Understanding Slichot (Pt II) | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | September 16th 2025

Um you should have two things in front of you if possible um for today's here. We have the source sheets entitled understanding part two and we're also going to spend a little bit of time in the actual themselves. Um what I'd like to do this is a you know part two to to a continuation of what we had done last week is to today we're going to focus last week we focused more on understanding the different minhagim and the different customs um regarding when we start saying where those custom develop the understanding under underlying logic behind those different customs what I'd like to do today is talk more about the structure of theot um gain a little bit more understanding the development of the leot again going we'll even through this lehood and I'll try to point out a bit of a pattern in this leot themselves. I know for me understanding what we were doing or just understanding the different parts of this helped me when I say them um just helps me understand what we're up to when I should skip etc. So, we'll do a little bit of that and then we're also going to hopefully highlight a number of of really beautiful themes uh regarding this um as well. Beforehand again um just as we always do every single week and especially now with the news where um according to the news the the uh the the um the forgive me the word the uh >> the invasion or the or call invasion the uh >> the ground invasion. Israel Israel Israel has has begun a ground invasion in uh in Gaza City. Um so therefore obviously certainly all of our learning should be a protection form um and should be for all those who have been injured in this war and and in general um bring home and in this very complicated time should give wisdom to our leaders to make the right decisions. Okay. So, as I mentioned before, I I I've always found that uh this to be a bit all over the place and hard to follow and and that sometimes just leads to just confusion um or lack of connection to the that we know of asot. And so what I wanted to do to do today was to uh make a little bit of seder of the of themselves. The first thing I wanted to note and if you look here in source number one, it's a fascinating source that I only I only recently found. Um um there is a a beautiful work. it's in Hebrew u by a woman named Schulamit Elitsour um where she did a study on the development of this leot and she and she actually brings something that I thought was very interesting and also helped me understand she points out we'll see it in source number one that the text of this leot as we have it today is actually a a combination of two different minhagim that developed over time and that could be why they appear to be almost confusing or a little jumping all over the place because it actually was two different minhagim that had developed in the time of the goim eventually were combined bind together. And that might be part of why things seem a little bit a little bit confusing. Look at source number one. The actual the actual essay or the actual study uh is in Hebrew. Um I didn't bring it here on the bottom, but um I can I can give you a link for it. It's it's a fascinating fascinating read. So source number one, in the Goonic era in Bavl, two distinct services were discernible. One had its foundation in the integration of liturggical poems within the repetition of the amid by the kipper and on fast days. Meaning the original minhag was that kipur and on fast days as part of the khazarats they would include various types of poems and and different and different types of essays that were meant to elicit certain emotions and certain reactions. They were all kipper in the braha of kushay meaning the brah the main of the and on the rest of the fast days in the brah of between one liturggical poem and another the entire congregation said the verses of the 13 attributes of mercy what we call the mid >> that means during during this >> they used to say it the initial the initial minhug was that it was said in khazarat itself and in fact there was one time during the year where we still do that anyone know anyone know when is the one time where we actually say as part of the of okay and the again think about it that's the most that's that's probably you know the most important of the of and apparently historically the min used to be that they would do that throughout yum kipur and on fast days as well that was where they would institute the now by the way we still do something similar on fast days we have where do we where do we say on typical fast days not on yum obviously but other fast days when do we say the right after meaning that used to be apparently they were as part of the shots at some point it was moved outside of but we still say it right next to right after the as opposed to what is done in where we say it before before the and we're going to hopefully talk about towards the end an interesting an interesting suggestion as Why why we do it the way we do it now? Yes. >> In addition to uh we also say on >> that's true but that's not meaning there's no iter we do say every every of uh the truth is we say it as part of the other as well. It's just towards the end whereas in the it's really a part of the bra of the of the yom. So you're right on there is nohat. So we just say it as like an end as like an addendum to the to the but correct correct it's more integrated into the than it is all other times of the year even on even the other >> that's true we do say we say at that point in time you're right they say I don't think that's a form I mean again fundamentally that is a form of because that's the the earliest is the why we do that then I'm not I'm not sure but you are correct that is you know another time where we try to integrate uh certain bakashot