By Anash.org reporter

As the clock struck midnight on the first night of selichos, the voice of the chazan could be heard ringing throughout the Marina Roscha shul in Moscow.

Hundreds of Jews were gathered in the great hall when selichos began, many of them having first participated in a melave malka and farbrengen led by Rabbi Yehoshua Raskin.

Shliach Rabbi Zalman Shimon Deren served as the shliach tzibur. At the end of selichos, the kehilla burst into an exhilirating rendition of “Kesiva Vachasima Tova,” confident that all present would be written and sealed for a shana tova umesuka.

Rabbi Berel Lazar, mora de’asra of the community, spent Shabbos at the Ohel together with dozens of representatives from the Moscow community. They were privileged to recite selichos at the Rebbe’s home on President Street in Crown Heights.

Photos by Levi Nazarov