How to Learn Selichos

Artwork: Plains (Avacyn Restored), by Adam Paquette

How to Learn Selichos

The aim of this post is not to take up the topic of selichos in general. If you are interested in gaining a basic understanding of what selichos are, I suggest you learn Rabbi Zucker's shiur on selichos in The Kuntress and/or Rabbi Maroof's blog post entitled The Mysterious Power of Selichot. Rather, the objective of this post is to set forth a simple methodology for analyzing and understanding each of the selichos in particular, in a manner that will enhance our personal selichos experience and help make the selichos accessible as a tool for teshuvah.

First and foremost, I must give credit where credit is due. Once upon a time, in my second or third year of yeshiva, Aron S. gave a series of shiurim on selichos. Those shiurim forever changed the way I relate to selichos, and I owe Aron a debt of gratitude for making selichos come alive for me. I only wish that I had recorded those shiurim, or at least taken notes on them. Instead, I'll have to work based on memory. As always, please correct me if I am wrong.

If my memory serves me correctly, Aron explained that selichos is one of the oldest minhagim, predating even the Mishnah. Although the centerpiece of selichos is the recitation of the Yud Gimmel Middos ha'Rachamim, the original minhag also included the recitation of pesukim on themes of selichah and teshuvah. These pesukim were carefully selected, arranged, and - in some cases - modified in order to form a flowing series of supplications. The only remnants of these pesukim we have today are the lengthy introduction to each day's selichos (beginning with לך יי הצדקה, ולנו בושת הפנים) and conclusion of the selichos service (beginning with זכור רחמיך יי וחסדיך, כי מעולם המה), as well as the smaller clusters of prefatory pesukim which we recite before each of the particular selichos which were composed by R' Shlomo ha'Bavli and the other paytanim.

What people might not realize is that these piyutim are based on those clusters of pesukim - those pesukim which constituted the original selichos of ancient times, before any piyutim were composed to accompany them. And that, right there, is the basis of the methodology for learning selichos: if we can define the theme of that cluster of pesukim, then we will understand the theme of the selichah that follows.

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Let's try applying this to the first selichah of Day 2 and see if it works. Here is the cluster of prefatory pesukim as they appear in the sidur:

אִם עֲוֹנֵינוּ עָנוּ בָנוּ יְיָ עֲשֵׂה לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ: (ירמיהו יד:ז) אֲדֹנָי יְיִ סְלַח נָא לַעֲוֹן יַעֲקֹב כִּי קָטֹן הוּא: (עמוס ז:ב) כִּי שָׁחָה לֶעָפָר נַפְשֵׁנוּ דָּבְקָה לָאָרֶץ בִּטְנֵנוּ: (תהלים מד:כו) עוּרָה לָמָּה תִישַׁן אֲדֹנָי הָקִיצָה אַל תִּזְנַח לָנֶצַח: (שם מד:כד) וְעַתָּה יִגְדַּל נָא כֹּחַ אֲדֹנָי כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ לֵאמֹר: (במדבר יד:יז)

Though our iniquities testify against us, Hashem, act for Your Name's sake (Yirmiyahu 14:7). Hashem/Elokim, please forgive Yaakov's sin, for he is small (Amos 7:2). For prostrated to the dust is our soul, stuck to the earth is our belly (Tehilim 44:26). Awaken! Why do You sleep, O my Lord? Arouse Yourself! Do not forsake us forever! (ibid. 44:24). And now, please let my Lord's strength grow great, as You have spoken, saying (Bamidbar 14:17).

First we will examine each of these pesukim on its own, in its context. Next, we will see if we can discern the overall theme of the cluster. Finally, we will read the selichah in light of this theme.