um and it's a very interesting question why we do that I don't know then specifically I don't know okay continuing now in in source number one in the middle of in the middle of this first paragraph between one liturgical poem and another the entire congregation said the verses of the 13 attributes of mercy including opening segments mean these are these are parts of this that we know them today or a part of this opening prayer from God you taught us the lurggical poems are always placed within a framework within a framework within which are different utterances these lurggical poems only they are called meaning historically according to Dr. Elits what we call was referring to only a part of what we now say during the and that is the various pim that we say and they were interspersed between saying which is and which basically part one of what we know as nowadays says Dr. after but there was a second part there was a second minhug that developed as well and that is what we what we were what is referred to in many of the sources as the oft look at the second paragraph in source number one the second service is completely different at its basis it is not connected to fixed prayer at all and its essence is in communal prayer gatherings in the ashore taboker the night watch time toward the morning during the 10 days of repentance and at times also on select days in the month of El this service is called in the sedurum of the gonimshot because it's a reference to the time of the day or ra as from the word trying to attain a certain amount of mercy and its lurggical material in its early sources is different from it includes long sequences of verses petitionary prayers some of them in Aramaic and poetic segments in basic and simple structures in the course of years that that is by the way for many of us as we'll see soon that's the second half of what we know as the first half where we say the team and do that was apparently that was known as and then the second section which was which is for us the second the second part of the where we say all all of those different essays was a separate fil that was done in the morning and it was called or was called it had a different name to it says Dr. After elitour in the course of years these two services merged and sometimes became intermixed to the point of not being able to separate them from the end of the 10th century and perhaps earlier there are testimonies to gatherings of asharot of the days of repentance into which developed were already integrated. So at some point in time says Dr. Elitur these two types of prayer got combined. It is interesting to note that they're still somewhat distinct in the way that we have things set up in our today. By our you'll forgive me. I imagine there's lots of different people here by our I guess that's just my my own my own uh my own self-absorbed. I'm talking about the Ashkenazic whether it's Polin or it's uh but they're very those are different but very very similar. The Spartis is a totally different experience of which I don't have much experience myself. So we're talking mostly today about the about about the Spartic the Spartic and that says Dr. Elite is how our text developed. It developed from two different >> Yeah. What did I say? Sorry. >> Oh, sorry. No. Ashkanazi. I'm very Ashkenazi. Uh Ashkanazi. And that's is Dr. is how ours developed. It developed from two different distinct forms of that that that that that existed that were eventually combined and now they're said either they're no longer connected to the Esray on the fast days. They still are, but during during Elo they are not. And that it kind of hopes gives a bit of a picture as to why things are a little bit you know I think very busy for us because it really is two different types of tilot that were eventually combined. At the same time there is a certain structure to this and this is highlighted by the lavush. The lavush there commentary on the on the asks a very interesting question. The lavush notes that at the very very end of this we say kadesh and we say a very specific type of kadesh. There are different types of kadesh. We're not going to get into that now. There are certain kadesh as we know that the mourers say that's called kades raan or kadesh yasum. And then there are and then there is a kadesh that generally theore says the the person who's dvening says and there's a specific kadesh that is usually only reserved for after we say that is known colloially as kadeshel. Why is it known as kadesel? Because we insert an extra line. That line is typically only reserved for a kadesh that takes place after because what it is is a line asking that the of our should go up to okay without getting into all of the details. You'll take my word for it. That's that that is called and we only say it sometimes we don't sometimes we say it right after sometimes we say it a little bit later but it's only reserved for after you say a says why is it that we say after isn't the classic prayer in the way that we know it and yet the minhug is we say why is that so says the lush if you look very carefully The structure of the way that we have it very much mirrors our and look what he look at what he says. Source number two. Usually the rule is you only say with that extra line of after you finish because when the the meaning of asking Hashem to listen to our prayers usually refers to and what is the standard main text of the usually when we say the word it's a reference He says, "The truth is is that our the style of the way that it is structured mirrors our daily in what way? We open up with we open up with ashray and then we open up with all of those are areukim. So that is meant to mirror the process of which we say every single morning, right? We open up our doning most the first part of our morning is an introduction preparing for the He says