Is An Early Selichos Allowed?

The Pre-Chatzos Gatherings

Over my time in the rabbinate I’ve learned that there are a number of constants—occurrences so predictable that I often anticipate them long in advance. One of them is a complaint, or “suggestion,” that I always receive at this time of year.

It involves the first night of Selichos on Motzaei Shabbos, which is traditionally recited after chatzos—around 1 a.m., not the most convenient time.

It goes without saying that our goal is not to question other shuls, chalila. Rather, our purpose is to give chizuk to those who still attend a 1 a.m. selichos who have begun to wonder and question me if there is even still a point to continue doing so.

Whether kitniyos on Pesach or standing for Kiddush, discussing the efficacy of changing to an other’s minhag would never be seen as disparaging to its true practitioners. Similarly here, there are those in certain cities, such as London, whose minhag is to recite an “early” Selichos, as well as certain communities as well, such as the chasidim of Gur and Vizhnitz. We would never question such practices.

In speaking with older rabbanim, I have learned that the pressure for an earlier Selichos apparently began in earnest only in the past few decades. If one shul adopts this practice, there is automatically pressure on a neighboring shul, causing a ripple effect.

So, why are so many rabbanim so insistent on this later time for this selichos?

The Chofetz Chaim writes, “Before chatzos, we are not to say any Selichos or the Yud Gimmel Middos shel Rachamim, no matter the reason, except on Yom Kippur” (Mishnah Brurah, siman 565:12, quoting the Magen Avraham, se’if 5).

There are four concerns about a pre-chatzos Selichos.

First, the kedushah of Shabbos doesn’t end abruptly; instead, it fades gradually until chatzos. The Arizal, for instance, would not mourn the Churban after Shabbos until chatzos (see also Shaarei Teshuvah and Birkei Yosef on siman 581).

Secondly, we all know that certain tefillos, such as Tachanun and Avinu Malkeinu, are omitted at certain times, such as at night, and on certain occasions, such as at shivah, and even on Yom Kippur if it falls on Shabbos. This is often due to an inappropriate mix—for example, not mingling the simchah of a chasan with the din of Tachanun,or not wanting to add the din of Tachanun to the din of night.

In the latter case, such techinos are omitted until the period of din concludes, which is at chatzos (see siman 131, Mishnah Brurah, se’if 18, et al.). Selichos, and certainly the crescendo of the Yud Gimmel Middos shel Rachamim, are therefore not recited at night before chatzos, except on Yom Kippur (see shu”t Yechaveh Daas 1:46, where Rav Ovadia Yosef rules that one who happens upon a Motzaei Shabbos early minyan should not recite these tefillos with them).

Thirdly, Selichos are intended to be recited during an eis ratzon.The Shulchan Aruch says that this is the last three hours of the night, but many move it back, beginning at chatzos (siman 581 with Magen Avraham). Indeed, historically, the first Selichos was said in the early hours of Sunday morning, leading into Shacharis.

Although an eis ratzon can be created simply by convening a minyan in a beis haknesses (see Brachos 8 and Yevamos 49), during these days of din we want to take advantage of the natural eis ratzon that occurs in time (shu”t Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 2:105). One need not be a historian to figure out that from time immemorial we have been reciting selichos on this night deep in the night, mostly hours before sunrise. One can simply peruse the language of the pizmonim and techinos of this first night of selichos: ‘b’zaakum b’oid leilah,’, ‘kumnu b’ashmuros’, etc..

 In fact, the Aruch HaShulchan rules that even those who recite this night’s selichos the next day (which is certainly allowed, if not the premier method for one who can not make a chatzos selichos or an early morning one) must skip those and similar statements (561:4).

Although Rav Moshe Feinstein is often quoted as allowing an earlier Motzaei Shabbos Selichos, here is his exact language:

[After an exhaustive review of this topic]

...“One may allow [an earlier Selichos] in a time of great need, where if they were to recite [Selichos] later, the whole matter will become nullified [no minyan will show up] and they will be deprived of the awakenings of teshuvah. But it must be publicized and made known that this is only a hora’as sha’ah [allowance for extraordinary circumstances] due to a great and unique need; that it is only for this year; and that next year Selichos will be recited in its proper time…”

• Shu”t Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 2:105

This doesn’t read as a ringing endorsement. We should also note that this was written in 1959, certainly a shaas hadechak in America.

Every rav will make the right decision for his shul. There are indeed many kiruv-oriented shuls, out-of-town kehillos, etc. who need to rely on this allowance.

But for my shul, I can find no basis or source for an extra earlier minyan just so more people will come—especially because it will certainly diminish the powerful practice of “B’rov am hadras melech,” glorifying Hashem through a large crowd, at the chatzos minyan, and will, perhaps and in time, extinguish it completely.

While a subject for another post, a rav allowing the breach of the ‘small’ so as to avoid a breach of the ‘big’ is summarily dismissed by the poskim and may also suffer from ‘reductio ad absurdum’. .

Should a shul, say, offer breakfast before Shabbos morning davening?

After all, this will certainly bring in more people for pesukei d’zimra -an actual Talmudic demand as opposed to the minhag of selichos – and one can find even more on which to rely when it comes to eating before davening!

When I was learning in Eretz Yisrael, I recall people waking up excitedly at 2 a.m. to “catch the game” or some other matter of interest. We have all been so excited about something or other that we couldn’t sleep. Once a year, let’s show Hashem that we can summon, or attempt to summon, or just imitate these feelings for Him and for teshuvah.

• I’d like to conclude our discussion of ‘inconvenient’ selichos with an excerpt from the diary of Max Lilienthal, written in the 1850s, when he served as a Reform rabbi in Cincinnati. Years earlier, Sergey Oborav, the Russian Minister of Education, had appointed Lilienthal as the liaison between the Czarist authorities and his Jewish compatriots. His task was to convince yeshivos to surrender their daily schedules to will and whims of the government. On his way to Volozhin, he stopped in Vilna. Reminiscing on that trip, he wrote the following:

“…The following Sunday was the first day of Selichos service to commence at 4 a.m. I hurried into the streets, and what a strange spectacle presented itself to my eyes! An uncommon noise of loud steps arrested my attention, and emerging from all quarters I saw persons enveloped in immense white clothes, with a burning light before them, stepping and marching in all directions. I really thought that the resurrection of the dead had made its beginning…

“I stood in silent expectation waiting for some of these strange manifestations to come nearer in order that I might be enabled to distinguish whether they were alive or specters. I soon found out that they were the pious ladies of Vilna, who hurried so early to the synagogues. Each of them was provided with a pair of wooden slippers, which made such an infernal noise on the pavement… The spectacle of thousands of women in the deep night, each carrying a burning lantern, made me feel that the whole city seemed to be roused and to form a ghostly procession. After having recovered from my astonishment, I went to the synagogue, which was filled well nigh to its utmost capacity…

“During the Selichos days, the one hundred synagogues of Vilna were crowded to the utmost, and everybody prepared for the New Year service. Even the businessmen stayed in the morning a few hours longer in the batei hamidrash. In the evenings, the rich and the poor, the merchant and the tradesman, the aged and the youthful, assembled in the numerous places of worship to listen to the lectures of the maggidim, who were calling the attention of their faithful audience to the approaching day of judgment.

“Though the schools had been closed since the beginning of Elul, the children did not run about the streets but visited the synagogues with their parents, as if the awe and reverence of those days of repentance had already taken hold of their innocent minds. Alms were richly bestowed upon the poor and needy, the benevolent institutions were well supplied, and every man seemed to be resolved upon amending his ways as far as he was able…” ●