[473]

(a) Rosh HaShanah:

In[474] the course of Hataras Nedarim, [the Annulment of Vows[475] that takes place on the morning of erev Rosh HaShanah,] it is not our custom to recite [the formal reprimand known as] Seder Nezifah.[476]

In the blessing for the lighting of candles in honor of Rosh HaShanah,[477] the final words are shel yom hazikaron.[478]

When the eve [of the first day] of Rosh HaShanah or the eve of Yom Kippur falls on Friday evening, the wording in the last paragraph of Lechah Dodi[479] is [as on any Friday evening] berinah uvetzahalah.[480]

The wording in Kaddish,[481] le'eilah min kol, is the same as throughout the year.[482]

At Neilah, the wording in Kaddish[483] is le'eilah ule'eilah [mikal].[484]

In the text of Modim in all the prayer services of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur,[485] the wording is v'hamracheim.[486]

At Maariv,[487] the Psalm beginning ledavid mizmor (Tehillim ch. 24) is read immediately before Kaddish Tiskabel,[488] and not immediately before Aleinu.[489]

Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 7: The explanatory paragraph introducing the Annulment of Vows is almost certainly not authored by the Alter Rebbe. Indeed, in some Chabad editions of the Siddur it appears in an utterly different version.

P. 8: A person who recites the blessing of Shehecheyanu at the lighting of candles on the eve of Rosh HaShanah does not repeat it at Kiddush.[490]

P. 23: In the concluding stanza of Lechah Dodi, the last two words (Shabbos malkesa) are also [like the preceding two words] said in an undertone.[491] This applies on Rosh HaShanah and likewise throughout the year.

P. 42: If a person forgot to make appropriate mention of both Shabbos and Rosh HaShanah in the Blessing After a Meal, [and became aware of his omission before beginning the blessing of hatov vehameitiv that follows,] he should make up for this omission by reciting the dual blessing that is set out at the foot of this page in the Machzor. Similarly, if one forgot to mention Shabbos alone, and is therefore obliged to recite the specific supplementary blessing for such a situation, he does not include in it any reference to Rosh HaShanah; and vice versa. However, if (as explained on p. 43 of the Machzor) one has to return to the beginning of the Blessing After a Meal, this repeated recitation must include both the paragraph for Shabbos beginning retzeh and the paragraph for Rosh HaShanah known as ya'aleh veyavo (p. 42). (See the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 188:13-14.)

P. 86: The sheliach tzibbur pronounces the concluding words of the blessing before Shema in a whisper.[492] This practice of course applies likewise throughout the year.

P. 89: The sheliach tzibbur pronounces the concluding words of the blessing before Shemoneh Esreh492 at his usual volume. This practice too applies throughout the year.

P. 97: The wording of line 2 should appear as printed [in the bilingual edition].[493]

P. 98, line 14: After vekadosh the Ark is closed.[494]

P. 98: The passage beginning u'vechein v'Hashem pokad is said only on the First Day of Rosh HaShanah. On weekdays the stanza that begins shevach migdol oz, omitted in earlier editions, is recited. In the line beginning kishechal, the abbreviation gimmel chof should be [and has been] deleted.[495]

P. 101, line 10: In every single one of the Machzorim and commentaries that I have seen, this line begins zochrei zemiros.[496]

P. 105, line 9: uvchein lecha hakol yachtiru ("And thus shall all crown You as King"). The location of this phrase here [in Shacharis] would seem to call for explanation, for the theme of coronation is in place in Mussaf, for which reason the Kedushah there[497] opens with the words, kesser yitnu ("A crown is given to You"). It could be argued that it is appropriate to read this phrase only when one reads the passage beginning l'E-l orach at Mussaf.[498]

P. 105-6: The Ark should be closed before Kedushah.[499]

P. 110: The Ark should be opened for the requests beginning avinu malkeinu.[500]

P. 119: In the Prayer for a Woman After Childbirth, it would appear that yegadluhu ("may he [i.e., the father] raise the newborn son [to Torah, to marriage, and to good deeds]") and yegadlah ("may he raise the newborn daughter...") should respectively read yegadluhu ("may they [i.e., the parents] raise the newborn son...") and yegadluhah ("may they raise the newborn daughter..."). In this way the mother too is included. Though she is not obligated to be responsible for the child's formal education (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, beginning of sec. 343 and its commentaries), she should be blessed in this Prayer that she "raise the newborn child to Torah, to marriage, and to good deeds."

