“Selichah,” in modern Hebrew, means “I’m sorry” or “excuse me.” But in the traditions surrounding the high holidays, “selichah” most closely translates to “forgive.” The plural, “selichot,” is the name given to prayers of repentance.
Area synagogues will hold Selichot services on the night of Sept. 9, less than a week before Rosh Hashanah.
“It’s a preparatory service where we start to look inward to who we’ve been the past year, what changes do we want to make, how can we start that process of inward reflection,” said Cantor Susan Bortnick of Washington Hebrew Congregation.
Here are 6 things to know about Selichot.
1. Selichot is a transition to the high holidays.
“I love having Selichot as something before Rosh Hashanah to remind me it’s coming and keep me in the mindset of getting ready for the new year,” said Sara Mosenkis, who is co-organizing Selichot services for Fabrangen and Tikkun Leil Shabbat.
“We don’t just start the introspection on Day 1,” said Rabbi David Wolkenfeld of Ohev Sholom in the District. “We have some days of familiarizing ourselves with the process of introspection.”
2. Selichot is a time of reflection in order to grow.
“It doesn’t work spiritually to ask for forgiveness without actually doing the work ourselves, to keep growing up and opening up things in ourselves,” said Rabbi Amelia Wolf, of Congregation Etz Hayim in Arlington. “We could all use taking the time to sit in what we haven’t lived up to.”
Defeat, she notes, is a natural part of life.
“We fail at things, we’re not our best selves, and it’s good to spend the time to actually think about that. Otherwise, we’re never going to grow.”
3. Selichot traditions differ.
Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions approach selichot differently. As Bortnick explains, traditionally, Sephardim will spend the entire month of Elul holding selichot services. In Ashkenazi tradition, there is just the one service on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.
“Selichot is a communal kickoff to the high holiday season,” explained Mosenkis. “For me, it starts at home — I blow shofar every day of the month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashanah.”
4. Selichot services will be held across greater Washington.
“We’ll do the full liturgy and allow the words to speak to us,” said Wolkenfeld of Ohev Sholom. The service will also include singing and discussion about how to prepare for the new year.
“I encourage people to try and take advantage of this opportunity to approach the holidays with more forethought,” he said. “Anything worth doing is worth preparing for.”
Some congregations are using a mix of traditional and contemporary sources in their Selichot service. At both Etz Hayim and Fabrangen/Tikkun Leil Shabbat, Selichot services are a mix of traditional Hebrew readings and poetry on the themes of the season.
Washington Hebrew Congregation will have a combined concert and service. “It’s a beautiful service and it’s at a time that’s different. We’re not usually having services Saturday evening post-Shabbat in our synagogue,” Bortnick said. “That’s something I love about it.”
Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County and Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase will hold a combined Selichot service at Beth El, in Bethesda. In past years, the Selichot service was traditional. This year, they’re integrating a kumsitz-style singalong.
“We’ve had a lot of success in past years doing these kumsitz-style singalongs, and we thought it would be a really nice idea to bring that into Selichot,” Hazzan Asa Fradkin of Congregation Beth El explained. “We want people to feel invited into the holidays, into the music, to feel like they’re a part of it, and not only feel awe but to feel the sense of communal embrace.”
Etz Hayim’s Poetic Selichot will blend chanting and readings of traditional liturgy, piyutim (liturgical poems) and contemporary poetry, including by participants in the service.
5. Selichot are in the High Holy Day liturgy.
“There are selichot that are part of the high holiday service themselves. Some critical parts of Yom Kippur are selichot,” said Norman Shore, co-organizer of the Fabrangen and Tikkun Leil Shabbat Selichot service.
Some communities also recite selichot during fast days.
“They are early-morning prayers that are meant to invoke in us a sense of repentance, waking ourselves up literally and spiritually,” said Wolf of Etz Hayim. “They’re meant to remind God of God’s own compassion and mercy, start asking for forgiveness earlier and waking up God’s own forgiveness.”
6. The practice of selichot dates back centuries
The custom and the prayers themselves are not new. There is a selichah prayer leaf dating back to the 8th or 9th century. Selichot are also mentioned in the Mishnah, however, the tradition — as those interviewed for this article show — has since evolved. ■
Hannah Docter-Loeb is a freelance writer.