Preparing for Rosh Hashanah is never an easy job, but this year it’s even harder than usual. In certain areas, the school year starts several weeks before Rosh Hashanah, allowing time to prepare for the Day of Judgment. But this year, because of the way Yom Tov falls out, there are very few school days. This leaves us with the daunting task of leaving vacation mode and preparing for Rosh Hashanah in an extremely short period of time. How can we do this?
Perhaps if we properly use the days of selichos that begin this Motzei Shabbos (for Ashkenazim) we can make up for lost time.
Two Customs
As is well known, there are two customs regarding when we start to say selichos. Sefardim start at the beginning of Elul, and Ashkenazim closer to Rosh Hashanah. What are these customs based on?
The Ran (see Biur HaGra O.C. 581:1) explains that they are based on the disagreement in the Gemara in regards to when the world was created. Rabi Yehoshua says it was created in Nissan, and Rabi Eliezer says it was in Tishrei. According to the latter opinion, since man was created on the sixth day, which was a Friday, it follows that that the first day of creation was on a Sunday, the 25th of Elul. Ashkenazim follow this opinion and should, therefore, begin selichos on the 25th of Elul. However, as it falls out on a different day of the week every year, it was established that selichos should begin on the Sunday before Rosh Hashanah, the day of the week that creation began.
In addition, poskim explain that before a person would bring a korban he would inspect it for four days to ensure that it did not have any hidden blemishes. So too, since we will be offering ourselves as a korban to Hashem on Rosh Hashanah we must examine ourselves for at least four days. Therefore, we always need a minimum of four days of selichos for self-introspection. So if Rosh Hashanah falls out on any day of the week earlier than Thursday (as it does this year), we start selichos on the Sunday of the week prior.
Sefardim, however, follow the opinion of Rabi Yehoshua that the world was created in Nissan, which means that Creation began in Adar. Thus, they begin saying selichos at the beginning of Elul, which marks the beginning of the forty days of goodwill during which Moshe was on Har Sinai receiving the second luchos.
But now a difficult question arises. According to the above explanation, the reason Ashkenazim start selichos on Motzei Shabbos is that it is the first day of the week – which seemingly has nothing to do with Shabbos having ended. On the other hand, the grand finale of the first night of selichos is the beautiful and stirring pizmon “B’motzei menucha,” which begins: “B’motzei menucha k’dam’nucha techila – After the departure of the day of rest we approach you in prayer.” These words point to the fact that there is a connection. This requires explanation.
Furthermore, let us understand what it means that we offer ourselves as a korban on Rosh Hashanah and what we are supposed to be searching for during these days of selichos.
Come Back!
Examining the selichos you will notice that many of the tefilos lament the bitter galus and our distance from Hashem. Wouldn’t it make more sense to beseech Hashem for forgiveness during this time? The obvious answer is that all our sins and deficiencies in our servitude of Hashem stem from the fact that we have drifted away from Him. On Rosh Hashanah, we come back to the King’s palace and remind ourselves of our true status: We are Hashem’s children – royal princes. Thus, with these prayers we express our pain at being distant from Him, and declare how much we long to come back!
On Rosh Hashanah we will offer ourselves as a korban. We will throw away all our lusts and our pursuit of the empty, mundane aspects of this world and declare our dedication to Hashem. During these days, we examine ourselves to see what our true desires are and what areas in our lives need to be rectified. Beginning selichos on the first day of Creation reminds us that Hashem created the world with a plan and purpose and helps us focus on fulfilling that purpose.
To accomplish this difficult task, we need some extra help. That is why we start selichos on Motzei Shabbos, says the Leket Yosher (a disciple of the Terumas Hadeshen). As we explained above, by saying selichos we express our yearning to come back to Hashem and declare His sovereignty. By doing so, we are bringing upon ourselves, on a small scale, the Shechinah. And the Gemara tells us that the Shechinah only rests upon one who is involved in the joy of a mitzvah. On Shabbos, we are able to learn more Torah, as during the week we are limited by our busy work schedules. Furthermore, we fulfill the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos and we are well rested. With these two factors we turn to Hashem “B’motzei menucha, after the departure of the day of rest.” This is the best time to take that first step in coming back to Hashem.
However, we can add further explanation. Each Shabbos we spend a wonderful day with Hashem, but we want what we gained from Shabbos to continue even after the day has passed. Seforim tell us that Motzei Shabbos helps us do so. We first recite Havdalah, whose purpose the Rambam says (Shabbos 29:1), is to sanctify and praise Shabbos as it leaves. We also eat melaveh malka and escort the queen specifically during the beginning hours of the weekday so that we can take the holiness of Shabbos with us into the week.
During these special moments, when the regular weekday is still under the influence of Shabbos, we are able to see how far we have strayed. And of course, the selichos recited during such a special time will have a much greater effect.
So, whether we have been saying selichos since the beginning of Elul or are starting now, let us make sure to properly use this full week. The first step is to utilize this Shabbos to its utmost. Let us make sure to learn extra Torah and to truly enjoy Shabbos with the correct intentions – to celebrate with Hashem the creation of the world. Thus, when we begin saying selichos on Motzei Shabbos it will be a continuation of that extreme closeness to Hashem.
In addition, throughout the week let us make sure to come on time to selichos. And finally, let us learn the meaning of the thirteen middos that we recite over and over again. When we understand Hashem’s never-ending mercy and kindness, we will recite them with more feeling, and that will instill in us an extreme desire to come back to Him. And then we will merit Hashem’s answer: “I forgive!”
