During the seven days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, extra prayers, especially Selichot (prayers for forgiveness), are added.

'Seek G-d when He is available, call on Him when He is near.'
( Isaiah 55:6)

1. It is customary to get up early in the morning and say the Selichot before Shacharit (the regular morning prayers).

2. The order of prayers in the ten days is the same as in the rest of the year, with the following additions:

  1. Psalm 130 (Mima'amakim) is read in the morning before Barchu, in many congregations.
  2. The phrases beginning zochrenu lechayim; mi chamocha; uchtov lechayim; besefer hachayim are added in the Amidah.
  3. The third blessing is amended to read hamelech hakadosh , and the eleventh (except on Shabbat, when it is not said) is amended to hamelech hamishpat .
  4. Some amend the final blessing of the Amidah to oseh hashalom ; those disapprove of this custom say oseh hashalom instead of oseh shalom at the very end of the Amidah, and in every Kaddish .
  5. In the Kaddish , the word le'eila is repeated ( le'eila le'eila ).
  6. Avinu Malkenu is recited after the Amidah in both Shacharit and Minchah (except on Shabbat).
  7. Psalm 27 is said at the end of Shacharit and Ma'ariv , as in the month of Ellul and during the eleven days after Yom Kippur . (Some say it at Minchah instead of Shacharit .)

3. Tzom Gedaliah ('the fast of the seventh month') is on the third of Tishrei, the day after Rosh Hashanah. The fast lasts from daybreak to nightfall. In the Amidah of Shacharit and Minchah , Aneinu is inserted into the Shema koleinu prayer during silent prayer and said by the reader as a separate blessing in the repetition. Normal fast-day readings are read from the Torah; with the normal fast-day Haftarah in the afternoon.

4. On Shabbat Shuvah the normal Shabbat prayers are said, with the amendments and additions mentioned in §2 above. Avinu Malkenu is not said. The special Haftarah starts with Hosea 14:2-10 ( Shuvah Yisrael , for which the Shabbat is named), followed by Joel 2:15-27 (omitted in some congregations) and Micah 6:18-20.

 

 

 

 

Share           PRINT   
02 Jan 2006 / 2 Tevet 5766 0