Selichot Tours, Jerusalem – Basic Info and Example Tour

Selichot Tours has become very popular in recent years. We will start with basic info and join a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem.

What Are Selichot Tours?

Selichot are Jewish poems and prayers of repentance, recited during the period before the High Holidays in preparation for the Days of Awe from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur. While Selichot are prayed in every Synagogue according to the local customs, many Israelis and tourists make their way to Jerusalem for Selichot Tours in search of a meaningful way to experience the month of Elul. The time to repent and ask forgiveness and start anew. My wife and I had an opportunity to join the Selichot Tour in Jerusalem, so we did. And today I am going to tell you about it.

Here is additional background information from Haaretz that demonstrates the magnitude of Selichot Tours:

It may be the most booming business in Jerusalem these days, but despite its religious character, it caters – rather paradoxically – to a largely secular crowd.
Welcome to the world of Selichot tours. It’s a phenomenon that draws tens of thousands to the capital each night during the weeks leading up to the High Holy Days – Israelis of all ages and from all walks of life who are eager to experience, or at least learn more about, this longstanding tradition of reciting penitential prayers and liturgy in the wee hours of the night.

The growing popularity of these tours – almost to the point of a craze – is the latest sign of a newly kindled interest in Jewish traditions among secular Israelis, says Doron Yosha, who runs a company that specializes in tours of Jerusalem. “Today, in Israeli society, we’re seeing this trend of going back to tradition, which has little to do with religious observance,” he says.
His company, Doron Tours, has organized 100 Selichot tours this year in the five weeks leading up to Yom Kippur, most of them completely booked in advance and each one accommodating about 30-40 people. “We are talking about a sort of hybrid tour,” he says. “These aren’t exactly sightseeing tours, nor are they pilgrimage tours. Rather, they are a combination of the two.”

Directions for drivers: Link to Waze and Link to Google Maps
Directions for public transport: Link to Moovit

Interactive map of the area:

The Beginning of the Selichot Tour

We met at 22:00 next to Jaffa Gate. And this photo of the Tower Of David was made from the square just outside Jaffa Gate:

I am used to seeing Jaffa Gate in its modern view. But did you know that Jaffa Gate had a clock tower at the beginning of the previous century? The clock tower was built in 1908 by the Ottoman Empire, and in 1922 it was knocked down by the British (for aesthetic reasons). It was one of seven similar clock towers built in Israel. The most known of these clock towers is probably the tower in Jaffa (you can find more info in the guide to Jaffa).

Then we continued inside the old city. About ten meters after passing the Jaffa gate, you can see a small fenced area with two tombs on the left. These are believed to be the tombs of two architects Suleiman commissioned to construct the Old City walls. We do not know why Suleiman ordered to kill them, but there are several legends. The simplest explanation is that paying the executor for a five-minute work is cheaper than paying two architects for a four-year work. Another legend tells that Suleiman was afraid that the architects could say to his enemies about the weaknesses of the wall. We do not know which story is closer to the truth, but we know that the architects are not buried at the standard graveyard, meaning they did not die a natural death.

As mentioned above, the Selichot Tour is a combo tour. It is both sightseeing and a pilgrimage tour. And this tour was not an exception. The beginning was mostly sightseeing. We were told about the Jaffa Gate, the Tower Of David, and other buildings.

People at the bus stop in front of the Tower of David:

At the roofs

Then we continued to the roofs (above the market) of Jerusalem.

These roofs are located next to the Church of the Redeemer, and if you can visit its tower, I recommend it (for more info and photos, check out Church of the Redeemer).

Note: if you are looking for good viewpoints, see 14 Best Views of Jerusalem.

At the roofs, we had some snacks and talked about Selichot. Different streams in Judaism begin to recite the Selichot at other dates. For example, Sephardi Jews begin to recite the Selichot prayers at the start of the Jewish month of Elul, while Ashkenazim begin only on Saturday night preceding Rosh Hashanah. And this is only the general rule of thumb. There are exceptions. Moreover, there are other differences. For example, Sephardi Jews use the same Selichot prayers, and Ashkenazim recite different Selichot every night.

The tradition of reciting the prayers late at night emerged from believing that God is more merciful during those hours. But some believe that the reason is more practical. During the day, people had to work, and the only remaining time was the night.

From the roofs, we moved dipper into the Jewish quarter.

Jewish Quarter

We reached Hurva square and talked about the Hurva synagogue. As you can see, it is around 23:30, and the Jewish quarter is packed with people. There are street performers, and all restaurants and stores are still open. Some of them are even open during the whole night.

Then we went into Batei Mahse Square and talked about more recent history. Specifically about the history of Batei Mahse and the Six-Day War (war with Jordan over Jerusalem).

From Batei Mahse Square, we moved toward the main attraction of this tour, the Western Wall.

Western Wall

View of the Western Wall from above (it does not look like there are that many people):

Note: you can find the complete guide about the Kotel at Western Wall.

The later it is, the more people there are at the Kotel. We were told the peak is around 4-5 in the morning.

You have to pass a security check when walking to the Western Wall. Since there were many people, the line took us about 20 minutes.

Just after security check:

When we finally arrived at the Kotel, the Western Wall, there were many people. And the closer we got to the Kotel, the denser it was. The guide told us that we had 20 minutes until our meetup.

After about 5 minutes of trying to get to the wall, I understood that 20 minutes would not be enough. Due to the masses of people, 10 min for one way was not enough. And so I made my way back.

We headed back to the Jaffa gate through the market from the Western Wall.

One of the alleys in the market:

We reached the starting point (Jaffa gate) around 1:00 at night, which was the end of the Selichot tour.

Summary

The tour turned out not exactly what I expected. And when researching for this post, I read that Selichot tours were different in previous years. A decade ago, the Selichot tour meant you would go to a Synagogue and listen to Selichot. But two things changed. First, most Selichot tours were in Nachlaot, and Nachlaot residents complained about the noise. Thus, as far as I understood, a noise-prohibiting law was passed for the Nachlaot area (though today, many residents of the Jewish quarter also complain about the noise). Secondly, as the tours became popular, they could not fit all people into small synagogues (there is much more room in the old city and the Western Wall). Therefore, the concept of the Selichot tour changed. Today most tours start with sightseeing (to get you into the mood) and end at the Western Wall.

Though I was familiar with much of the sightseeing information, it was an excellent tour and a fun experience. And if you have not been to the Selichot tour, I recommend it. Moreover, after reading this post, you know what to expect 😉

By the way, our tour guide was Yaakov Oster, and his contact details are:
Phone: 050-6245028
Email: jacov345@gmail.com
I highly recommend him!

I hope you enjoyed the Selichot Tour post, and I will see you in future travels.

Stay tuned!

For additional points of interest nearby, check out Jerusalem.

Additional Resources

Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:

• Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
• What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
• Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
• Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
• If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.