Saying Holiday Prayers can be difficult. The words are different, and hard to understand and the tefilot are long. So let's start with the most basic part to build understanding of what we are doing.
What is the most important part of Selihot?
What do the words of Selihot mean?
Why do we repeat the prayers so many times during the season of Teshuva?
(ו) וַיַּעֲבֹ֨ר יי ׀ עַל־פָּנָיו֮ וַיִּקְרָא֒
ה'׀ יי קל רַח֖וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן
אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת ׀
ז) נֹצֵ֥ר חֶ֙סֶד֙ לָאֲלָפִ֔ים
נֹשֵׂ֥א עָוֺ֛ן וָפֶ֖שַׁע
וְחַטָּאָ֑ה
וְנַקֵּה֙ ....
(6) And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed:
‘The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth;
(7) keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty;
These words describe in 13 different ways how God is merciful.
But to truly understand these words, we must first know what happend just before these words appear in the Torah. What bad story happened right before these words were said by God?
What was God responding to when He said He forgives us?
(א) וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי־בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ ק֣וּם ׀ עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹקִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֽוֹ׃
(1) And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: ‘Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.’
Even after a serious sin like the Golden Calf, God will still forgive the Jewish people. What does the Gemara in Rosh HaShana say about this?
כל זמן שישראל חוטאין
יעשו לפני כסדר הזה ואני מוחל להם
Every time that Israel sins,
they should do this sequence before me and I will forgive them.
Perhaps you noticed the precise wording of the Gemara.
Does the Gemara say that "Saying the words of the 13 Middot of Mercy" magically creates forgiveness? What does the Gemara say?
Look at this Gemara. What does the Gemara learn from these very same words?
How does that help?
גמ' (שמות טו, ב) " זה אלי ואנוהו"
אבא שאול אומר ואנוהו
הוי דומה לו מה הוא חנון ורחום אף אתה היה חנון ורחום
The Gemara explains based on a play on words: "This is my God and I shall glorify Him" - this words "I will glorify Him ואנויהו " is a combination of אני והוא
Just like God is kind and compassionate
So too should we!
"So, it would appear that the secret of Selichot lies not necessarily with simply SAYING these words but actually in DOING these words. Just like God forgives so too we should forgive. By saying these words over and over again between now and Yom Kippur, it should serve as a reminder to us to forgive others and be better people!"