Makhnisei Rakhamim / Usherer of Mercy

An Ashkenazi selichot prayer for Days of Awe

מַכְנִיסֵי רַחֲמִים. הַכְנִיסוּ רַחֲמֵינוּ, לִפְנֵי בַּעַל־הָרַחֲמִים.

מַשְׁמִיעֵי תְפִלָּה. הַשְׁמִיעוּ תְפִלָּתֵנוּ, לִפְנֵי שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה:

מַשְׁמִיעֵי צְעָקָה. הַשְׁמִיעוּ צַעֲקָתֵנוּ, לִפְנֵי שׁוֹמֵעַ צְעָקָה:

מַכְנִיסֵי דִּמְעָה. הַכְנִיסוּ דִמְעוֹתֵינוּ, לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מִתְרַצֶּה בִּדְמָעוֹת:

Calling all ushers of Mercy! Please usher in our brokenness before God of All Mercies.

Callers of prayers, call our prayers before the hearer or prayer.

Callers of Outcries! Sound off our outcries! Before the hearer of outcries!

Ushers of tears, please usher in our tears, before the King, he who is nurtured in our tears.

—

Selichot is the Hebrew word for ‘fogivenesses,’ plural intended. It is a collection of poems recited on and around Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to invoke states of mind of surrender, humility and introspection. This particular poem is exceptional because it addresses not those who pray, nor G-d, but to the intermediaries who carry our messages. Who are these intermediaries? This poem is also exceptional as it invokes not just humility and devotion, but also wrath, blame, outrage, the demand for wholesomeness and repair. Channeling this poem can be more than a musical, but a shamanic event, relating with and through these intermediaries, and somatically transmuting and releasing trapped energies.

The melody is attributed to Hazzan Leib Glantz z”l (Ukranian born, 1898-1964.) Recorded at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, USA July 2023.