P. 119: In the same prayer, it would appear that bischar should read u'bischar, for this introduces an additional request, unlike the same word in the Prayer for a Sick Person.

P. 119: In the same prayer, it would seem that following the request for the welfare of both

1. his wife and

2. his newborn daughter,

the person who has been called to the Reading of the Torah should be referred to not only as ba'alah ("her husband") but as ba'alah ve'aviah, i.e., both

1. "her husband" and

2. "her father."

In the above request, it would seem that the father[501] should be blessed with success in "bringing up the newborn daughter" not only "to marriage, and to good deeds" (yegadlah lechupah [ulema'asim Tovim]), but "to Torah, to marriage, and to good deeds" (yegadlah leTorah lechupah [ulema'asim Tovim]).[502]

In the Prayer for a Sick Person, the word bekol ("in all") should evidently be replaced by lekol ("to all").

P. 129: After the sheliach tzibbur has read the prayer beginning hineni heani, it is customary to recite the four verses beginning yodati.[503]

P. 140: After the paragraph beginning misod chachomim has been intoned by the sheliach tzibbur [on the First Day], the Ark is closed.[504]

P. 141: The passage beginning omeitz adiri should be read;[505] it concludes with the stanza beginning im lo lema'ano.[506]

P. 145: Before keser, the Ark is closed.499

P. 146: The paragraph beginning uv'chein yiskadeish ("And thus shall Your Name...be sanctified upon Israel...") is not said [as it is in certain other Machzorim] as a continuation of the piyyut beginning chamol ("Have mercy upon Your works..."), but immediately preceding uv'chein tein pachdecha[507] ("Instill fear of You upon all that You have made...").[508]

P. 145-6: At the conclusion of the piyyut beginning haocheiz beyad, the Ark is closed.494

P. 150: While the paragraph beginning atah horeisa is being read, the Ark remains open.[509]

P. 171: After the morning prayers every day, including Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (after Mussaf), one recites chapters of Tehillim as apportioned for the days of the month.[510] After this, [continuing the three-chapter cycle begun on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul,[511]] on the First Day of Rosh HaShanah one reads chs. 88-90 and on the Second Day chs. 91-93.[512]

P. 188: When Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos, va'ani sefilasi is said at Minchah [as on every Shabbos].[513]

P. 189: The passage beginning vesigaleh is read in calling up the first congregant to the Reading of the Torah on weekdays and at Minchah on Shabbos; at Shacharis on Shabbos and Yom-Tov this is substituted by the passage beginning veyazor [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 118]. This is the ruling of the following classical Siddurim: Yaavetz (though through a study of the first edition, which was published by the compiler [R. Yaakov Emden] himself, it should be ascertained whether this was not inserted by the publisher of the second edition); Chemdas Yisrael; Tefillas Yisrael with the commentary entitled Or HaYashar; Otzar HaTefillos; Kol-Bo; Shelah; and others. The initial word vesigaleh begins with the letter vav, unlike the version that appears in the Siddur Avodas Yisrael (following Tractate Sofrim 14:12).

P. 201: The wording in the Yehi Ratzon of Tashlich should read: lefonecha veyehei oleh lifonecha krias.[514]

(b) Yom Kippur:[515]

P. 23: The statement beginning al daas is recited three times.[516]

P. 24: The verse, vayomer Hashem solachti kidvorecha, is first recited three times by the congregation and then three times by the sheliach tzibbur.[517]

P. 24: Further to the instruction concerning the blessing of Shehecheyanu, it should be noted that women and girls who have already recited this blessing when lighting the candles should not recite it now. This should be made known, for it is the subject of a common mistake.

