This piece, from the Destiny Foundation archives, was penned by Rabbi Wein ztz’l back in 2012—but its message is as fresh and relevant as ever.
Next week, selichot—the penitential prayers that are added
to the weekday morning prayer service—are recited in the synagogue according to
Ashkenazic custom. Sephardic Jews have been reciting selichot in their morning
prayer services since the start of the month of Elul. There are different
customs even within these two main groupings of Jews as to which particular
penitential prayer is recited on which of the days preceding Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur.
I have always been intrigued by the fact that most of the
selichot prayers deal with the national angst and exile of the Jewish people
rather than concentrating exclusively on the personal penitential aspect of the
individual Jew who is actually doing the praying. Of course, many personal
prayers are included in the selichot liturgy, but there is a strong focus on
the plight of the Jewish people on a national and global scale—and this is expressed
in terms that are powerfully emotive. This is understandable since most
of the selichot prayers were composed during the Middle Ages when the Jewish
people, especially in Europe, found itself in desperate straits. Nevertheless,
the emphasis on national troubles instead of personal failings carries with it
a clear message about the reality of being Jewish.
since the concept of selichot is, of necessity, national as
well as personal, one cannot expect to survive spiritually and morally as a Jew
by separating oneself from the Jewish people and its destiny. In effect, all
those who deny their Jewishness, who substitute foreign ideologies and current
political correctness for true Jewish Torah values, who are the first to raise
their voices against the Jewish people and its state, who deny their Jewishness
by assimilation and intermarriage, doom themselves eventually not to be heard
and accounted for in the continually unfolding Jewish story.
Someone who does not wish to share in the burden of the
Jewish nation as a whole cuts the cord of Jewishness that grants one identity,
self-worth and an overall purpose in life. The selichot prayers are so
constructed as to be a retelling of the Jewish story and a declaration of
fealty to Jewish destiny. In that context the selichot prayer services connect
us to our Creator but also to the Jewish people in every generation, both past
and future.
There are many emotions that accompany the advent of the
selichot season. Memories of past High Holy Day seasons, of generations that
have passed on, of previous synagogue services and other venues of prayer, of
childhood wonderment and of more mature seriousness and awe. These all flood
our minds and hearts when the prayers of selichot are recited and the melodies
of holiness are heard and sung. The special quality of this time of the
year, of anticipation and tension, of hopeful confidence combined with
trepidation, is refleced in our attention to the immortal words of the prayer
services.
Every possible human hope and emotion is to be found in
those words. I always have felt that the preparation for Rosh Hashanah should
include a review of the texts of the prayer services beforehand so that one can
savor the majesty and genius that lies embedded in the legacy of our prayer
services. The selichot prayers come to us from Babylonia and North Africa, the
Land of Israel and Spain, France and Germany, and Central and Eastern Europe.
They cover centuries of Jewish life and creativity, piety and
scholarship.
They also record for us dark days of persecutions and
massacres, of trial and testing, and of hope and resilience. Their prose/poetic
style may oftentimes be difficult to understand and decipher but their soul and
message of genius is revealed and obvious to all those who recite their words
with serious intent. May the selichot season usher in a renewed sense of holy
purpose in our lives and may we all be blessed with a good and happy, healthy
new year.
