The study of Jewish customs – Minhagim – can provide a fascinating insight into the various ways in which different communities understood certain aspects of religious life.
Take, for example, the custom of reciting Selichos. The common practice today is to recite these prayers for forgiveness both before Rosh Hashana and during the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Yet, this is not the only possibility. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4) states that the custom was observed only between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Chabad Chassidim only say Selichos before Rosh Hashana (except for Tzom Gedalia which, being a fast day, also calls for Selichos).
The Rambam’s position is not difficult to understand. Prayer is an integral part of the process of atonement as we cannot take Hashem’s forgiveness for granted. Therefore, during the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur which have been designated as days of Teshuvah, it is certainly appropriate to pray for forgiveness. In fact, we can even offer an argument that the Selichos before Rosh Hashana are not really a preparation for Rosh Hashana at all, but rather additional preparation for Yom Kippur. After all, we have no Selichos on Rosh Hashana and there is no confession on Rosh Hashana. The Rosh Hashana service is actually not focused on sin and its atonement at all. So in what sense could the Selichos be a preparation for Rosh Hashana?
The Chabad custom, however, now becomes even more problematic for in that custom the Selichos are viewed exclusively as a preparation for Rosh Hashana! How is this to be understood?
There is a letter that was sent by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson zt’l to his students in 1937 (included in the collection of letters printed along with the Tehillim Ohel Yosef Yitzchok) in which he recounts a thought of the Ba’al Shem Tov on the verse in Parshas Miketz (Breishis 43:10) in which Yehudah tries to convince his father Yaakov to allow the brothers to bring Binyamin to Mitzrayim. Yehuda says, “If we had not tarried, we could have already returned twice.”
In the Hebrew, the first words of the verse are לולא התמהמהנו. The word לולא, when its letters are rearranged, spells אלול, the Jewish month preceding Rosh Hashana. The phrase thus can be understood this way: If instead of rushing through Elul, we would tarry and utilize every moment for preparation, we could “return” to Hashem twice – first on Rosh Hashana and then a second time on Yom Kippur.
The Rebbe explained that the Teshuvah of Rosh Hashana and the Teshuvah of Yom Kippur are really quite different. The Teshuvah of Rosh Hashana is a “general” repentance. Rather than focusing on our specific misdeeds, it is an overall recommitment to the ideal of accepting Hashem’s kingship and authority. The Teshuvah of Yom Kippur, on the other hand, deals with the fine details of our conduct. It demands that we identify our areas of deficiency, work to rectify them, and thereby we receive atonement and forgiveness.
The Rebbe continues to explain – and this is the part relevant to our earlier questions – that whereas the main preparation for Yom Kippur is after Rosh Hashana, the main preparation for Rosh Hashana is during the time of Selichos. By begging for forgiveness, we impress upon ourselves the idea expressed in the very first line of the liturgy, “Kindness is Yours, Hashem, and embarrassment is ours.” Becoming mindful of our shortcomings, we come to a greater appreciation of how truly beholden we are to Hashem, and thus we readily accept the yoke of his majesty.
The point is so subtle it can be easily missed. But if we appreciate it, it can answer the question we raised. The objective of saying Selichos is not to persuade Hashem to “change His mind” and forgive us even if He was not so inclined. If this would be the objective, the Selichos would have been said only after Rosh Hashana which is when we actually seek forgiveness. The real objective is to impress upon us our debt to Hashem as a way of motivating us to accepting Hashem’s yoke. Thus the most appropriate time for Selichos is during the several days before Rosh Hashana.
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