S’lichot

Toward the end of the month of Elul, on the Saturday night before Rosh HaShanah, we gather as a community and recite s’lichot, prayers of penitence.

The S’lichot liturgy contains some of the most beautiful Jewish religious poetry ever composed. These prayers and poetry are meant to inspire us to begin the process of asking forgiveness — from God, from our loved ones, from ourselves — for whatever we did wrong in the past year.

With strains of the High Holy Day melodies and the beautiful voices of our cantors to guide us, we utter our first confession of the season and sing Sh’ ma Koleinu, asking God to hear our voices.

S’lichot is also a time of transition and transformation, and our clergy dress our Torah scrolls in white in preparation for the upcoming High Holy Days.