Come My Beloved
(click below the music notes to listen to
several versions)
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Shamor v'zachor b'dibur echad, hishmi-anu Kel hamyuchad, Hashem echad ushmo echad, l'shem ultiferet v'lit-hilah
Safeguard and Remember--in a single utterance the One and Only G-d made us hear. Hashem is One and His Name is One, for renown for splendor, and for praise.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Likrat Shabbat l'chu v'nel'chah, ki hi m'kor hab'rachah, merosh mikedem n'suchah, sof ma-aseh, b'machashavah t'chilah
To welcome the Sabbath, come let us go, for it is the source of blessing; from the beginning, from antiquity she was honored, last in deed, but first in thought.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Mikdash Melech ir m'luchah, kumi tz'i mitoch hahafeichah, rav lach shevet b'emek habacha, v'hu yachamol alayich chemlah
O Sanctuary of the King, royal City--arise and depart from amid the upheaval, too long have you dwelled in the valley of weeping. He will shower compassion upon you.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Hitna-ari me-afar kumi, livshi bigdei tifartech ami, al yad ben Yishai beit halachmi, karvah el nafshi g'alah
Shake off the dust--arise! Don your splendid clothes, My people, through the son of Yishai (Jesse), the Bethlehemite! Draw near to my soul--redeem it!
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Hitor'ri hit-or'ri, ki va oreych kumi ori, uri uri shir daberi, k'vod Hashem alayich niglah
Wake up! Wake up! For your light has come, rise up and shine; Awaken, awaken, utter a song, the glory of Hashem is revealed on you.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Lo tevoshi v'lo tikalmi, ma tishtochachi uma tehemi, bach yechesu aniyei ami, v'nivntah ir al tilah
Feel not ashamed be not humiliated, why are you downcast? Why are you disconsolate? In you will My people's afflicted find shelter as the City is built upon its hilltop.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
V'ha-yu limshisah shosayich, v'rachaku kal m'valayich, yasis alayich Elokayich, kimsos chatan al kalah
May your oppressor be downtrodden, and may those who devoured you be cast far off. Your G-d will rejoice over you like a groom's rejoicing over his bride.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Yamin usmol tifrotzi, v'et Hashem ta-aritzi, al yad ish ben Partzi, v'nismchah v'nagilah
Rightward and leftward, you shall spread out mightily, and you shall extol the might of Hashem, through the man descended from Peretz, then we shall be glad and mirthful.
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Bo-i v'shalom ateret ba'lah, gam b'simchah uvtzahalah, toch emuney am s'gulah, b'o-i chalah, b'o-i chalah
Enter in peace, O crown of her husband, even in gladness, and good cheer, among the faithful of the treasured nation. Enter, O bride! Enter, O bride!
Lecha dodi likrat kalah, p'nei Shabbat nekablah
Come my Beloved to greet the bride--the Sabbath presence let us welcome!
Lecha Dodi was composed by Rabbi Shlomo Halevy Alkabetz (1505-1584), one of the
Kabbalists of Safed. He arranged the poetical composition so that the first letters of each stanza spells out the name of the author, a practice quite common among liturgical poets. Although several versions of a hymn by this name had been circulating at that time, this is the one that was adopted by Rabbi Issac Luria, the foremost authority among the
Kabbalistic masters.
This song has been described as perhaps one of the finest pieces of religious poetry in existence.
After the Minchah service, as the sun cast its setting rays over the distant hilltops, this saintly mystic and his disciples would go out into the fields to stand on one of Sefad's magnificent slopes. Gazing out upon plunging ravines and soaring heights, they would open their hearts in song as the sunset swelled into a cadence of changing colors: "Lecha dodi, likrat kallah; P'nei Shabbat, nekablah." This refrain concludes each of the nine stanzas of the hymn, in which Biblical phrases from the books of Shoftim, Yeshayahu, Yirmeyahu, and Tehillim are pieced together to create a liturgical mosaic. There is scarcely a phrase in the entire hymn which is not borrowed from the Hebrew Bible.
Only the first two and the last stanzas relate to the Shabbat theme. The rest reflect the Jewish longing for redemption, which includes the restoration of Yerushalayim and the coming of the Mashiach. Each of these other six stanzas describe another stage in the process of redemption.
The words of the refrain and the last two words of the hymn were taken from the Talmud. The Talmud relates that every Shabbat eve, Rabbi Hanina would don his finest garments and declare: "Come, let us go out to mee the Shabbat Queen." Rabbi Yannai likewise put on his festive clothes and declared: "Come, O Bride, Come, O Bride" (Shabbat 119a; Bava Kama 32b).
Talmud - Mas. Shabbat 119a
R. Hanina robed himself and stood at sunset of Sabbath eve [and] exclaimed, ‘Come and let us go forth to welcome the queen Sabbath.’(2) R. Jannai donned his robes, on Sabbath eve and exclaimed, ‘Come, O bride, Come, O bride!’
(2) Cf. Elbogen, op. cit., p.108
Talmud - Mas. Bava Kama 32b
‘Come, let us go forth to meet the bride, the queen!’ Some [explicitly] read:’. . . to meet Sabbath, the bride, the queen.’ R. Jannai, [however,] while dressed in his Sabbath attire used to remain standing and say: ‘Come thou, O queen, come thou, O queen!’
We no longer go outdoors to welcome the Shabbat Bride. But we do turn around to face westward in the direction of the setting sun, which signals the arrival of the Shabbat. This we do while reciting the last stanza of the Lecha Dodi hymn.
The personification of the Shabbat as a Bride and as a Queen, both of which convey the imagery of beauty and radiance, testifies to the tremendous affection that the Shabbat enjoyed among the people. The poem gives expression to the hope of Yisrael which in the same sense is likened to a bride (Yirmeyahu 2:2).
The Midrash is the basis for the idea that G-d mated the Jewish people with the Shabbat (Bereishit Rabbah 11:8).
Midrash Rabbah - Bereishit 11:8
8. Now why did He bless it? R. Berekiah said: Because it has no mate. The first day of the week has the second, the third has the fourth, the fifth has the sixth, but the Sabbath has no partner. R. Samuel b. Nahman said: Because it cannot be postponed: a festival can be postponed, the Day of Atonement can be postponed,7 but the Sabbath cannot be postponed. R. Simeon b. Yohai taught: The Sabbath pleaded to the Holy One, blessed be He: ' All have a partner, while I have no partner!’ ‘The Community of Yisrael is your partner,’ G-d answered. And when they stood before the mountain of Sinai, He said to them, ' Remember what I said to the Sabbath, that the Community of Yisrael is your partner, [hence,] Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy’ (Shemot 20:8).
7 These are dependent on the day which the Court declares to be New Moon; thus if New Moon is declared a day later these too fall later.
Hence, the notion of a beloved bride whose arrival is eagerly awaited and joyously welcomed.
The title Lecha Dodi is borrowed from Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) 7:12, where an intense delight in rural life breathes through the lines: "Come, my beloved, let us go into the field, let us stay in the villages; let us go early to the vineyards..." Following the example of the famous Kabbalist Rabbi Issac Luria, his disciples used to go outside the city limits of Safed into the open fields to welcome the Shabbat with the psalms and hymns which are now the component parts of the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday evenings.
The expression "last in deed, but first in thought" means that, though the Shabbat came after the creation of the world, it had been designed by G-d long before he created the entire universe.
Sources:
- Artscroll Siddur
- Encyclopedia Of Jewish Concepts, Philip Birnbaum
- To Pray As A Jew, Rabbi Donin
- Soncino Talmud
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