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We say vidui three times in selichos. Many words are uttered in a relatively short time. How can we do this in a meaningful way that is not "vidui peh"? I have heard tell of one of the gedolei Torah that in the vidui of everyday Tachanun, he said only one word of the “oshamnu, bogadnu” prayer. Is that a derekh for non-gedolim?

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You could always switch to the Chabad selichos nusach, which says "ashamnu" only once per day... :) – Alex Sep 22 '11 at 14:46
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@Alex, I assume you're kidding. The particular nusach one uses would (for most people) have the force of minhag, no? – msh210♦ Sep 22 '11 at 16:45
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@msh210: actually, there are halachic precedents for switching nuschaos - after all, there was such a change when Chassidus came along and advocated Nusach Ari, where until then pretty much all European Jews used Nusach Ashkenaz. The whole issue is discussed in various halachic works (will have to look for sources). But yes, in this case I was kidding. – Alex Sep 23 '11 at 3:45
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I asked a LOR He said he only says one set of oshamnu – Avrohom Yitzchok Sep 23 '11 at 12:08
@AvrohomYitzchok I have heard that is Minhag haGra as well. – Double AA♦ Sep 10 '12 at 16:58
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1 Answer

up vote 7 down vote accepted
  1. Learn the meaning behind the vidui before saying it.
  2. Buy a sefer that translates them or an interlinear siddur, and daven from that.
  3. Write your own commentary to them whilst learning the meanings.
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Moshe Yitzhak, thanks for the suggestions and welcome to the site. I hope you stick around and enjoy it. – msh210♦ Nov 9 '11 at 18:15

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