Following in the footsteps of Flatbush, where more than 30 shuls have joined together for an extraordinary community-wide pre-Selichos seder, Passaic is now launching its own sweeping initiative to begin the Yamim Noraim season with the zechus of Torah.
This Motzoei Shabbos, shuls throughout Passaic and Clifton will participate in a coordinated “Selichos Seder,” bringing hundreds of mispallelim together in their respective batei medrash for a seder limud immediately before the first Selichos of the year.
The initiative closely follows the program announced earlier this week in Flatbush, where dozens of shuls spanning a broad cross-section of the community will simultaneously hold a seder limud before Selichos. The Flatbush program was created around a simple but powerful concept: Before approaching Hashem with the tefillos and bakashos of Selichos, enter that moment carrying the zechus of Torah.
Now, that movement has spread across the Hudson.
Under the banner “Elevate Your Selichos! Stand before Hashem with the z’chus of Torah,” participating Passaic-area shuls will begin a seder limud b’chavrusa at approximately 12:10 a.m., followed by Selichos at approximately 12:55 a.m. Those who arrive without a chavrusa will be paired with one, and individual shul schedules may vary.
The scope of the response in Passaic is already significant, with nearly 20 shuls and Torah institutions joining the initiative and the list still in formation.
Participating shuls include Agudas Yisroel Bircas Yaacov, led by Rav Yonasan Sacks; Alumni Beis Medrash, led by Rav Yitzchok Celnik; Bais Medrash Ahavas Torah, led by Rav Eliezer Krohn; Beis Medrash L’Torah, led by Rav Chaim Davis; Beis Medrash Zichron Eliezer, led by Rav Menachem Spiraz; Beis Shmuel Tzvi, led by Rav Moshe Mordechai Grunfeld; Bais Torah Utefilla, led by Rav Menachem Zupnik; Kehillas Bais Sholom, led by Rav Avrohom Shulman; Khal Bloomfield Ave, led by Rav Mordechai Kronenberg; Kehilas Eitz Chaim, led by Rav Yonah Lazar; Khal Bnei Aliyah, led by Rav Avigdor Guthicki; Khal Bnei Hayeshivos, led by Rav Avrohom Morgenstern; Khal Bnei Torah of Clifton, led by Rav Daniel Schwab; Kollel Choshen Mishpat, led by Rav Yitzchok Sperka and Rav Gershon West; Khal Park Ave, led by Rav Yaakov Paskal; Khal Shaarei Avraham, led by Rav Asher Millman; Khal Tiferes Baruch, led by Rav Schachne Weinberger; Khal Zichron Shlomo, led by Rav Zev Wolbe; Kol Yeshurun, led by Rav Ahron Cohen; Passaic Clifton Community Kollel, led by Rav Chaim Krause; TIF, led by Rav Ahron Cohen; and Yeshiva Ner Boruch-PTI, led by Rav Baruch Bodenheim.
The Passaic initiative represents another remarkable display of communal achdus as shuls with their own rabbonim, minyanim and individual character unite around one shared idea: beginning Selichos through Torah.
In Flatbush, the initiative has brought together more than 30 shuls for the same 12:10 a.m. seder followed by Selichos at approximately 12:55 a.m., transforming what is ordinarily an individual shul experience into a community-wide movement.
Passaic will now do the same.
As Motzoei Shabbos moves toward midnight, batei medrash throughout Passaic and Clifton will fill with the sound of chavrusos learning together. Then, shortly before 1 a.m., the seforim will close and the Selichos will open.
An initiative that began by bringing Flatbush together will now be echoed in Passaic, as another community enters the Yamim Noraim with Torah on its lips and the zechus of limud haTorah accompanying its tefillos.
{Matzav.com}