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"Though our iniquities testify against us, Hashem, act for Your Name's sake" (Yirmiyahu 14:7)

This pasuk appears in Sefer Yirmiyahu immediately after a prophecy about a drought which (according to most commentators) took place during the reign of Tzidkiah. Here is the pasuk in context:

The word of Hashem that came to Yirmiyahu concerning the droughts: Yehudah mourns; her cities are devastated, they are blackened like the ground; and the cry of Yerushalayim has gone up. Their officers send out their youngsters for water. They go to cisterns, but do not find water; they bring back their containers empty; they are embarrassed and ashamed and cover their head. Because the ground is parched, for there has been no rain in the land, plowmen are embarrassed; they cover their head. Even the hind in the field gives birth and then abandons [her young], for there is no vegetation. The wild donkeys stand on the hilltops; they suck in the air like serpents; their eyes pine away because there is no herbage. Though our iniquities testify against us, Hashem, act for Your Name's sake, for our waywardness is great; we have sinned against You. O Hope of Israel, its Redeemer in time of trouble, why should You be like a stranger in the land, like a wayfarer who turns off [the road] to sleep over for the night? Why should You be like a man in shock, like a hero who cannot save? But You are in our midst, O Hashem, and Your Name is proclaimed upon us; do not abandon us.

When read in isolation, one might interpret the phrase "though our iniquities testify against us" in a metaphysical-metaphorical sense - namely, that our "record" of iniquity stands as a testimony against us in the Beis Din shel Maalah (The Heavenly Court). In context, however, it appears that the Navi is speaking quite literally: the drought that befell Yehudah and Yerushalayim bears witness to the severity of our iniquities. Radak explains:

“If our iniquities testify against us” – [our iniquities] bear witness against us, for when we see that the rain is withheld from our land, but not the lands of the goyim, this bears witness to the fact that we are being stricken on account [of our iniquities]; nevertheless, act for the sake of Your Name, which is proclaimed upon us.

Main Idea of the Yirmiyahu 14:7: We are cognizant of our iniquities and the severity of our waywardness, for we cannot deny the hashgachic evidence that surrounds us. Nevertheless, do not abandon us, Hashem! Save us - not because we are worthy, but because we are the bearers of Your Name!

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"Hashem/Elokim, please forgive Yaakov's sin, for he is small" (Amos 7:2)

Interestingly enough, this pasuk also appears in the context of an agricultural calamity:

Thus did Hashem/Elokim show me: Behold! He was forming [a swarm] of locusts as the later growth was beginning to sprout; and behold the later growth appeared after the king's reaping. It was when [the swarm] was finished devouring the grass of the earth, that I said, "Hashem/Elokim, please forgive! How will Yaakov survive, for he is small?" So Hashem relented concerning this: "It shall not be," said Hashem.

Thus did Hashem/Elokim show me: Behold, Hashem/Elokim was summoning [His legions] to contend [with Israel] by fire; and it consumed the great depths and devoured the portion of land. And I said, "Hashem/Elokim, please refrain! How will Yaakov survive, for he is small?" So Hashem relented concerning this: "It too shall not be," said Hashem/Elokim. 

Thus did He show me: Behold, the Lord standing on a plumbed wall with a plumb line in His hand. And Hashem said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" I said, "A plumb line." The Lord then said, "Behold, I am placing a plumb line in the midst of My nation Israel; I will no longer continue to forbear them. The high places of Yitzchak will be made desolate and the sanctuaries of Yisrael destroyed; and I will rise up against the house of Yeravam with the sword."  

The first thing we notice is that the baal ha'selichos (the person or persons who selected and arranged these pesukim for the purposes of selichos) changed the language of the pasuk. The pasuk appears in the selichos as a request accompanied by a reason: "Hashem/Elokim, please forgive Yaakov's sin, for he is small" In contrast, the Navi himself poses the request accompanied by a rhetorical question: "Hashem/Elokim, please forgive! How will Yaakov survive, for he is small?" Radak explains the Navi's request/argument:

How will Yaakov survive these decrees [of punishment], for he is small, and he will remain [but] a few out of many?

I'm not sure why the baal selichos decided to "edit" the pasuk. Perhaps he didn't want to explicitly mention the possibility of our nation not surviving.

Apparently, the Navi's argument worked, and Hashem relented. Soon thereafter, the nation's sinfulness caused it to incur retribution by fire. The Navi used the same request/argument, and it worked again. But the third time, Hashem said, "I will no longer continue to forbear them." According to the Radak, the plumb line - a device used to precisely measure depth - symbolizes strict justice. By showing the Navi the vision of the plumb line, Hashem made it clear that He would no longer show mercy, and the nation would receive strict justice in the form of (near) utter destruction.

Main Idea of Amos 7:2: We realize that we are deserving of harsh decrees, Hashem/Elokim, but have mercy on us, for we fear that we will not be able to survive the destructiveness of Your retribution!

