Editing Selichot (section)

== Selichot of the High Holidays ==
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - “Slichot” Prayer (1).jpg|thumb|Man reciting Slichot prayers at the Western Wall, 2008]]
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - “Slichot” Prayer (2).jpg|thumb|Another man with a [[shofar]] during the Slichot prayers, also at the Western Wall.]]
In the [[Sephardic law and customs|Sephardic tradition]], recital of Selichot in preparation for the [[High Holidays]] begins on the second day of the Hebrew month of [[Elul]]. In the [[Nusach Ashkenaz|Ashkenazi tradition]], in years where the first day of [[Rosh Hashanah]] begins on a Thursday or Saturday, selichot are recited from the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.  If, however, the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on a Monday or Tuesday, selichot are recited from the Saturday night more than a week before Rosh Hashanah to ensure that it is recited at least four times. This may be because originally the pious would fast for ten days during the season of repentance, and four days before Rosh Hashanah were added to compensate for the four of the [[Ten Days of Repentance]] on which fasting is forbidden – the two days of [[Rosh Hashanah]], [[Shabbat Shuvah]], and the day preceding [[Yom Kippur]]—and, while the fasts are observed by very few today, the Selichot that accompanied them have been retained. Alternatively, the Rosh Hashanah liturgy includes the Biblical phrase "you shall observe a burnt offering", and like an offering which needs to be scrutinised for defects for four days, so too four days of self-searching are needed before the day of judgment.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oztorah.com/2011/09/soul-searching-in-the-selichot-ask-the-rabbi/ |title=Soul Searching in the Selichot |author=Rabbi Raymond Apple |publisher=oztorah.com}}</ref>

In the [[Italian Nusach|Italian rite]], selichot always begin on a Monday or Thursday shortly before Rosh Hashanah. If Rosh Hashanah falls on Monday, they begin the previous Monday.  If Rosh Hashanah falls on a Tuesday, they begin on the Monday eight days before.  If Rosh Hashana falls on Thursday, they begin the previous Thursday.  If Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, they begin the Monday of that week.<ref>Machzor Shadal, Livorno 1856, Volume 2, Folio 1a.</ref>

Selichot refers to both the [[piyyut]]im that compose the service as well as to the service itself. In most Sephardic communities, selichot services are identical each day. However, some [[North Africa]]n communities recited different selichot on Mondays, Thursdays and Shabbat, following the order in ''Siftei Renanot'', while keeping the "standard" order on days without Torah Reading.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ykr.org.il/modules/Videos/page/418|title=סליחות – ג'רבא ולוב- שפתי רננות -|access-date=3 February 2016|archive-date=25 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825212628/http://www.ykr.org.il/modules/Videos/page/418|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the Eastern Ashkenazic tradition, although the text and length of specific prayers varies from day to day, the overall format remains the same and is prefaced by [[Ashrei]] ({{bibleverse||Psalms|145|HE}}) and the Half-[[Kaddish]].  In the Western Ashkenazic tradition, there is similarly an overall format, but it begins with Adon Olam or Lecha Hashem Ha'Tzedaka, and the Half-[[Kaddish]] follows the first set of the thirteen attributes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEVjAAAAIAAJ|title=סדר סליחות מכול השנה כמנהג אשכנז|first1=וולף|last1=היידנהיים|first2=Shalom ben Jacob|last2=Cohen|date=1 January 1833|publisher=ג. להרברגר|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Selichot are usually recited between midnight and dawn. Some recite it at night after the [[Maariv]] prayer, or in the morning before [[Shacharit]], due to the convenience of synagogue attendance when a prayer is already taking place there.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The most popular night of Selichot in the Ashkenazi tradition is the first night, when many women and girls as well as men and boys attend the late-night service on Saturday night. In some communities, the [[hazzan]] wears a [[kittel]] and sings elaborate melodies. In some congregations, it is not unusual for a [[choir]] to participate in this first night's service.<ref>[https://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4350/jewish/What-Are-Selichot.htm What Are Selichot?]</ref> In the Eastern Ashkenazic tradition, this night also has more Selichot than any other night prior to Rosh Hashanah eve. The other nights are sometimes more sparsely attended and those services are often led by a layperson, rather than a trained musician, and with melodies that are less elaborate than the first night.

In addition to the Selichot of the High Holiday period, the recitation of Selichot on Yom Kippur itself is the centerpiece and most important part of the liturgy,<ref>See [[Jacob ben Asher]], Tur OC 620.</ref> recited in all of the prayers of the day.  Beginning in the late 19th Century,<ref>[[Daniel Goldschimdt]], Yom Kippur Machzor, [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=22323&st=&pgnum=12&hilite= page 13] if the introduction.</ref> many communities in Eastern Europe stopped reciting Selichot except at Maariv and Neilah.<ref>A practice very strongly criticized by Rabbi [[Yechiel Michel Epstein]] in Aruch Hashulchan OC 620:1.</ref> Western Ashkenazic communities, as well as a small number of Eastern Ashkenazic communities, maintain the recitation of Selichot in all of the prayers of Yom Kippur.  Italian rite communities recite Selichot on Yom Kippur in all of the prayers except Musaf. Sephardic communities also recite Selichot at all of the prayers of Yom Kippur, although they recite them after the Chazzan's repetition rather than as a part of it.

=== Categories of Selichot ===
Categories of Selichot in the Ashkenazic tradition may include:
* {{Transliteration|he|Selichah}} ({{lang|he|סליחה}} 'forgiveness') – This is the default Selichah and comprises the vast majority of the Selichot service. These can be subdivided into categories of ''Sheinya'' (with two line stanzas), ''Shelishiya'' (with three line stanzas) and ''Shalmonit'' (with four line stanzas).
* {{Transliteration|he|Pizmon}} ({{lang|he|פזמון}} 'chorus') – These central Selichot vary according to the day and contain a chorus which is repeated after each stanza.
* {{Transliteration|he|Akeidah}} ({{lang|he|עקידה}} 'binding', a word which specifically refers to the [[Binding of Isaac]]) – This Selichah contains the theme of the ''Akeidah'' as a merit for God answering our prayers. In the Ashkenazic selichot rites, these poems are recited on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, during the Ten Days of Repentance, and on Yom Kippur itself (but not during the first days of selichot prior to the eve of Rosh Hashanah). Depending on the specific rite, these poems are recited immediately before or immediately after the Pizmon.
* {{Transliteration|he|Chatanu}} ({{lang|he|חטאנו}} 'we have sinned') – Starting on the evening before Rosh Hashanah [and in the Western rites, even on the first days] and continuing through Yom Kippur, this Selichah is said after the final recitation of the Thirteen Attributes and before the ''[[Vidui]]'' confessional. It contains as its refrain, {{lang|he|"חטאנו צורנו סלח לנו יוצרנו"}} ('We have sinned, our Rock; forgive us, our Creator'). Perhaps the most famous Chatanu Selichah is the [[martyrology]] from the [[Midrash Eleh Ezkerah]] recited in the Eastern Ashkenazic rite during [[Musaf]] on Yom Kippur or at other times in other rites. The recitation of this refrain has been partially or entirely abandoned in many communities.
* {{Transliteration|he|Techinah}} ({{lang|he|תחינה}} 'petition') – It is recited during [[Tachnun]] at the very end of the Selichot service. In the Ashkenazic selichot rites, these poems are recited on the eve of Rosh Hashanah and during the Ten Days of Repentance (but generally not during the first days of selichot prior to the eve of Rosh Hashanah).