Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, the Rishon L'Tzion, led selichot prayers in Jerusalem on Saturday night. The rabbi led worshippers in the Heichal Yaakov synagogue in Kiryat Moshe.

The traditional selichot prayers are recited by Sephardic Jews throughout the month of Elul, the Hebrew month that falls before the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Ashkenazic Jews start saying the penitential prayers a week or so before the Jewish New Year.