Selichous

According to Minhog Ashkenaz, does one begin reciting Selichous this Moutzoei Shabbos or does one recite Selichous only during the day?

Rallis

I think that according to all minhogim, סליחות֚ are supposed to be said (or at least started) during the אשמורה שלישית , i.e. the last third of the night. This seems to have been the main point of the תקנה, and is the reason why סליחות are recited before שחרית on subsequent days of the ימים נוראים, rather than the otherwise more appropiate place of the ברכה of סלח לנו (or at least in the next most appropiate place of right before תחנון), because the גאונים considered it of utmost importance to recite the סליחות during the special עת רצון of אשמורה שלישית , even at the cost of not reciting them in the spots in davening normally designated for בקשות. This can also be seen by the many references to both "לילה" and "בקר" , found all throughout the סליחות, as the מסדרי הפסוקים and the מחברי הסליחות expected as a דבר פשוט that the סליחות would be said (or at least started) during אשמורה שלישית , when it is both "בקר" and "לילה".

For some reason, people stopped saying saying סליחות before the end of אשמורה שלישית , yet the סליחות were never moved to later in the davening. (Note that one cannot say the תחינות after כי לה׳ הרחמים והסליחות during the ברכה of סלח לנו, according to many אחרונים in הלכות תענית.) Already dealing with a situation in which it was assumed the סליחות would be said שלא בזמנן, the רבנים ın certain Eastern European communities felt that it would be better to say the סליחות of the first night after חצות than during the day, due to the lines "גנון נא גזעו בזעקתם בעוד ליל" and "רצה עתירתם בעמדם בלילות" found in the פזמון of the fırst day. I think that רבנים in other places may have seen little point in doing this, since a similiar issue remains with the pizmon that starts ''באשמרת הבקר קראתיך'' and many other points in the סליחות which imply that we are reciting them during the אשמרת הבקר. We must be בדיעבד relying on a סברא that we can use those references even on days ın whıch they don't apply to us wıth the כונה that we mean them as general references, i.e. "Hashem please show us רחמים in the זכות of the times that we do recite the סליחות during the אשמרת הבקר", and the same can apply to the סליחות of the first day - "Hashem please show us רחמים in the זכות of the times that we do recite the סליחות at night". Since saying סליחות after חצות is still שלא בזמנן, and, as pointed out by Rav Shimon Schwab זצ''ל, could cause people to daven שלא בצבור the next morning, רבנים in Germany and elsewhere did not push for a "midnight סליחות" for the first night.

Melech