Mawal Nahawand, Rofe Meshuvah (Nahawand)

Maqam: Nahawand

This is seliḥa by an anonymous poet belongs to the seliḥot section for Shabbat Shuvah (the Sabbath between the New Year and the Day of Atonement). As they did on all the Sabbaths of the month of Elul, members of the community rose early to recite seliḥot on this special Sabbath too. Based on the refrain (be-yom Shabbat shuva…) and the insertion of a verse from the Haftarah (additional Biblical reading) of Shabbat Shuva (“Erpa me-shuvatam ohavem nedava,” Hosea 14:5), we may assume that the piyyut was written specifically for this Sabbath, as opposed to the other seliḥot for this Sabbath appearing in the maḥzor.