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"For prostrated to the dust is our soul, stuck to the earth is our belly" (Tehilim 44:26) "Awaken! Why do You sleep, O my Lord? Arouse Yourself! Do not forsake us forever!" (ibid. 44:24)

These two pesukim are taken out of order from a single chapter of Tehilim. Here is the entire chapter:

For the conductor, by the sons of Korach, a maskil. God, with our ears we have heard, our fathers have recounted to us, the work that You wrought in their days, in days of old. You, with Your own hand, drove out nations, and You implanted them; You afflicted regimes and banished them. For not by their sword did they possess the land, nor did their own arm help them; but by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your Countenance - for You favored them. It is You Who are my King, O God; command the salvations of Yaakov. Through You we shall gore our foes; by Your Name we will trample our opponents. For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me. For You have saved us from our oppressors, and You shamed those who hate us. In God we glory all the day, and Your Name we forever thank, Selah! - Even though You abandon and disgrace us, and You do not go forth with our armies; You cause us to retreat from the oppressor, and our haters plunder for themselves; You deliver us like sheep to be eaten, and have scattered us among the nations; You sell Your nation for no fortune, and You did not inflate their price; You make us a disgrace to our neighbors, the mockery and scorn of those around us; You make us a byword among the nations, a cause for the regimes to shake their heads. All day long my humiliation is before me and my shamefacedness covers me - at the voice of the reviler and blasphemer, because of the enemy and avenger. All this came upon us yet we have not forgotten You, and we have not been false to Your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our footsteps strayed from Your path, even when You crushed us in the place of serpents and shrouded us in the shadow of death. Have we forgotten the Name of our God and extended our hands to a strange god? Is it not so that God can examine this, for He knows the secrets of the heart? Because for Your sake we are killed all the time, we are considered as sheep for slaughter. Awaken, why do You sleep, O Lord? Arouse Yourself! Do not forsake us forever! Why do You conceal Your face? do You forget our affliction and oppression? For prostrated to the dust is our soul, stuck to the earth is our belly. Arise! Assist us! And redeem us for the sake of Your kindness!

The flow of this perek is quite interesting. The author begins by recounting Hashem's hashgachah over our ancestors. He expresses his own trust in that hasghachah, and his recognition that Hashem is the cause of his victory and salvation. But without warning, he transitions into a depiction of Hashem as the cause of our defeat and our oppression at the hands of our enemies. He emphasizes that in spite of all these afflictions, we have not forgotten Hashem, nor have we breached His covenant. The author then raises a question against Hashem's conduct: Considering our unwavering devotion to Hashem's Name, why does He conceal His countenance and abandon us to be destroyed by our enemies? The author concludes with a request for redemption, for the sake of Hashem's kindness.

The first of our two pesukim highlights the low state we are in. Radak explains that "prostrated to the dust is our soul" means we are close to death and our soul is on the brink of departing from our body, whereas "stuck to the earth is our belly" depicts a person who has fallen, but can no longer support his weight with his own hands, and therefore falls with his belly to the ground.

The second of our two pesukim is a plea for hashgachah. On the one hand wee know that "the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" (ibid. 121:4). Still - the Radak explains - when Hashem doesn't intervene to save us from our enemies, we can't help but feel that He is asleep and doesn't see our plight. Moreover, it feels that He has been asleep for many years. David ha'Melech therefore requests, "Do not forsake us forever!"

Summary of Tehilim 44:26 and 24: Hashem, the concealment of Your countenance (i.e. Your hashgachah) has left us in a state of distress. We are close to death and lack the strength to support ourselves - and yet, You seem to be unaware of our suffering! Please do not abandon us!

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And now, please let my Lord's strength grow great, as You have spoken, saying (Bamidbar 14:17)

The last pasuk in the series is from Moshe Rabbeinu's tefilah after the incident of the meraglim. Hashem is angry and declares, "How long will this people provoke Me, and how long will they not have conviction in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with the plague and annihilate them, and I shall make you a greater and more powerful nation than they" (ibid. 11-12). Moshe responds: 

"Then Egypt - from whose midst You brought up this nation with Your power - will hear, and they will say about the inhabitants of this Land, 'They have heard that You, Hashem, are in the midst of this people - that You, Hashem, appeared eye to eye and Your cloud stands over them, and that in a pillar of cloud You go before them by day and in a pillar of fire by night - yet You killed this people like a single man!' Then the nations that heard of Your fame will say, 'Because Hashem lacked the ability to bring this people to the Land that He has sworn to give them, He slaughtered them in the Wilderness.' And now - may the power of my Lord be magnified as You have spoken saying, 'Hashem, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, forgiver of iniquity and willful sin, and Who cleanses - but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon [rebellious] children to the third and fourth generations' - forgive now the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your kindness and as You have forgiven this people from Egypt until now."