what we call the main they are they are the main that is the most authentic that's the comes from that is the commanded to mohe said you should say this whenever are in need of kapar that says is in place of that has the status of that is the main theukim preparing us and Then even it's a different type of because we say it intermittently between other types of team but that has the status of the and then towards the end after we add on other we then say and is something we do every day after. So says the if you take a step back and you look at the structure it has a certain mirror to our regular and therefore he concludes that is why we're able to end it with because actually have the status of a real mirrored after the uh that we have that we have on a daily basis. Okay. So I just brought this for you to show you that that on the one hand there's a reason why things are a little all over the place because because historically the fo are a mix that came together but in addition there is a certain structure that has developed over time even if at first glance things seem to be all over the place there is a method some of method to the badness and as says it creates a certain a certain overall theme or a certain over overall structure which enables us to then say which we normally reserve serve for proper like now what I'd like to do now is with your permission is we're going to just go through a little bit of the text again we're not going we're not going to translate that we're not going to translate the words of this it'll take way too long but I think there is an important you know it's helpful to understand a little bit more exactly what's happening at the various parts of this so let's turn I think everyone I think most of you should have the standard uh this standard we're just going to turn even we'll just go turn to leon to the very beginning and what we're just going to do is is really just go through the part of this I think it starts starts on >> gimmel >> on gimmel thank you okay on gimmel on gimmel okay so if you look if you anyone needs there's a couple of copies here um okay we're just picking one the first day and and and so so again open with ashray why do they open with ashray well we want to begin this in order to show a certain amount of seriousness. We want to open with kades. Kadesh lends a certain credence to it. But you're not supposed to say kadesh without having introductory. And so ash, which is just one of the most standard and most beautiful praises of a kadeshu is picked as the introduc as the introduction before we say before we say the kadesh and because it's also again as many people know it follows the alfbet. Um and therefore that's why that is why that was chosen. Ashray is the opening. We then open with kadesh. Kadesh is just a way to set the to set the tone for the for this because kadesh certainly kati kadesh is what's used as a well we always say before we say shimona esray before we enter a new part of we always have kadesh and that's why we do it here as well. After that we begin by really just introductoryim. Okay. Um we're not going to go through each of these but if you look at each these tukim are not all are not usually all put together. they're a little bit more familiar to us. Some of them do come and some of but many of them are just a mixture of sukim from various places in that are all there again to get us into a certain tone of okay so if you just if you just pay attention to the difference it's it's again much of what we're doing over the course of is actually a preparation for the midot they they are the key to to this because they are the most authentic that is the as I spent as I mentioned that Hashem told Moshe this is what should be head um when people are are are looking for for kap and much of what we're trying to do is to just help us set the mood and the tone so that we can get into that into that into that framework that's happening in and the next paragraph on page hey again these areim from all over some of them are just randomly placed meaning not random meaning some of them follow each other even in the and other times it's just a mixture of sukim from all over by the way most Sukimra is the same way. Oh, if you're there, um, >> it has the sources of the different sukim. Yes, I was I Yeah. Yeah. Quran art school, many of them have the sources of where these sukim are are taken from. By the way, just important to note as a side note, most of is the same. Okay. Much some of is actually taken directly. All the ashray and the halalucas are actual taken paragraphs from from safer toim. But much of of of all over that were put together to we associate them next to each other because we've said it so often that we're used to those sukim being near each other but they're not necessarily in tanak put next to each other and these are just an assortment a collection of tukim that are meant to help create that that um that mindset. Okay. Then you have uh then you have if you continue on to page Z just to understand you have what's called look if you look at page Z you have what on top it's called a okay this is the first of the put okay are what's the best word for it I mean one word that I saw that was used was elegies okay they are different um poems poems I don't know if poem is the right word either because poem makes it sound like it's happy and exciting it's they're they're they're challenging okay the best I guess mirror I can think of it's similar ilar to what we say when we say keynote shaba. They're basically elegies that that were written by various authors. Many of them are are some are some are known and some are unknown describing various themes. Now, we're going to we're going to see in a second that interestingly enough the themes of many of the team are very different from the from the classic theme of that we