In the pleasant afterglow of Yom Kippur we are happy to just sit in the moment with our mitzvos

WE

start Selichos when summer is still fading. Sunburnt, pleasantly tired, basking in the afterglow of camp, vacation, or a long stay in “the country,” we turn to weightier matters.

“Selach lanu — forgive us,” we daven, but for many of us, our minds are still back in the swimming pool. After a few days, perhaps, our souls catch up to our bodies, and we start to feel the weight of Tishrei approaching. We push ourselves to continue waking up early in the morning for Selichos, and we start looking forward rather than back — Rosh Hashanah is coming, and with it, judgment for the new year.

“Mechal lanu — pardon us,” we say, and we feel it this time, the heaviness of the impending Yom Hadin. Yet at the same time we’re full of hustle and bustle, honey cakes, new fruits, school projects, and simanim. We daven and we stand in awe of the shofar’s call: Teshuvah! Return! But we’re also wondering if the baal tokeia will make it through without an error, and will the davening be finished before two, and what will the weather be like for Tashlich?

Now the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah are upon us. There’s a warm-up fast a week before Yom Kippur, and the Selichos start to get longer — this isn’t practice anymore, this may be the real thing.