Something remarkable will take place across Flatbush this Motzoei Shabbos.
Matzav.com has learned that before the first haunting words of Selichos are recited, before Ashrei and the Yud-Gimmel Middos, and before thousands begin the annual journey toward the Yomim Noraim, more than 30 shuls throughout the Flatbush community will open their batei medrash for a community-wide seder limud designed to bring people into Selichos with the zechus and spiritual elevation of Torah.
The sweeping initiative, billed simply as the “Selichos Seder,” has brought together an extraordinary cross-section of Flatbush shuls, rabbonim, kollelim and bnei Torah around a beautifully simple idea: What better way is there to prepare to stand before the Ribbono Shel Olam than by first sitting down and learning Torah?
Under the banner “Elevate Your Selichos — Stand before Hashem with the z’chus of Torah,” participating shuls will hold a seder limud b’chavrusa beginning at approximately 12:10 a.m., followed by Selichos at approximately 12:55 a.m. Individual shul schedules may vary. And organizers have made clear that no one should stay away because he does not have a chavrusa: Those arriving without one will be paired up.
But perhaps even more striking than the concept itself is the scope of the response.
More than 30 shuls have already joined the initiative, with the list still in formation.
Participating shuls include Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin, led by Rav Moshe Tuvia Lieff; Agudas Yisroel of Flatbush; Agudas Yisroel of Madison, led by Rav Yisroel Reisman; Bais Medrash Avreichim, led by Rav Meir Finkel; Bais Medrash Bais Yeshaya, led by Rav Moshe Yitzchak Fisher; Bais Medrash Torah U’Tefillah, led by Rav Yitzchok Olshin; Bais Mordechai D’Bertch, led by Rav Tzvi Eli Rokeach; Chaim Berlin Alumni-Marine Park, led by Rav Ahron Rapps; Kesser Yisroel Mordechai, led by Rav Meir Platnick; Khal Avrechei Bais Chaim Yisroel, led by Rav Yehuda Friedman; Khal Bais Elazar Faltishan, led by Rav Yonasan Binyamin Katz; Khal Beis Mordechai, led by Rav Boruch Miller; Khal Bnei Avraham Yaakov, led by Rav Moshe Bergman; Khal Bnei Shlomo Zalman, led by Rav Yosef Frankel; Khal Bnei Torah Bais Naftali, led by Rav Bentzion Schiffenbauer; Khal Bnei Torah-Kollel Dirshu, led by Rav Shlomo Cynamon; Khal Talmidei Hayeshivos, led by Rav Binyamin Cohen; Khal Tiferes Avraham-Zidichov, led by Rav Yechezkel Eichenstein; Khal Zichron Mordechai, led by Rav Yekusiel Bitman; Khal Zichron Yakov-Shlomo V’Chava, led by Rav Ezra Rodkin; Knesses Bais Avigdor, led by Rav Aharon Kahn; Kollel B’nei Torah, led by Rav Yosef Eisen; Yeshivas Ohr Yisroel, led by Rav Herschel Zolty; Khal Igud Avreichim, led by Rav Pinchas Frankel; Khal Kollel B’nei Yeshivos, led by Rav Moshe Scheinerman; Khal Kol Torah, led by Rav Lipa Geldwerth; Khal Meshivas Nefesh, led by Rav Noam Rosenzweig; Khal Nachlas Dovid, led by Rav Daniel Osher Kleinman; Khal Premishlan, led by Rav Moshe Ahron Fulop; Khal Sasregen, led by Rav Bentzion Frankel; and Khal Sha’ar Hashamayim, led by Rav Chanoch Posy.
It is difficult to overstate what a scene this promises to create. Motzoei Shabbos before the first Selichos has always possessed a character all its own. There is an electricity in the air as the clock moves toward midnight. Men who have spent an ordinary Motzoei Shabbos at home begin making their way toward shul. The streets fill. The batei medrash come alive. A familiar niggun begins, and suddenly the reality of Elul, of Rosh Hashanah drawing near, feels very real.
This year, across Flatbush, that experience will begin nearly an hour earlier, with the sound of Torah.
In shul after shul, chavrusos will bend over their seforim. The hum of learning will fill batei medrash across the neighborhood. And then, almost simultaneously, those same voices will close their Gemaros and open their Selichos, carrying the zechus of their Torah directly into their tefillos.
There is something especially powerful about the fact that this is not taking place in one building or under the banner of one particular kehillah. It is a Flatbush-wide undertaking. Different shuls. Different rabbonim. Different neighborhoods and constituencies. One community preparing together for the first Selichos.
The first night of Selichos can easily become defined by the atmosphere surrounding it: the late hour, the packed shul, the special melodies and the emotion of hearing Selichos for the first time in nearly a year. All of those things are meaningful. But the Flatbush Selichos Seder seeks to add something before all of them: Torah.
Before asking, learn. Before pleading, toil. Before standing before Hashem and saying Selach lanu, spend time immersed in His Torah.
At 12:10 this Motzoei Shabbos, lights will be burning in batei medrash across Flatbush, pages of Gemara will be turning, and hundreds — perhaps thousands — of Jews will be learning together.
Then, at approximately 12:55, the learning will give way to Selichos.
The same mouths that moments earlier were speaking words of Torah will begin speaking words of tefillah.
And across more than 30 shuls, an entire community will begin the journey toward the Yomim Noraim together — carrying with it the greatest zechus it knows: the zechus haTorah.
{Matzav.com}
