As a child, New Year’s Eve was always a challenge trying to stay up until midnight. Often, I would almost get to the finish line, only to fall asleep at 11:58 pm, missing the ball drop in Times Square.

Our tradition does it a little differently. We stay up until midnight a week before Rosh Hashana at the Selichot service. Instead of tossing confetti and counting down to a new year, we begin to prepare for Rosh Hashana, hearing the sounds of Avinu Malkeinu and the first confessional of the High Holy Day season. A prayer that we recite only once a year on that night is called lishmoa.

It reads: lishmoa el harina v’el hatefila, we ask God to listen to our prayer. At the conclusion, we sing, adon haselichot, God you are the Master of Forgiveness.

Sitting in the sanctuary late at night at an unusual hour allows us to prepare for what we enter into next week. As my high school coach used to tell our team, “Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” If you have never been to a Selichot service, join us tomorrow. As we enter the High Holy Day season, let us arrive early and stay up late together.