RABBI WEIN ON SELICHOT

The custom of reciting special penitential prayers before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is an ancient one. It certainly dates back to the time of the Geonim in Babylonia, if not even earlier. The custom of the Sefaradim is to recite these prayers beginning with the entire month of Elul until Yom Kippur. The custom of the Ashkenazin is to begin the recitation of these prayers the week before Rosh Hashana and to continue their recitation also until Yom Kippur. These prayers have been layered over centuries though the format that is currently used in most synagogues has been pretty much established since the seventeenth century. Tens of scholars and poets have contributed to composing the liturgy of these prayers, within which much of the history of the Jewish people and their exile has been recorded.