Main Idea of Bamidbar 14:7: It is true, Hashem, that Your people deserves utter destruction. Nevertheless, if You destroy them, You will cause a desecration of Your Name among the nations. Therefore, have mercy and forgive these people for the sake of Your kindness. By doing so, this will magnify Your power in the eyes of the nation.

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Let's summarize the ideas that emerged from each pasuk:

• Yirmiyahu 14:7: We deserve punishment, but we request that Hashem save us for His Name's sake.
• Amos 7:2: We deserve harsh decrees, but we fear that we will be unable to survive.
• Tehilim 44:26: We are close to death, and have no strength.
• Tehilim 44:24: Hashem has concealed Himself for too long. 
• Bamidbar 17:4: For the sake of His Name, He should show us mercy.

Now I think the theme of this cluster of pesukim is clear. As has become my custom, I will summarize it in four sentences, in supplicatory form:

We recognize that we have sinned before You and are unworthy of Your salvation, Hashem, as is evident from the afflictions which befall us and which testify to the withdrawal of Your hashgachah. But we are still Your nation, the bearers of Your Name! Therefore, show us kindness for the sake of Your Name, and do not abandon Your people forever. For we are weak and we are on the brink of destruction, and if you continue to conceal Your countenance from us, we will surely perish, and Your Name and the manifestation of Your power will be diminished in the eyes of the nations. 

In short, the theme of this selichah may be summed up as follows: We beseech Hashem to save His weakened and diminished nation from utter destruction, not for our sake - for we are unworthy - but for the sake of His Great Name, which is the basis of Hashem's kindness towards His people.

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Now we can read the selichah in its entirety to see if our definition of the theme is reflected in the words:

Our God, and the God of our forefathers: 

If our iniquities have increased greatly, 

and thickly plaited ropes bear witness against us, 

[if our sins] have caused us to create a rift between the two [of us, God and Israel], 

You will not withhold Your merciful ways. 

You have promised to act with the Midas ha'Chesed,

and it was You Who was from the beginning.

Remember Your flock that You have acquired for Yourself,

and be gracious to the remnants of the ones You called, '[My] first-born.'

You carried us and placed us on the [Holy] City's height,

You settled us on the Patriarchs' rocky peak.

Suddenly You crushed us in the place of serpents.

How long have we waited to go forth [from it] to liberty?

Due to the many [evil] occurrences, and the trembling panic,

my soul is in turmoil, [it is bent] to the dust it abhors.

Prop up the one whose belly sags to the ground!

Awake! Why do You [seem to] sleep, [our] Hope?

May it be Your will to cry, 'Undo your fetters!' to Your prisoners,

[and to] cut short the reckoning for their time of suffering.

Gather up Your dispersed ones, the scattered flock;

when wickedness sees [this], it will clamp its mouth shut.

Keep the vow of kindness and the compact

of the wholesome one, the heaped one, and the builder, my mighty [Patriarchs].

May He command His peace [to us], not to [be] shamed,

turning and changing the times to good.

Although Yaakov is small and poor, 

sickly, despised, and [thought] worthless,

[yet he shall have] life and kindness, a fortress and tower [from God],

as now Your strength is [revealed in its] greatness.

In my opinion, it appears we were correct! The theme we derived from the pesukim is amplified in poetic form by the words of the paytan. Every element from each of the five pesukim can clearly be seen in the selichah, and the stanzas bear out all of the ideas we identified.

This was my first attempt at applying this method, and I am very satisfied with the results. Although it took a lot of time and effort to go through the pesukim, I see that it was worthwhile. When I read this selichah tomorrow morning, I will actually understand and connect to what I am saying. I hope that you have also found this exercise useful, and that you will be granted the time, energy, and insight to apply this method on your own, and that you will be able to unleash the tremendous power of selichos.