normally are used to for the rest of the Okay. But what you're supposed to do during again the key to understanding these uh these these pim is not necessarily to make sure to say every word. The purpose of these put is to help again it's different ways different methods to get us into a mode and a mood of repentance of chuva of the and so if reading these words in English is easier for you certainly this part whenever we get to the pim if reading them in English is more meaningful to you than reading them in Hebrew because reading it in Hebrew or because the shall I go to rushes through them and I can barely say five words if you can say only the first few lines and it and it's more meaning for you to either do it in English or to just do it slowly then then you should we're going to get to certain parts of this you should certainly be saying with the tur but this part of the these in particular are are really just meant to help elicit a certain mindset and a certain emotion and however that personally can be done for you you should do so here you have what's called the introductory pute okay and again a lot of the pe team are are are are very are very sad are very painful um and if you In fact, if I want I want to now just skip for one second um to back to our source sheets for one minute. If you look at source number three, I wanted to bring you a beautiful uh a beautiful explanation that Rabbi Mosha Taran was a was a Rebi in in Yeshua Harion and he has a weekly column in shout out to the Torah tidbits. Um and um this is this this appeared a number of years a couple of years ago. He was writing about this and he and he and he brings a very interesting perspective on the place of these put of these of these eleies within the look at source number three. Through the divinely authored list of the 13 traits of mercy provides the though sorry though the divinely authored list of the 13 traits of mercy provides the foundation of throughout history numerous putim or elegies were added to this core. Overwhelmingly, these elegic poems describe our longsuffering through our extended exile. To a limited extent, these put voice remorse for sin, sincere confession and desire for forgiveness. Meaning sometimes the putim do highlight what what are meant to be the main themes which is our our desire feeling our remorse for for sinning, desire for chuva. But if you lift, if you pay attention, many of them continues uh Rabbi to continue to write. However, primarily they portray the sadness of Jewish suffering. Much of what these these gutim are about is just basically shouting to Hashem and saying, "Look how bad things are. Look how bad we are. Look how bad the the the situation is for us." Continues again. The excruciating tone of these dures is understandable as they were composed during a very gloomy era of our history. Though some of the earlier pimas ashkinazic leot were written in the 9th century and some of the later ones were composed in the 17th century the majority were written between the 11th and 13th century in western Europe. The medieval authors of these putim bore the bore the violent brunt of crusader hostility constant inquisitions and explosions uncontrollable blood liels forced baptism and brutal pgrams. In these putim they vented their pain while looking to hashem for salvation. These putim are period pieces conveying desperation, tragedy, but also endless hope and faith. The dark world was crashing around them, but their faith remained unbroken. These putim are spectacularly defined in the face of unimaginable monstrosities. Gradually, the art of pe faded, newer ones weren't written, and these medieval pim became institutionalized in our are therefore sused with Jewish suffering and with our legacy of faith and less with the classic themes of chuva and remorse for our sin. The rest of talk about chuva talk about wanting to return to hashen. Yet these pim focus on suffering continues rabbit. Uh why this second voice ofot sounding the suffering of Jewish history plays a crucial role in our when facing religious failure we feel sadness frustration guilt and mortification. All of these humbling emotions hopefully inspire us to resolute commitment for future improvement. During this painful process of self-examination, we also bargain with Hashem. We look for some excuse, any excuse to at least partially absolve our colossal failures. Aram Danzig, the 18th century Polish author of the classicer known as Kayodam also composed the earnest confessional known as Zaka. Many people have the to say that before Yum Kipur, which is recited as Yum Kipur commences. Toward the middle of this melancholy vidoy and acknowledgement of past religious breakdowns, we plead with Hashem to consider our daily struggles when judging us. Part of our religious failure is due to the constant pressure of daily life. We don't invoke these struggles to completely exonerate ourselves of responsibility. But we do ask Hashem to factor these and other personal struggles struggles into his evaluation of our behavior. Similarly by mentioning past Jewish suffering inot we expect Hashem to exercise partial clemency. So says says part of why these have become part of this is it's almost like us turning to and saying we want to come back but that there's just so much that's that's happened to us over the generations that makes it harder. It's almost as if we're as we come to it's like someone pleading for their life in front of the judge. any and all excuses or any and all defenses that we can bring in front of we bring and says these is one of those defenses where we turn to Hashem and say look at how much we have suffered over the years. Please take that into account when judging our mentality, when judging the way we approach things, when judging I'll give just just to give one example that just came that just came to