HALACHA OF THE WEEK: The Time for Selichot When Do We Begin to Recite Selichot?
Next Motzaei Shabbat, September 28th we will begin to recite selichot. Why?
According to the Tur [Orach Chaim 581] there are three traditions regarding when one should begin reciting selichot. According to Rav Amram Gaon, selichot were recited only between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur; Rav Hai Gaon began selichot with Rosh Chodesh Elul (which remains the Sefardic custom); and Ashkenazim begin selichot on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah - provided that there are at least four days before Rosh Hashana.
While the first two time frames for reciting selichot seem very logical, why do Ashkenazim choose a time towards the end of Elul and yet before Rosh Hashana?
There are three explanations:
The first is that there was a custom to observe ten days of fasting before Yom Kippur for the purpose of repentance. As always, selichot are recited along with fasting. However, since during the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur there are four days on which it is impossible to fast (the two days of Rosh Hashana, Sabbath, and erev Yom Kippur) four alternate days are set aside beforehand. Nowadays, even though most people no longer fast on these ten days, none the less it remains customary to get up early for selichot during these days. [Mishna Berura 581 note 6].
A second reason for this practice is that on Rosh Hashana a person must "sacrifice himself" before G-d, and since we find that sacrifices had to be prepared and checked for blemishes four days before being offered up, it was decided that selichot be recited four days before Rosh Hashana. Furthermore, in order that people not become confused, it was established that the first reading of selichot take place on Saturday night. [Mishna Berura, ibid.]
Finally, the Ran in his commentary to the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah [16a] cited the custom in Barcelona was to begin selichot on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, giving us 5 days of special prayers before Rosh Hashana. However, as noted before, to avoid confusion, many communities chose to begin selichot on a day of the week - Sunday that would typically fall around the 25th. This notes the Vilna Gaon [Orach Chaim 581] may also be the source of the Ashkenzi custom.
DVAR TORAH In this week’s parsha, we read, once again of the third form of tithes offered by a farmer upon harvesting his crops.
The first, the “maaser rishon,” was the tithe that was taken every year from all of his crops and was given to the Levi. Next, came the “maaser sheni,” the tithe the farmer would separate from the remaining crops, and which, in the first, second, fourth and fifth year of every seven-year Shemittah cycle was to be taken to be eaten Yerushalayim. Finally, came the third form of tithing, the “maaser ani” which was given in the third and sixth years in place of the “maaser sheni” and given to the less fortunate among the Jewish people.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh explained that these three forms of tithes, actually address the three major concerns of a Jew. The first - the “maaser sheni” which supported the Leviim, represent the spiritual needs of the Jew. The second - the “maaser sheni” which is eaten in Yerushalayim, represents our material wealth that we need to remember is a gift from G-d, and therefore are commanded to take it to the place, where G-d’s presence is most strongly felt. And the finally, “maaser ani” represents our communal responsibility - the realization that we do not live isolated from others, but have a responsibility for others. Therefore, we must give of ourselves to the less fortunate, to the stranger, the orphan and the widow.
Interestingly, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Berlin, the Netziv, notes that of the three types of “maser,” it is only this last one - the “maaser ani” that is the purest in form. After all, providing food for the Levi is something he “earned” - both by maintaining the Beit HaMikdash and forgoing an inheritance in the Land of Israel so that he could do so. And the “maaser sheni” which we eat in Yerushalayim, is still something we get to enjoy. However, “maaser ani” is something that we must give, not because the poor person “deserves” it, but because it is our communal responsibility to care for everyone.
It is for this reason wrote the Netziv, that when describing this mitzvah, the Torah writes (Devarim 26:12) - “shnat hamaaser” – the year of the “maaser”. Because only when we give “maaser ani” can the year be called a “year of maaser”
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