More Than Words: The Inner Work of S'lichot

This Saturday night, some synagogues around the world will hold special services known as S’lichot, part of the broader spiritual preparation for the intense and sacred days of Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur. These services, often held late at night or early in the morning, invite us to begin speaking the language of forgiveness, compassion, and return (t'shuvah), not just in theory, but in the rhythm of our prayers and in the posture of our hearts.

The word S’lichot means “forgiveness”, and the S’lichot prayers include poetic confessions, psalms, and repeated recitations of the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy (Exodus 34), which tradition teaches were revealed to Moses as the key to God's forgiveness. These texts offer us not just a plea for absolution, but a spiritual vocabulary to help us confront our shortcomings with honesty, courage, and hope.

Historically, the practice of S’lichot has developed in different ways across the Jewish world. Sephardic communities recite S’lichot every weekday morning throughout the entire month of Elul, starting on the first day of the month and continuing until Yom Kippur. In Ashkenazic tradition, S’lichot begin on the Saturday night before Rosh haShanah, as long as there are at least four days before the new year begins. When Rosh haShanah falls early in the week, as it does this year, Ashkenazic S’lichot begin a full week earlier to allow for that minimum period of spiritual preparation.

But whether recited for a month or a week, S’lichot is not just about more prayer, it’s about deepening the work of Elul. It’s about moving from general reflection to specific self-examination, from abstract ideas to the concrete details of our lives: the conversations we avoided, the harsh words we regret, the promises we didn’t keep. S’lichot invites us to approach the High Holiday liturgy not as something external or mechanical, but as the echo of a process we are already deeply invested in. When we stand in front of the open ark on Rosh haShanah or beat our chests on Yom Kippur, we want those moments to resonate with the inner work we’ve already begun.

This week, even if we are not having daily S’lichot services at Bet David, I invite you to take that step and engage more deeply in the process of spiritual assessment. Take time to reflect, to journal, to study a psalm or a prayer. Reach out to someone you need to speak to. Sit with the discomfort of change and with the hope that comes from knowing that change is possible. The High Holidays are approaching. Let’s meet them with hearts already open.

Shanah Tovah uMetukah, may this be the beginning of a good and sweet year, one in which each of us moves closer to our full potential.