P. 24: After Shehecheyanu the Sifrei Torah are returned to their place and the Ark is closed.[518]

P. 42: The verb in the phrase veyeiraeh hadroseinu should appear as written, matching all the other stanzas.[519]

P. 44: In the first line of the paragraph beginning E-l melech, the word umisnaheg should be spelled thus, including the letter vav.[520]

P. 47: After the line beginning nosha, there should appear an instruction to close the Ark.

P. 50: The same applies after the line beginning ki lecha.

P. 51: In the line beginning mitchinaseinu, for anachnu read anu.[521] The same applies on pp. 131, 196 and 236.

P. 51: The wording should be mah tzidkeinu mah kocheinu.[522]

P. 123: At the end of the line beginning yeshuos, the instruction to close the Ark is superfluous.

P. 124: The Ark is opened for ha'aderes vehaemunah.[523]

P. 125: The Ark is opened for lE-l orech, and is closed at its conclusion.

P. 148: For the wording of the Mi SheBeirach, see the above glosses to p. 119 of the Machzor for Rosh HaShanah.

P. 165: At the end of the line beginning pnei, there should appear an instruction to close the Ark.

P. 186: In the line beginning menuchah, the wording should be: shnas menuchah, shnas nechama.[524]

P. 214: [Even] when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbos, va'ani sefilasiis not said [before the Reading of the Torah].[525]

P. 229: At the Repetition of the Shemoneh Esreh of Minchah (as at Mussaf on p. 165), the Ark is left open until the end of the request (known as the reshus) beginning misod chachamim.[526]

P. 247: The Ark is opened at the beginning of Neilah and it remains open throughout. Likewise, as mentioned above, the wording in Kaddish is now [for the first time] expanded to le'eila ule'eila.[527] Accordingly, [since the number of words in Kaddish is fixed,] min kol birchasa is now contracted to mikol birchasa.[528]

P. 251: It appears to me that the wording at Neilah, which follows Minchah, should be shabasos...vam, as at Minchah, but I have not yet found an explicit source for this.[529]

P. 255: The instruction to open the Ark is superfluous.

The piyyut beginning machnisei rachamim is said;[530] and likewise, at Neilah (Machzor, p. 262), one says the piyyut beginning midas harachamim.[531]

   

Notes:

473. (Back to text) [See also pp. 116-126 above.]

474. (Back to text) [The Hebrew original of this Supplement (entitled Hosafah LeLikkutei Minhagim: Rosh HaShanah VeYom HaKippurim), together with its footnotes, was compiled by the Rebbe Shlita. Though many of the textual emendations listed therein have been incorporated in the bilingual edition as in other recent editions of Machzor HaShalem, they are presented here in full, chiefly on account of the sources and explanations provided in their footnotes.]

475. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 7.]

476. (Back to text) A directive of the Rebbe Rayatz; cf. Mateh Ephraim 581:49 and Avodas HaKodesh.

477. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 8.]

478. (Back to text) This wording, customary in the household of the Rebbeim over the generations, was also the subject of an explicit directive of the Rebbe Rashab.

479. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 23; Machzor for Yom Kippur, p. 25.]

480. (Back to text) [I.e., "with singing and gladness." On other festivals the wording is besimchah uvetzahalah ("with rejoicing and gladness"), but this is not used on the Days of Awe,] because these days were not given for rejoicing. (See the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch 582:10.) A statement by the publisher (not the compiler) of Siddur Yaavetz likewise implies that this is the custom. See also Mateh Ephraim 582:2.

481. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 24 and throughout; Machzor for Yom Kippur, p. 26 and throughout.]

482. (Back to text) From a gloss of the Tzemach Tzedek in his Siddur, reproduced in Siddur Torah Or, [p. reish mem alef].

