With the help of Heaven
Beginning Selichot Before Midnight
A). It is written in Sha’ar HaKavanot (Derush 1 of Ma’ariv): One should not recite any Selichot before midnight, nor mention the Thirteen Attributes of Vaya’avor. This is because nighttime is a time when judgments intensify and the external forces prevail. His words plainly indicate that there is no distinction between reciting Selichot and reciting Vaya’avor, as he found cause for concern in both. The words of Sha’ar HaKavanot are cited in Magen Avraham (siman 565, se’if katan 5), Mishnah Berurah (ibid., se’if katan 12), and Kaf HaChayim (siman 238, ot 8, and siman 581, se’if katan 3). See also Responsa Yechaveh Da’at, vol. 1 (siman 46), where he rejected the words of Igrot Moshe, who wished to argue for leniency in this regard as a temporary ruling.
B). However, I saw that Maran the Chida wrote in Birkei Yosef (siman 581, se’if katan 1) as follows: In places where it is customary to recite Selichot at Ma’ariv, this is an evil and bitter custom; it should be abolished and not practiced. It is improper to mention the Thirteen Attributes except at a time of favor, and one who recites them at Ma’ariv is close, Heaven forbid, to causing spiritual harm. This is from the pious Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, of blessed memory, in his newly printed responsa (siman 30). In ot 2 there, Birkei Yosef writes: One who is sitting in a synagogue where they customarily recite Selichot at Ma’ariv should sit silently, and there is no issue of lo titgodedu. If he wishes, he may recite psalms and the like, but he may recite Vidui, etc. This is also cited in Sha’arei Teshuvah (siman 581). This requires clarification: Why is Vidui, which is the primary mention of sin, permitted, while Selichot is prohibited? Moreover, we say “Forgive us” in every Ma’ariv prayer, and we likewise confess upon the bed before sleep, even before midnight.
Therefore, it appears to me that the entire concern applies specifically to Selichot after which the Thirteen Attributes are recited. This is because the Thirteen Attributes of mercy, which come to remove sins one by one, possess the power to bring forgiveness for sin, as stated in the Gemara, Rosh Hashanah (17b): “Whenever Israel sins and performs this order before Me, I forgive them.” See there. That is, after they have confessed, if they recite Vaya’avor, it has the power to bring forgiveness; thereby, one arouses the dominion of the kelipot, provokes the external forces, and is close to causing spiritual harm. However, there is no prohibition whatsoever in reciting Selichot alone, for it is no worse than Vidui. For whenever one repents at night—does repentance require daytime and not nighttime? This is astonishing.
Based on this, it may be explained what Birkei Yosef wrote: if the congregation recites Selichot and the Thirteen Attributes, he should remain silent but is permitted to recite “mizmorim.” At first glance, if he means chapters of Tehillim, this is within the category of Scripture, and one should not recite Scripture at night before midnight, as Birkei Yosef wrote (siman 238, ot 2) in the name of Gur HaAri. (However, it is possible to distinguish between Tehillim and other Scripture.) It appears that he means the piyyutim and Selichot recited in the Selichot order; since he sits without reciting Vaya’avor, there is no concern. This is also implied by the words of Ben Ish Chai (first year, parashat Ki Tisa, ot 8), that the primary concern is the recitation of the Thirteen Attributes at night.
C). It appears that this is the basis upon which many righteous people rely in beginning the opening of Selichot before midnight. Although the piyyut “Ben Adam Mah Lecha Nirdam” contains mention of forgiveness and sin, this was likewise the practice of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, zecher tzaddik vekadosh livrachah, as written by the Rishon LeTzion, the son of Ravina, in his work Yalkut Yosef (Yamim Nora’im, p. 5). I likewise saw in the sefer Halichot Shlomo (Yamim Nora’im, ch. 1, note 4) that it is permitted to recite piyyutim and Selichot before midnight, and the entire concern is the recitation of the Thirteen Attributes. Rabbi Yalkut Yosef likewise ruled (p. 18, ot 12) that a congregation that gathers to recite Selichot at midnight may begin by reciting Ashrei Yoshvei Veitecha and Kaddish, as well as the piyyut “Ben Adam Mah Lecha Nirdam,” etc., so that they recite the Thirteen Attributes at midnight. There is no concern in this, particularly where there is inconvenience to the congregation.
This response was translated automatically from Hebrew and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Therefore, it may contain inaccuracies and should not be considered a definitive reference.
This response was translated automatically from Hebrew and has not yet been reviewed by a person. It may therefore contain inaccuracies and should not be considered a definitive reference.
