"Dad Used to Wake Me Up Early for Selichot, Put Me on His Bike, and We'd Go to the Synagogue. It Was a Formative Experience"

"It's a bit funny and quite surprising, but the truth is you never know where certain things will lead you," says Mishael Vaknin, 52, a married father of four living in Rehovot, Chairman of the Board of Israel Post, and a businessman. "Four years ago, I got an innocent phone call from one of my good friends, Yoram Turbovich, former Antitrust Commissioner and Chief of Staff of Ehud Olmert during his tenure as Prime Minister. He and his wife were on their way to a vacation at the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem, and they asked me what exactly is a Selichot tour. It was the eve of Yom Kippur, and they wanted to participate in such a tour, one of many held in Jerusalem at this time of year.

"I wanted them to experience the real thing, the Selichot themselves and not what surrounds them, so I told them, 'Forget about tours, go to Selichot. Get up at three in the morning, arrive at the Ades Synagogue in Nachlaot, and I'll wait for you there.' Additionally, I wanted them to have a basic understanding of what was happening there, so I began writing in a general way about Selichot—when the custom began, which piyyutim are recited, some explanations on the piyyutim, etc.

"I got up at three in the morning, woke up my sons, and we set off. When I arrived, I gave them the papers I wrote for them, and we were there from 4:30 to 6 in the morning. When we left the synagogue, they said it touched them deeply, and it was their first time at Selichot. At that moment, I realized if it touched them, it could touch many other people, so I began writing additional content related to the topic in the evenings after work. I started at the beginning of the Selichot order and wrote an explanation of the main contents that appear there."

It is evident from your words that Selichot is very dear to your heart.

"Selichot, and prayer in general, is my soul. My father instilled this in me from a very young age. At the age of four, I was already reading the Maftir, and it has been very strong with me ever since. I really try not to miss any prayer with a minyan, and when I pray alone, I feel as if a limb has been severed. Among all this, the recitation of Selichot was a life-shaping experience for me. My father would wake me and my brother up early in the morning, put us on his bike, and take us to the synagogue. Those moments stay with me always. For me, it is a formative experience, and in a way, I regret that other prayers aren't like this. Naturally, routine daily prayers have a certain regularity to them, but the Selichot manage to retain a unique charm and distinctiveness due to the very late or very early hour they occur, the unique piyyutim, and various other reasons.

"This is also the main reason that led me to write the book about Selichot, but when I finished writing, I thought it was a bit boring and decided to add an aesthetic aspect—to place an ancient manuscript next to each piyyut. I went to the National Library and looked for ancient manuscripts of Selichot piyyutim, then continued to other libraries in several countries worldwide, even reaching the Cairo Geniza and Bill Gross, the world's largest Judaica collector. I told him about the book I'm writing, and he said, 'Look for whatever you want with me, what is mine is yours.' The work was not easy, but thank Hashem, I found an ancient manuscript for every Selichot piyyut. Additionally, I included in the book central piyyutim recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur like 'Achat Ketanah', 'Aked V'haneked V'hamizbeach', and 'Lech Elai T'shukati', and prepared for its conclusion."

When writing the book, who was the target audience you aimed at?

"The initial thought was to target mainly the general public, but suddenly as the book progressed, I realized that for people who are deeply familiar with this world, it might not bring much new, and I knew that to speak to them, I had to add more depth to the book. For this purpose, I approached interesting and diverse people and asked them to write articles on the subject of Selichot, and this indeed added a lot to the book. In addition, my son told me that if I want young people to connect with the book, I need to include a barcode that they can scan to reach the piyyutim on YouTube. I didn't want to direct people to existing performances, so I approached Yair Harel, director of the 'Piyut Ensemble', and told him about the idea. I suggested that we record the Selichot piyyutim in high quality and direct people to them from the book.

"Yair was excited about the idea and said he had preservation recordings of Selichot piyyutim he had made in recent years with Rabbi and cantor Chaim Louk. I was thrilled to hear that, and we decided to make a live album of Selichot piyyutim without musical instruments, just like they're sung in the synagogue. We recorded the cantors of the 'Piyut Ensemble', who essentially represented the congregation in the synagogue. We ended up with 60 pieces from the Selichot, and later on, we also recorded an album called 'Selichot Tour – Contemporary Version', which was recorded in a studio with instruments.

"This is a very expensive project. I see great importance in this matter, and therefore decided to invest in it. Since the book came out, I keep hearing more and more feedback from the field, and I understand that the investment was worth it. We receive many orders from secular kibbutzim, and alongside that, I receive emotional feedback from rabbis. Some people have told me with excitement, 'I said Kaddish for a year for my mother and never understood what I was saying; now, thanks to you, I know.'"

To the Land of Tzvi

In addition to his extensive activity in the field of Selichot and the business world, Vaknin is currently Chairman of the Board of Israel Post, a matter that has received a lot of headlines and even reached a special discussion in the Supreme Court. "For many years, I worked in the media," Vaknin explains. "I was a senior figure at Globes and edited their Shabbat supplement, and later I was the economic editor of Yedioth Aharonoth. I left there in '99, but to this day, I really love to write. Beyond that, it helped me a lot in writing the book, and thanks to working in media, I knew how to present it properly.

"After leaving the media world, I entered the business world, and a year and a half ago, Yoaz Hendel, then Minister of Communications, offered me to serve as Chairman of the Board of Israel Post. At the time, I was CEO of a large optical fiber company, and during a tour we took together, he offered me the job. At that time, Israel Post was a collapsing company on the verge of bankruptcy, and he asked me to restructure and privatize it, to treat it like reserve duty. I agreed to the offer, and it was indeed very complex. The company had been neglected for many years, and for instance, last Pesach, there was no money to pay employees' salaries. I took the job part-time, gave up a driver, secretary, office, and assistant. For comparison, the previous chairman's office was 155 meters, and I work in a 9-meter room. Before me, the previous CEO's driver sat in my office.

"I brought in a new CEO to the post office, a very talented guy named David Laron, who comes every morning to the post offices in Modi'in from Moshav Regba near Nahariya. He's a former senior at Shufersal, Tnuva, and Cellcom. We created a recovery plan together with the Ministry of Finance, fired over a thousand employees, and closed branches. Additionally, I took care to remove all kinds of bizarre political appointments. I fired everyone who was redundant. For example, when I took the job, there were 13 vice presidents in the company; I left eight. The process wasn't easy, but thank Hashem, good results came quickly."

It seems the business was thriving, so what went wrong?

"When Shlomo Karhi was appointed Minister of Communications, he decided to remove me from the position. The postal company and I appealed to the Supreme Court, and two weeks ago, the judges issued an interim order that froze the dismissals. Additionally, they demanded that the ministers explain why they decided to fire me. The ministers said my work was not good, and we showed in response the State Comptroller's report showing a completely opposite picture. Meanwhile, I continue in the role, and we will see where it progresses from here."

The Supreme Court's ruling against politicians' decision reminds of the core issues in the protest against the judicial reform. What's your opinion on it?

"I'm a big believer in clarification. A dispute conducted respectfully and with substance is important for the people of Israel. We need to understand why we are here, and the protests bring important questions to the consciousness of many people. In general, I see a lot of good things in the recent awakening in the country. People living without a strong connection to the place they live in, that's not life for me. As long as people care about what's happening here and they go out to protest, it's a good message for the people of Israel. It shows that people care about where they live. We are in a time of correction and cleansing, a period that will bring many good things to the people of Israel, even though it doesn't seem that way right now. I believe in this wholeheartedly, and soon we will all see it with our own eyes."