483. (Back to text) [Machzor for Yom Kippur, pp. 249, 270.]

484. (Back to text) A directive of the Rebbe Rayatz; so, too, in the maamar beginning Haysa KeAlmanah 5634.

485. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 33 and throughout; Machzor for Yom Kippur, p. 36 and throughout.]

486. (Back to text) The vav is likewise added on every Shabbos and Yom-Tov. (Shaar HaKollel 9:132.)

487. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 35; Machzor for Yom Kippur, p. 59.]

488. (Back to text) As directed by the Rebbe Rayatz in Likkutei Minhagim.

489. (Back to text) This was an earlier ruling of the Rebbe Rayatz, as recorded in HaYom Yom.

490. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 39.]

491. (Back to text) This is the custom as practiced, in accordance with the Siddur of the AriZal (edited by R. Shabsai Rashkov) and the Siddur of Yaavetz, and as implied by the Siddur of R. Shalom Sharabi. [In view of the last-mentioned source,] it is surprising that in the customs of the Kabbalists of the Beis E-l Congregation [of Jerusalem], which are enumerated at the beginning of Divrei Shalom by R. Avraham Shalom Mizrachi [i.e., the same R. Shalom Sharabi, who headed this congregation], it is stated that "the words shabbos malkesa and the [following] psalm beginning Mizmor LeDavid are recited at the usual volume."

492. (Back to text) This was the custom of my revered father-in-law, the [Previous] Rebbe, whenever he led the prayers. It is obvious that it should not be varied on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur; see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, sections 59 and 61, and commentaries there. In the light of this source, it would appear that at Maariv the sheliach tzibbur should likewise whisper the concluding words of the blessing before Shema. (This point was brought to my attention by R. Avraham Chayim Naeh.)

493. (Back to text) This is the wording that appears in several of the classical Machzorim. It is self-evident that the substitution of artzeinu ("I will propitiate Him [by sounding the Shofar]") for iftanu (lit., "I will cajole Him...") does not at all correspond to the distinction between weekdays and Shabbos, [as the different wording of certain versions of the Machzor would suggest]; rather, it is an alternative verb substituted by those who question the propriety of the latter verb. (See Elef HaMagen 582:32.) Nevertheless, it should be noted that no such objection has been raised concerning (for example) the conclusion of the piyyut which begins, ofed me'az (p. 140). So, too, with regard to the end of the piyyut which begins, omeitz adiri (p. 142). [In fact, these two phrases too have been emended accordingly in all the current editions of the Machzor of Chabad.]

494. (Back to text) This is the established custom, and an instruction to this effect appears at this point in some of the classical Machzorim.

495. (Back to text) As far as the recitation of the piyyutim that begin with tair vesaria is concerned, in all the Machzorim that I have seen:

     1. what is recited on the First Day is not repeated on the Second;

     2. on Shabbos the following passages are omitted: tair vesaria, melech memalet, melech zechor, shevach migadol, amusecha...pesham...tzemcheihem; (in addition, according to the Machzor Ashkenaz (Venice, 5477/1717), the following passages are omitted: kol yoshvei teivel, krias msos, shomayim va'aretz, tokef areilim);

     3. when the First Day falls on a weekday all the passages listed in (b) above are recited, while all the other passages are recited on the Second Day; when the First Day falls on a Shabbos, all these above-listed passages are recited on the Second Day, and all the others on the First Day.

     The first publisher of the Machzor of Chabad directed that all the piyyutim should be recited on both the First Day and the Second, excepting, of course, those which are not recited on Shabbos, as listed in paragraph (b) above. His authority for deciding thus requires investigation. Nevertheless, since I did not hear a directive on this subject from my revered father-in-law, the [Previous] Rebbe, I was not inclined to alter the printed ruling. There are thus several piyyutim that are recited on both the First Day and the Second. Not included among these is the stanza that begins uvechein Hashem pokad which, as I have indicated [in the Hebrew Machzor], is to be said only on the First Day. This ruling follows the comment of the Levush (sec. 584) that this stanza is recited "because on this day we read the passage in the Torah to which it alludes" [see p. 119 of the Machzor].