mind. Um you know obviously one of the more one of the more modern historical tragedies that happened to the Jewish people in the last h 100red years is the Holocaust. And many people I I although I personally uh had all four grandparents who were born in America and I didn't have um my wife did have did have grandparents who were from the Holocaust but I've heard many people talk about the impact of the Holocaust mentality on the way they grew up on the way they carry themselves on their personality based on how their parents or grandparents dealt with the after effect. So that's just one example where these things that have happened to us collectively as a people sometimes impact the way that even we act and the way that we carry ourselves. And we're turning to and we're saying we want to have that. We're not absolving or exonerating ourselves of any kind of uh of of of responsibility. But at the same time take into account what we as a people have suffered from what we've gone through. and take that into account when you judge us both on a personal and a and on a communal level. Yes, I saw just one question first >> say then that the road that we have with the astronaut versus would be very different in a sense. >> Yes. I mean as someone who has not who has never been there for for so I can't tell you for sure. Um, but I I've heard it. Um, and and we I think we discussed this maybe last week, but generally the have a totally different tune than the Ashkanazi. The have an almost like optimistic upbeat type of of of of tone to it. And by the way, that's not it's not it's not a right or wrong. It's I think it's a style and it's an approach. If you like this, they sit there, they're singing like if you walk around, you almost like see them enjoying it. Um, and for us, no, part of why we don't enjoy this is because we're tired and we're and you know, they somehow managed to overcome that with like, you know, like they sit there and this and the tune gets them into it. For us, we have to, you know, we have to understand it, which is what we're doing now to better understand it. But but even just the overall approach to it tends to be tends to be different. The the Spartan have a have a very much more upbeat type of whereas the Ashkinazim tend to have a much more serious type of of uh of vibe. And it could also be Oh, that's what you're pointing out. I'm sorry. You're pointing out to that that could it could be it could be historical. It could very well be historical. Although although I think I think the Spartic communities have also dealt with their with their with their own but but I think it also just has to do with personal personality and overall and overall just mentality. Yes. >> Could the bargaining that you described something we've been through has changed our personalities and therefore we don't behave properly. That's what type of our things mean the sufferings levage isn't also part of benefit God we'll forgive what you did to us. How about you forgiving what we did to you that's >> that's it that I I I I understand I totally understand what you're saying. That's a very bold approach. Um meaning meaning meaning I well yeah I Yes. I I think I think I think it's I think I think you're right. Meaning I think I think obviously you you mean that in the most respectful way. Uh and and the idea being that we're turning to Hashem and saying, "Look how much we've suffered over time. Let's, you know, let let let's fix this." Um uh but yeah, I I I I think it's a good point. Meaning meaning that's not the approach that that Raaran is taking on this, but I think it is true. And I think it's I think it also is part and parcel of the same idea, which is just that like we've gone through so much like as as as now the phrase is adan or admatai, right? Everyone's saying Admatai, Admatai. And I think that is a piece of what we're saying here which is just like you know we we've this has happened over history. It happened in our recent history. It's happening now you know and and and and of course there's always opportunities to bring in those types of things throughout this like like you could person can always add on their own personal uh personal okay just getting back now to the to the text. I want to just spend a few more minutes on this. If you now look back uh to to the u to page page. So page we we said that this is the first of the putin right after the first of the we then transition into what are now two paragraphs that are preparing us or introducing to us the 13 attributes of mercy. Okay. Um the first one is okay. This is again we're on page the second paragraph that is an introductory it's an introduction to the introduction. We say it only once and it's an introduction to the fact that we are now going to approach after bringing in the elegy and the pain and the suffering. We're now turning to Hashem and we're saying Hashem now we're going to turn you turn to you and we're going to use the actual words that you gave us. Meaning if you read these if you look if you read if you read in the English we're not going to do it right now. These two paragraphs what what these two paragraphs are about is basically saying Hashem this is the tool you gave me. These are the words that you gave Mosher Rabenu and I'm going to ask you to please pay attention to them as I say them. Okay. So the two paragraphs are preparation for the then we say hashem. Now these uh the most important thing if a person is is on their own and they fall behind it is important that when they when the when the gets to hashem hashem that you say that together with the community ideally even the preparatory paragraph before if you can but that's not as crucial. Okay, the most important thing is to make sure that because again that is the main part of this and even if you fall behind with something else it's better to