in the early 20th century many took advantage of this possibility – to the extent that some synagogues with famous chazanim sold tickets for participation. I recall in the 1950s how the choral midnight Selichot services led by Chazan Abraham Adler at the Elwood Talmud Torah Congregation attracted a packed synagogue – and for some years were even monitored and broadcast by the ABC as part of their religious music series (which annually featured a pre-High Holy Days musical selection).
In Melbourne in recent years what began as a combined Caulfield/St Kilda congregational initiative involving the choirs of both congregations has now morphed into a Selichot service involving many congregations – this year it will once again take place at Caulfield Shule albeit not at midnight but earlier following a kumsitz of communal singing to set the mood.
May our recitation of Selichot usher in a peaceful and trouble-free, happy and healthy New Year for all.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ketivah vachatimah tovah,
Yossi
Yossi Aron OAM is The AJN’s religious affairs editor.