Starting after Rosh Hodesh Elul, Sephardic Jews around the world wake up in the early morning to recite the Selichot which consist of special prayers and poems. The Selichot are recited every day until the end of the Yamim Nora'iim. The period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Aseret Yeme Teshubah (עשרת ימי תשובה). During this period, we add extra prayers in the Tefillah and there are some extra songs that we say in the Selichot. Communities from the Middle East have various ways of singing these beautiful Piyutim but my recording will focus on how these are said according to the Damascus "Shami" and Aleppo "Halabi" customs.