Selichos (סליחות) — Forgiveness Prayers
Core definition
Selichos — the penitential liturgy recited before dawn on the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah (and on fast days) — centers on the thirteen attributes of mercy (״יג מדות הרחמים״) and the confession of sin. The Chabad seder haSelichos prints the orders for the first through seventh days and erev Rosh Hashanah — each day with its skeleton and distinctive selichos: "Ashrei," kaddish, "Lecha Hashem hatzedakah," "Shome'a tefillah," "Keil melech yoshev," the thirteen attributes, "Kerachem av al banim," "Selach na la'avon ha'am hazeh" [31685/seder_056_selichot :: עב׳ 1–20].
How the Rebbeim develop it
Plowing and sowing. The maamarim read the selichos days through the agricultural parable: "the whole avodah of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur comes through the preparation of plowing and sowing in the month of Elul and the days of selichos" [15881/maamar_007 :: עב׳ 40]. Elul is the soul's accounting (cheshbon) — "this is the matter of plowing"; "in the days of selichos, when it is already well plowed — then it is the sowing"; and what sprouts from this is the Rosh Hashanah avodah — "from the depths I called You, Havayah" (ממעמקים קראתיך ה׳) [15881/maamar_007 :: עב׳ 42–45].
The selichos-days mood. The Rebbe Rayatz's Yiddish recollections describe the Lubavitch atmosphere: "With the selichos' days' arriving — strengthening more and more the serious mood — the Days of Awe starting approaching" — the night of Zachor Brit as "the Days of Awe's wake night"; no one going to sleep on Rosh Hashanah's eve as on a regular night; "every one in his manner preparing to the coming Rosh Hashanah's eve, what leading into the judgment and trial's days" [31654/maamar_012 :: Summary (p. תקם)].
The third day of selichos — a yechidus tradition. The third day of selichos carried a chain-of-transmission secret: "the third day of selichos is the day designated and set aside for the glory of His Holiness my master, father, teacher and Rebbe the Alter Rebbe, for his generations" — to say a maamar before his unique son, the Mitteler Rebbe, alone [31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 45–46]. The Tzemach Tzedek "would say, on the third day of selichos, a maamar of the Alter Rebbe" before the Maharash — "and it went out that no man knew of this"; the Maharash "would say a derush on the third day of selichos" before the Rebbe Rashab; and on the third day of selichos 5655, the Rebbe Rashab "deigned to say before me this derush" — commanding the Rayatz "on the secret until the time when it will merit to be revealed" [31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 49–55].
Key distinctions
- Elul vs. selichos: Elul = accounting, the plowing; selichos = the sowing in the plowed field; Rosh Hashanah = the sprouting [15881/maamar_007 :: עב׳ 42–45].
- Public vs. yechidus: the printed seder is the communal liturgy; the third-day-of-selichos maamarim were said in yechidus (private audience), sealed in secrecy until merited to be revealed [31685/seder_056_selichot :: Intro; 31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 49–55].
Related concepts
- Teshuvah — return; selichos are its liturgical form.
- Elul — the month of accounting; the plowing before selichos' sowing.
- Yud-gimmel middos haRachamim — the thirteen attributes of mercy; selichos' core.
- Yomim Noraim — the Days of Awe; what the selichos days prepare.
Sources
- 15881/maamar_007 :: עב׳ 40–45 — the whole Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur avodah through the preparation of Elul (plowing) and selichos days (sowing); "from the depths I called You, Havayah"
- 31699/maamar_026 :: עב׳ 45–56 — the third day of selichos: the designated day of the Alter Rebbe for his generations; the chain of yechidus maamarim (Alter Rebbe → Mitteler Rebbe → Tzemach Tzedek → Maharash → Rebbe Rashab → Rayatz), commanded in secrecy
- 31685/seder_056_selichot :: עב׳ 1–20 — the printed order: first through seventh days and erev Rosh Hashanah; the skeleton and distinctive selichos
- 31654/maamar_012 :: Summary (p. תקם) — the selichos days' strengthening seriousness; the Days of Awe approaching; the Zachor Brit night as wake night