Sephardim Begin Month Of Selihot With Sense Of Wonder

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Written by Zaydee Gaga

Sephardic Jews the world over began the month of Elul yesterday with Selihot prayers that will continue daily until Rosh Hashana. Some have the custom to recite the prayers at midnight while others arise an hour before dawn to join their fellow Jews in shul for the heartfelt service. I ran into two Sephardic friends yesterday, one late at night on his way to shul, and the other on his way home from services in the morning. Both wondered the same thing and expressed their feelings to me. “Why do Ashkenazim choose to say Selihot for only a few days prior to the new year? Don’t they realize that the entire world is judged at that time? We wonder if even a month is enough to express all our concern for mistakes and suffering of the past year and our hopes for a more healthy and spiritually productive year to come.” I nodded silently, thinking that as an Ashekenazic Jew I had nothing to say in reply.

Later that day I called my friend the noted attorney Charles Hariri, and I mentioned to him how his Sephardic colleagues had put me on the spot. Rather than sympathize, he piled it on. “Listen, I’m an attorney, right? If I have a big case coming up in court, do you think that one month is enough preparation? I’m working on it for much longer than that. The Sephardic Rabbis did us a favor by starting Selihot at the beginning of Elul. I wonder why the custom never caught on among the Ashkenazim.“

I’m not going to say Selihot for the whole month. But I hope my holy Sephardic buddies keep me in mind.

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