496. (Back to text) This first word is surprising, because one would have expected instead: zomrei zemiros [yezamru], on the analogy of other stanzas in this symmetrically-constructed piyyut, wherever the three root-letters of the verb could match the three root-letters of the first word of the subject; for example, adirei... yagbiru, gevurei... yagviru, and so on.

497. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 145.]

498. (Back to text) [I.e., on the Second Day only; ibid., p. 142.]

499. (Back to text) This is the custom as practiced, in keeping with the ruling of the Maharil (except that we reopen the Ark after Kedushah), as well as the Levush and other authorities.

500. (Back to text) This in fact is the custom; see also Mateh Ephraim 619:46.

501. (Back to text) [In the light of the above paragraph beginning "In the Prayer for a Woman After Childbirth," both the father and the mother should be so blessed; see there.]

502. (Back to text) See footnote 118, above.

503. (Back to text) A tradition handed down from Rabbeinu Tam, except that in his day these verses and the prayer which precedes them were recited before hamelech.

504. (Back to text) This is the established custom (since the sheliach tzibbur has now completed his preliminary request for sanction to present his supplications). An instruction to close the Ark appears at this point in some of the classical Machzorim [as, too, in current editions of this Machzor].

505. (Back to text) An explicit directive of the Rebbe Rayatz.

506. (Back to text) In the Machzor published by Agudas Chabad in 5701 (1941), this concluding stanza was omitted in error.

507. (Back to text) [In Mussaf for Rosh HaShanah; see Machzor, p. 145 (chamol) and p. 147 (uv'chein tein pachdecha). The same is true of Yom Kippur; see Machzor, pp. 172 and 174. Likewise, wherever chamol does not appear, as in the silent Shemoneh Esreh of Mussaf and as at every Shemoneh Esreh of Shacharis, the passage beginning uv'chein tein pachdecha is always preceded by uv'chein yiskadeish.]

508. (Back to text) This sequence of passages is dictated by a comment of R. Chayim Vital on the Zohar II, 521, which is quoted in Or HaChamah at that point: "May G-d forgive those who open [the series of paragraphs that begin uv'chein] with uv'chein tein pachdecha, for they thereby arose the attribute of stern judgment on Rosh HaShanah. On the contrary, this attribute should be moderated...between the attributes of Chessed ('lovingkindness') and Tiferes ('compassion'). It will be noted that the tekios, too, are arranged in this sequence:

     1. those corresponding to Avraham [who epitomizes the attribute of Chessed], and

     3. those corresponding to Yaakov [the attribute of Tiferes], with

     2. those corresponding to Yitzchak [the attribute of Gevurah ('stern justice')] being interposed between them."

     It would be most difficult to argue that the above applies only to the silent Shemoneh Esreh and not to its repetition by the sheliach tzibbur. If anything, the contrary argument would be valid.

     It is true that the Maharil places uv'chein yiskadesh within the piyyut beginning chamol, and that this sequence is printed in certain classical Machzorim. However, as the learned R. Avraham Chayim Naeh has pointed out in his Kuntreis HaShulchan, this sequence was intended for the nussach ("liturgical rite") according to which uv'chein yiskadeish does not at all appear in the silent Shemoneh Esreh, and from this nussach the above sequence erroneously found its way into the Machzorim which are arranged according to the nussach determined by the AriZal.

     [Further to the above comment on the juxtaposition of the three attributes:] Kuntreis HaShulchan cites a tradition handed down from elder Lubavitcher chassidim who led their respective congregations as baalei tefillah on the Days of Awe, that no interval of time is allowed [e.g., for the traditional musical response by the congregation] between uv'chein yiskadeish and uv'chein tein pachdecha.