skip the and skip the introductory puk and at least get there when they say hashem is that also according to most opinions in can only be said with a minan can only be said with a quorum of tens or saying it together and therefore you can't catch up on it later you can't go afterwards and catch up on it so therefore what you should pay attention to is again at your own pace say the pim at your own pace case say the the the eleies but once the the community gets up to Hashem Hashem you should skip to them and then just continue on with them um after that right after the 13 of we have something interesting with mo which which most people are say but they're not familiar with what they're saying right after the 13 attributes of mercy we have a number of okay these areim also again from all over Tanakh but these psukim are very specific They are pukim that are that mirror in theme the next pute that is about to be said. They're called introductory to the next. Okay. So for example if you look at page 10 page 10 there's a bunch of bokerish those it's about usually about four or fiveim. These are introductory pukim that are picked specifically because they mirror in theme the theme of the pute that we're about to say on the bottom of page tet and they're very specific. Okay, so they they it's not just a bunch of random sukim. Again, we're not going to go into now how they mirror it. I actually saw I've seen recently someone who who went through the different sukim and showed how each puzz is similar in theme to the following period. It's really it's really very very cool. But it's just important to know that those sukim should be said because they're the introduction from the Torah, the introductory sukim, they're highlighting the same themes as as the pute itself. Okay? So if for some reason, just I'll just throw this out there. For some reason you ever have to skip a p, let's say on rashashana, many of Russashana, many communities skip put they go from one to the next or they they skip two because there's so many. You should make sure that whenever whatever p you're skipping you're skipping to you also say the introductory pukim that are usually listed above just a few lines before the p itself because those are the introduction to the to the okay so you have the pukim so we have the we say the yudimote we then have the which are introductoryim to the following and then we have another famous line which is only said once in this which is the albanim where we highlight another that highlights forgiveness of the people which is the hashem anyone know where is that puk where is that puk stated in the Torah >> where in the Torah >> so it's so many people think it's by the eagle and that would make a lot of sense because we're in the theme of eagle but this p is actually said by hashem after okay It's out stated after but it's again it's it's not it's not on the same level as but it is one of the most authentic talking about talking about forgiveness and we say it here again because again it mimmers it reminds Hashem of the fact that he forgave the people after and now we're saying to Hashem please forgive us just like you said there please Hashem say here okay and then what the do is they continue in this basic theme is then after that you have the after the you have the the introductory paragraph for the if you look at page and is the then you go to the bottom of is the introductory paragraph before the 13 which is and then on the top of you have the right after that you have the introductory to the next okay then we we say the shortim It's just a few lines asking Hashem to act towards us like a father does to a child. Then the next and that continues as long as there are that same that same structure continues where we say the we say the introduction will be the introductory and then the next eventually we get to a where we say it responsibly with the is known as the pis. So if you look here on in that is in that is in page giml now there it's a regular p just the minag is in the way that it's written it's written in a in in a way that has that it's written responsibly with different verses for the kazan and the tibbor to to say it responsibly >> why is that put in here >> I it's a good question I I I assume that again I think that the overall understanding is we're trying to use various ways and methods to to invoke to evoke emotion and evoke a certain mindset. And I guess there's it's just another way of trying of trying to do that. Uh it's written in a different style. It has the repetition of the first meaning. I don't I and I I assume that it's just these are again different models and different modes of trying to evoke that that emotion, but it's a good question. I'm sure there's more to it. I'm just not 100% sure. Okay. Yes. you have to have a set introduction to the homeless the first time is >> well well there's two oh you're right you're right you're right you mean you're saying you're saying you're noting that that that that yes correct the first time it said thank you for pointing this out the first time we have the two introductory paragraphs to Kelme they're they're two different paraglat the second is very similar to the it's just it's a little bit different because it's the first time we're saying it. We're we're we're introducing it with more and in a bit of a different way, but the end of it is is the same. So, you're right. It is it does start with a there's another paragraph before it and there's a couple of sentences that are a little bit different, but it's a very similar type of style of basically saying to Hashem, forgive us. These are the that you asked us to say. These are the ones you commanded us to say, and here they are. And then we say them in that in that in that way. Okay. just because of time we're going to that that is the main part that I feel like sometimes