Dear TEE community,
This Saturday we begin the liturgy of the High Holidays with Selichot, a service of personal preparation. In the words of our Elul prayers: “Before we enter the palaces of prayer — let us find within ourselves a place of calm.” Following Havdalah, our gathering will combine music, poetry, and the call of the shofar, encouraging us to enter the Days of Awe with serenity and purpose. We will also dress our Torah scrolls in their High Holiday garments of white, symbolizing the community’s readiness to begin the sacred season.
The practice of reciting penitential prayers (“selichot” in Hebrew) on fast days is discussed in early talmudic texts. Perhaps because there was a custom of fasting before Rosh Hashanah, these prayers became associated with preparation for the High Holidays. Sephardi Jews hold selichot services from the start of Elul, in keeping with a belief that the forty days between the beginning of the month and Yom Kippur represent the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai. Ashkenazi Jews begin selichot prayers on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah or, as is the case this year, two Saturdays prior.
Traditionally, Selichot services include The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, a passage from the Book of Exodus repeated frequently during the High Holiday liturgy. The text reminds us that God is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, rich in steadfast kindness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving harm, transgression, and mistake.” In other words, we should approach the need to repair the harm we have caused out of a sense of compassion and responsibility rather than shame or judgment. This encourages us to enter the season with a sense of optimism and renewal.
I hope you will join us for this centering gateway into the holidays.
with all good wishes,
Rabbi Drorah Setel