509. (Back to text) This is the accepted practice. Some Machzorim, following a ruling of the Levush in sec. 592, carry an instruction to "open the Ark" before ochila laE-l [i.e., after atah horeisa]. This instruction apparently found its way here in error from the custom followed in places where the Ark was closed until this point.

510. (Back to text) [See above, p. 40.]

511. (Back to text) [See above, p. 113, which also sets out the nine-chapter readings for Yom Kippur.]

512. (Back to text) [Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 171ff. and p. 179ff.] This subject is discussed at length in the letters of the Rebbe Rayatz appended to Tehillim Ohel Yosef Yitzchak.

513. (Back to text) Levush, sec. 598; (this is also implied in the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, sec. 622;) see also the customs of the Beis E-l Congregation of Jerusalem [as in footnote 491, above].

514. (Back to text) This is the wording found in the following works: Siddur Yaavetz; Tziporen Shamir by the Chida [R. Chayim Yosef David Azulai]; Machzor Sephardim (Leghorn, 1841); and others. In the Siddurim of Chabad (Torah Or, Tehillat HaShem, etc.), a typographical slip confuses the first lifanecha with the second, as has been pointed out in the Luach of Kollel Chabad compiled by R. Avraham Chayim Naeh.

515. (Back to text) [N.B. Some of the points made under the previous heading, (a) Rosh HaShanah, relate equally to Yom Kippur.]

516. (Back to text) Mateh Ephraim 619:10; Baer Heitev there.

517. (Back to text) This is the custom, though it is surprising in view of the statement of Mateh Ephraim (619:11) that "the chazzan should also say it with them."

518. (Back to text) This is the custom as practiced. It is likewise implied in Abudraham that Shehecheyanu should be recited in the presence of the Sifrei Torah. This differs from the ruling in Mateh Ephraim, loc. cit. See also Ateres Zekeinim, beginning of sec. 619.

519. (Back to text) It appears thus in all the classical Machzorim, and has been commented upon in Ketzos HaShulchan.

520. (Back to text) A directive of the Rebbe Rayatz, and so too in the following sources: Pri Etz Chayim, Shaar HaSelichos, sec. 8; Siddur HaAriZal; Zohar III, 228a; Tikkunei Zohar Chadash 111c.

521. (Back to text) In accordance with the nussach for Tachanun in the Alter Rebbe's Siddur.

522. (Back to text) In accordance with the nussach of the Alter Rebbe in the passage beginningleolam yehei adam (Machzor, p. 70). The [former] discrepancy has been commented upon in the Luach of Kollel Chabad compiled by R. Avraham Chayim Naeh.

523. (Back to text) This instruction appears in the Levush, sec. 620, and in several of the classical Machzorim.

524. (Back to text) It is clear that the omission of the phrase shnas nechamah was simply an oversight; it appears in several of the classical Machzorim.

     There is an authority who holds that the phrase shnas telulah geshumah should appear in its alphabetical position earlier in the same paragraph, but I have not found it in any of the Machzorim in which this particular version of the Yehi Ratzon appears (for other versions are also extant).

     As to the wording of this phrase, one would have expected:

     1. shanah telulah [instead of shanah telulah, with the noun in the construct state], but I have not found this spelling in any of the classical Machzorim;

     2. telulah gesumah im sh'chunah, as certain Machzorim indeed word it, echoing the prayer of the Kohen Gadol [p. 182].

525. (Back to text) Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, sec. 622. However, in Emes LeYaakov (Kuntreis Sfas Emes, sec. 8), R. Yaakov Shealtiel Ninio cites various Kabbalists who hold that [at Minchah on Yom Kippur that falls on Shabbos]:

     1. one should say va'ani sefilasi (and on this see also the discussion headed Nussach HaTefillah by the author of the Responsa entitled Minchas Elazar, sec. 21);

     2. one should say av harachaman (rather than av harachamim). Since these are both surprising statements, and since I had not heard a directive on these subjects [from the Rebbe Rayatz], the Machzor follows the ruling of the Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch, sec. 622, that va'ani tefilasi is not said. Likewise, I did not alter the instruction in Siddur Torah Or that at Minchah on Yom Kippur that falls on Shabbos, the appropriate wording is av harachamim.

