Note 101 — II. OUR DUTIES. (continued 4)

The reason Tradition assigns for this observance is as follows: After the giving of the Law Moses ascended Mount Sinai on the 7th of Sivan, and descended on the fortieth day, the 17th of Tammuz, with the tables of testimony. On the 18th he ascended again, and spent forty days in prayer for forgiveness for Israel; and ascended for the third time on the 1st of Elul, and returned on the 10th of Tishri with the Divine message, “I have pardoned in accordance with thy words of prayer.” Cherishing the hope that we may ourselves receive such a heavenly response on the Day of Atonement, we follow the example of Moses, and add these Selichoth or devotional exercises to our daily prayers, while the sound of the shofar aids in awakening us to earnest reflection and true improvement.

There are various names for these additional prayers: ‏תחנונים‎ “Supplications,” and ‏סליחות‎ “Prayers for forgiveness,” the latter being the general name for the early additional Service. Some of them have special names: ‏פתיחה‎ “opening” (i.e., the first prayer); ‏פזמון‎ “psalm,” a hymn sung or recited alternately by the Reader and the congregation; ‏עקדה‎ a composition referring to the binding of Isaac; ‏תחנה‎ “supplication,” generally at the end of the Selichoth. Prominent among these prayers is the recitation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7) and the “Confession of sins” (‏ודוי‎). ↑