SEPTEMBER 7 • 2023 | 33

Numbers 14:18).
Does this service seem 
like a magical formula 
for compelling God’s 
forgiveness? Maybe not. To 
believe in the possibility of 
repentance, one has to trust 
that doing better matters. 
Someone who accepts an 
implacable theology, who 
believes that neither regret 
nor reform can possibly 
matter, would see no point in 
regretting errors of the past 
and not much hope of doing 
better in the future. We who 
recite Selichot reaffirm our 
trust that God loves us and 
welcomes our repentance. 

Want to 
Learn More?

You can call up videos of 
the Selichot service on 
YouTube. For example: 
• A short excerpt of the 
service as chanted in the 
Spanish and Portuguese 
Synagogue of Montreal.
• A recitation of many 
parts of Selichot by 
Hazzan Yitzchak Meir 
Halfgot and a choir at the 
Park East Synagogue in 
New York in the tradition 
of Ashkenazic Hazzanut. 
• Excerpts from the 
Selichot service from 
the Italian tradition, as 
part of a Hebrew talk by 
Rabbi Jacov di Segni in 
Jerusalem. 
• Selichot in the 
Yemenite tradition at the 
Yad Lebanim synagogue 
in Tel Aviv.
• Selichot service as 
presented at Temple 
Israel in West Bloomfield, 
Michigan. 
• The article, with 
musical examples, at 
“Seliha-Selichot” at the 
Jewish Music Research 
Centre of Hebrew 
University.

As Israelis rejoice in the 
sound of the shofar,
we’re also preparing for 
the wail of the siren.

With the growing threat of a war with Hezbollah, we can’t ensure this Rosh HaShanah 

will usher in a peaceful year. But with a new campaign to add 300 urgently needed 

ambulances to MDA’s fleet, we can save lives no matter what 5784 brings.

Make a donation today or contact us about how you, your family, or synagogue can 

provide the ambulances MDA will need. 

Visit afmda.org/give or call 866.632.2763.

