History

Ashkenazi Communities Begin Selichot Ahead of Rosh Hashanah

Published

Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of a vast crowd of Jewish worshippers filling the Western Wall Plaza at night beneath the illuminated Western Wall, with the Old City skyline and golden Dome of the Rock beyond, drawn in warm ochre and slate-blue pastel with cross-hatching on sepia newsprint.

Ashkenazi communities begin reciting Selichot after Shabbat on September 5, 23 Elul 5786, ahead of Rosh Hashanah. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation says the season continues through September 20, the eve of Yom Kippur, after Sephardi communities began on Rosh Chodesh Elul. It has scheduled 19 principal gatherings at the Western Wall, with cantors, amplification, overflow screens and livestreaming, and expects hundreds of thousands of worshippers. The prayers include requests for the welfare of IDF soldiers and security forces and for Israel’s unity and security.

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