Selichot

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Selichot

Selichot are Jewish

Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
penitential poems and prayers, especially those said in the period leading up to the High Holidays, and on Fast Day

Fast Day

A Fast Day is a day of religious fasting observed at various periods by different religious groups, Jewish, Christian, and other, sometimes with the authority of government....
s. The Thirteen Attributes of God

Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy or Shelosh-'Esreh Middot enumerated in Exodus 34:6-7 are the attributes with which, according to Jewish tradition, God governs the world....
are a central theme throughout the prayers.

he Sephardic

Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
tradition, Selichot begins during the series of Selichot services of the High Holidays on the second day of the Hebrew month of Elul. In the Ashkenazic

Ashkenazi Jews

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Selichot are Jewish

Judaism

Fast Day

Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

Selichot of the High Holidays

In the Sephardic

Sephardi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
tradition, it begins on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah. (However, if Rosh Hashanah falls on Monday/Tuesday or Tuesday/Wednesday, Selichot are said beginning the Saturday night prior to ensure that there are at least four nights of Selichot).

Selichot refers to both the service itself as well as to each of the poetic piyyut
Piyyut

A piyyut is a Judaism liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during Jewish services. Piyyutim have been written since Jewish Temple times....
im that compose the service. Sephardic Selichot services are identical each day. In the Ashkenazic tradition, different texts are recited on the different days. Though the length varies from day to day, the format remains constant. The service begins with the recitation of Psalms

Psalms

Psalms is a book of the Hebrew Bible , included in the collected works known as the "Writings" or Ketuvim....
145, followed by the Half-Kaddish

Kaddish

Kaddish refers to an important and central prayer in the Jewish Jewish services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of Names of God in Judaism's name....
.

Selichot are usually recited between midnight and dawn. Some recite it at night after the Maariv

Jewish services

Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
service due to the convenience of synagogue attendance at these times.

Arguably the most important and certainly most popular night of Selichot in the Ashkenazi tradition is the first night, when women and girls as well as men and boys attend the late-night service on Saturday night. The hazzan

Hazzan

A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the synagogue in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources....
wears a kittel

Kittel

A kittel, also spelled kitl, is a white robe which serves as a burial shroud for male Jews. It is also worn on special occasions by Ashkenazi Jews Jews....
and sings elaborate melodies. In Conservative

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern Jewish denominations of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s....
congregations, it is not unusual for a choir to participate in this first night's service. This night also has more Selichot than any other night prior to Rosh Hashanah eve. The other nights are more sparsely attended and those services are often led by a layperson, rather than a trained musician.

Categories of Selichot

Categories of Selichot in the Ashkenazic tradition may include:

Selicha — Hebrew for "forgiveness." This is the default selicha and comprises the vast majority of the Selichot service.
Pizmon — Hebrew for "chorus." These central selichot contain a chorus which is repeated after each stanza.
Akeidah — Hebrew for "binding", a word which specifically refers to the Binding of Isaac
Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac, in Genesis , is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Moriah. In Islam, Muslims believe that God's command to Abraham was to sacrifice his older son Ishmael rather than Isaac, which is supported through narrations of Muhammad, although the son to be sacrificed is not dist...
. This selichah contains the theme of the Akeidah as a merit for God answering our prayers. It begins to appear on Rosh Hashanah eve and is placed immediately before the Pizmon.
Chatanu — Hebrew for "we have sinned." Starting on the evening before Rosh Hashanah and continuing through Yom Kippur, this selicha is said after the final recitation of the Thirteen Attributes and before the Vidui confessional. It contains as its refrain, "????? ????? ??? ??? ??????", "We have sinned, our Rock, forgive us, our Creator". Perhaps the most famous Chatanu Selicha is the Eleh Ezkera Martyrology recited during Musaf on Yom Kippur, though the recitation of the aforementioned refrain is not always followed in this particular Chatanu.
Tachinah — Hebrew for "petition." This selicha begins to appear on the eve of Rosh Hashanah in the Tachanun section, at the very end of the Selichot service.

Selichot of Fast Days

On minor fast days (besides the Fast of Gedaliah, whose Selichot is preempted by the Selichot of the High Holidays), some communities recite Selichot at the conclusion of the Shacharit Amidah

Amidah

The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
. Each contain poetry related to the specific fast day.

Western Ashkenazic communities insert the recitation of the Selichot of minor fast days in the middle of the blessing for forgiveness (??? ??? ?? ?????) in the repetition of the Shacharit Amidah.

Selichot are not recited on the major fast day of Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av

is an annual ta'anit in Judaism, named for the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of the Solomon's Temple and Second Temples in Jerusalem, which occurred about 656 years apart, but on the same date....
. Neither are the penitential prayers of Tachanun
Tachanun

Tachanun or Taanun , also called nefillat apayim is part of Judaism's morning and afternoon Jewish services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services....
and Avinu Malkeinu
Avinu Malkeinu

fr:Avinou Malkenoues:Abinu Malkenuhe:????? ????? ?????Avinu Malkeinu, , translating to Our Father, Our King, is a prayer that is recited during Jewish services from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur and on certain fasting at other times of year....
, due to the complete mourning on that day as well as the tradition that the gates of prayer are closed for the duration of the day.

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(Hebrew) According to the customs of Chabad