people get get a little bit lost at because they don't know where they're jumping from one thing to the next. I hope this added a little bit more meaning just giving a little bit of structure. After that we then continue with basically again many many more sukim and many more different types of of uh of paragraphs that are all again meant to evoke and in written in various ways. We start with we have the schmakenu with with which the min the custom has become for us to open up open up the aon and to say it responsibly. Again it's all about trying to find different ways to evoke um emotion and evoke a certain mentality and then we continue with with many other we say well of course there's the part where we say the vidoy the voy is the confession. Um many places have it written three times in the lehood but the custom of most schuls is that is that at least in the leadup and uh is that is that is that we only say it once. Now of course confession is necessary. Why is confession necessary? Because we're asking God for forgiveness. We need to make sure that we're clear on what we're asking God for forgiveness for. Uh we'll talk hopefully a little bit more about about the voy um maybe next time we meet in a couple of weeks before yum kipur because we say we say the vidoy many times over the course of yum kipur. So that'll be a time to really to really talk about that. And then and then we continue on with again more various poems and and sukim that are there in order to elicit a sense of a a mode and a certain sense of of of mentality. So that's that's the overall structure for this. Uh and I hope that again even though we did it a little bit ad hoc, it end it adds a little bit more meaning to to what you're saying. I'd like to now what I'd like to do now is I'd like to share with you a couple of uh of of really beautiful themes um that are highlighted by in particular by Rafalic regarding the nature of the in order to understand that we're going to start with source number one second. >> No. Uh let me just make sure that I'm I'm No, we just did uh Ah, okay. We'll start with this. Uh we're going to start with source number sort. Well, no, not number nine. Sorry. We just did we did four. Um so now we're going to start before we even get to it. I realized that I didn't bring the one there's one there's one that is a fascinating which is I I didn't bring you the source for it. U so I forgot I forgot to put it in and that is the is the following. The says or the the mentions this the I don't remember if it's the Ram mentions that there's a min that whoever is the for the should also be the for it's number four uh no he just explains why it is he doesn't say what it is should also be the for the dvening the following day that whoever is the for this he should also be the for the next day this is a that is mentioned early on in the in in some of the rishonim and and we ask in that way. By the way, there are many where that the at least starts with the the because now the question is why where does it where does this concept begin that whoever is the first should also be the for the rest of the during the day. So if you look at the in verse number four he says something very interesting. He says, "Why would this be? It could be the min is the following." It could be because there was a min that whoever used to be the first, he used to fast that day. And therefore, in order to kind If the uh because the was that the person who dins would also fast that day. And if one person meaning if they they used to have they used to have one khazin who dam everything rather than making that guy in that one dot and then dav throughout the day and fast every single day. They divided it up. They made it easier. And therefore the person who started with the he just continued that day instead of their regular that used to be the is that way it made it easier on everybody. The binom gives a different explanation. He says the reason why interestingly enough he says historically dingle was not considered to be a big co and therefore as like a chupar for the person who dav in we also allowed him to d in chakaris and okay the brings a very interesting and you'll see why this is where we're going with this says the what's the reason that the person who den for the other he says perhaps Omimlo because whoever starts a mitzvah he should finish the mitzvah. And since the started this he should finish the mitzvah. Now many of the look at this and they say what what does that mean? And are two totally different. What does that mean that if you say this that that you should finish the mitzvah and are separate are separate. what what is the connection between and the rest of the during the day that you consider that the finishing of the mitzvah. So has a beautiful idea in source number four source number seven. He says what is the purpose and the role of are the introductory to all the that we're going to say the rest of the day. It's not just a it's not just a by itself. It's not just a doesn't that we happen to say. It is meant to be the introduction to the rest of the that we're going to say that day. And therefore the person who starts this it's not that we say we happen to add another called so we dive in you know a little bit more than we normally do. No are meant to set the tone for the that we have during the rest of the day. The reason we add this is so that this will impact the rest of our the rest of the day and therefore says that says for salvation something very fascinatingly he says there's there's an important practical ramification. What happens if a guy gets up or let's say someone stays up late and says at 12:30 at night and he's up till 1:00 in the morning and then because of that what happens the next day he forgets to dav in or he gets up late he doesn't dav in even his he wasn't really yay because what's