526. (Back to text) This practice is self-evident, and in some Machzorim there is an explicit instruction to this effect.

527. (Back to text) Directives of the Rebbe Rayatz. Since the Shechinah ascends at the final tekiah, it would appear that these two directives apply until that time.

528. (Back to text) Mateh Ephraim 582:1.

529. (Back to text) On the explanation for this wording, see Mishnas Chassidim (citing She'eris Yom HaShabbos) 3:12; see also Siddur HaAriZal. (The Neilah service appears separately in Siddur Torah Or, in the Machzor Nussach Ari (Vilna, 1875), and in Siddur Chemdas Yisrael (Munkacz, 1901). The wording in all these cases is shabbas...bo, which is surprising, because the same sources give shabbasos...bam for Minchah on Shabbos.) It goes without saying that the above also applies when a Yom-Tov falls on Shabbos.

530. (Back to text) [On the fifth day of Selichos; see Selichos al pi Minhag Chabad, p. 70, and the appended Notes of the Rebbe Shlita, p. 145.]

531. (Back to text) [From the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon,] and similarly in the Responsa of Rav Sherira Gaon (Zikaron LaRishonim, sec. 373). A debate as to whether this piyyut should be recited appears in the Responsa entitled Yehudah Yaaleh by R. Yehudah Assad, Vol. I, sec. 21. The Responsa entitled Shemesh Tzedakah on Orach Chayim, sections 23 and 24, likewise presents both sides of the argument. See also Chasam Sofer, Orach Chayim, sec. 166; Anafim LeIkkarim, Vol. II, sec. 28; Moreh Nevuchim, Part III, ch. 3; and Shibolei HaLeket. Tanya Rabsa of R. Yechiel (Hilchos Rosh HaShanah) borrows support for its argument from the discussion in Tractate Sanhedrin 44b [and in Rashi there] of the verse, hayaroch shoeich lo batzar (Iyov 36:19). See also the Introduction to the Siddur Otzar HaTefillos, ch. 3.

     In ch. 7 of Shoresh Mitzvas HaTefillah [in Derech Mitzvosecha], the Tzemach Tzedek cited the comment of Korban Nesanel on the conclusion of the first chapter of Tractate Rosh HaShanah. Later, however, in ch. 3 of his Glosses on the maamar in Torah Or beginning Ner Chanukah, he summarized the subject as follows: "This does not mean that [the angels] are being asked for anything, heaven forbid, except that they should convey the spiritual beneficence downward; likewise, they raise prayers heavenward, as is spoken of in the Gemara, as well as in the Zohar on Parshas Shmos, and so on."

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     Note: According to the nussach of the Alter Rebbe for the Shemoneh Esreh of Yom Kippur and for the last of the blessings recited after the Haftorah, the phrase Yom Hakippurim hazeh ("this Day of Atonement") is to be followed by the words es yom shelichas heavon hazeh, es yom mikra Kodesh hazeh ("this day of pardoning of sin, this day of holy assembly").

     These words should be added likewise in the piyyutim, since there is no reason to distinguish between the various contexts. Accordingly, they should be inserted at the appropriate points on the following pages: 51, 131, 135, 187, 196, 200, 236 and 240.

     The reason that these words have not appeared until now in the Machzorim of Chabad is that the piyyutim in them were copied from Machzorim whose phrasing follows Nussach Ashkenaz and other liturgical traditions, which do not add these words even in Shemoneh Esreh and in the final blessing of the Haftorah. The publishers at the time did not make a point of correcting this omission, (just as in ashamnu they did not change anachnu to anu, and just as in Elokeinu velokei avoseinu shelach umchalthey did not include mah tzidkeinu, and so on).