the purpose of the to set the tone for the day to set the tone for the rest of the day he didn't even fulfill his mitzvah and therefore says then we can understand the Ramad why is it that the person who stins the should also ideally be the for the rest of the for the rest of the because the purpose of the is to set that tone and I think it's just an important idea for us to be thinking about the purpose of this is not just to have that time and that moment of of inspiration and then and then and the rest of our are just the way they are no are meant and perhaps that's one of the main reasons or maybe that's the advantage that many those of us who say it now in the morning before chakras as opposed to maybe in the middle of the night um at least it's meant to set the tone for the rest of the way another namina that I just that I was thinking about just now in some communities I only I've only seen this in Israel I never saw it in America in some communities in Israel they will have after shakus okay for example in in community where I am they have a very very early minion at like 5:30 they have another minion at 6:30 or at I might get the times wrong the chakras they have very early chakras and then the second chakras and in mean isot for both for both chakrases. I don't know if they do that just because otherwise it's going to mean getting up really early or just for whatever reason according to that wouldn't be okay because you need to have this as an introduction to the that we that we say and then one other theme that I want to that I want to highlight. We're not going to have time to see all the different sources but um but there's uh but there's a lot more to see here but Salvich has another beautiful idea where he meant where he talks about the unique nature of as a form of what he calls Say aka says salvic there's different levels of a person in their development of we'll just look at this we'll read read a few pieces source number nine in essay redemption prayer and talmatra we find upon analysis that the process of redemption of the individual and the community through prayer is similar to the redemption from Egypt as is described by the zohar there are three stages stage number one no prayer at all the silence of atrophy the absence of need awareness right the first level is someone who can't even begin to davin because they're just so they're just so overwhelmed with this with the tsar that they're in the distress that they're in. Then there's level number two, an outcry, right? What we call kata, which hashem says to Moshe, he heard from the from the people in Egypt. An outcry, a voice saturated with suffering. There's no words, but there's a cry. Number three, the birth of the word, i.e. the birth of prayer through the word. says Salvik regular is level number three is level number two is the cry the theme of is meant to be the cry to Hashem it's before we get to that the words obviously we say words but the theme of it is one of just outpouring of crying tokados if you look at um look at let me see where he where he where he highlights this yeah look at the bottom the bottom of the bottom of the page we were just on the the bottom of source number nine on on the the same page. While it's supposed to be wild is a meditative reflective act is im immediate and compulsive. The is not bound by any requirements as to language, flow of words, sequences of premises and conclusions. He is free to submit his petition no matter how informal so long as he feels the pain and knows that only God can free him from that pain. And even the paragraph right before it, forgive me, I'm going a little bit out of order. In a liturgy, prayer at the stage of is called the main distinction between and consists in the absence of strict formulation. In the case of prayer as lacks the gradual development of theme, the structural formalism and the etiquette like orderliness which requires of the mispel the prayer person. And so says Salvich, you think are all over the place. That's the way they're meant to be. That is what are supposed to be. It's this outpouring of cry to a bar. That is the theme and I'll just I'll we'll end with with with with with one piece where Salvich also because we are right before Rash Shana we didn't do much on rash shaik beautifully ties this as well into into the sound of the chauffar says what is the kulch chauffar the kulch chauffar is after a person has spent all day domining and pleading to hashem for all the things that he wants at some point the person gets to a this is I brought it for you source number 11 in Hebrew I apologize we're not going to get to see it inside. I'm always overly ambitious in what we're going to cover. Uh but says Salvich after a person he exhausts all his emotions, everything he wanted to say at some point all he has left is a a shout. Says Salvich that is the chauffar. The sound of the chauffar is that shout that a person who no longer has any more words has nothing else to say. Just crying that outpouring of crying to a bar. That is what the chauffar is. If you want to think about what should I think about when the chauffar is blowing, I'm giving you one idea, one option to think about. What is the chauffar? The chauffar is the sound of each and every one of us who says I can't properly express how I'm really feeling. I can't put into words all the things that I want to express to you. And please let the chauffear, let the sound of the chauffear be that expression of somebody who has said everything they want to say and everything they they they they're trying to say, but at some point they just don't have the words. And that is the kulcharm. Hopefully um through our through our study, I hope that the that we've been saying and we'll continue to say will be more meaningful and and that should be as we say in the uh and answer all of our