Greeting Shabbat With Beautiful Melodies: A Very Unusual Lecha Dodi

The Shabbat Song Project is an Israeli effort to spread the light of Shabbat, with popular singers performing traditional Shabbat melodies with new and eclectic arrangements. The arrangers and singers deserve a lot of credit for their creativity and use of a wide range of instruments and musical styles to present in a new light songs that we usually hear only inside a synagogue.

We're bringing you a few of their beautiful renditions on Fridays, when we prepare to welcome Shabbat. Last week we posted Yedid Nefesh, a piyyut (poem) usually sung on Friday night just before the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming Shabbat) service begins.

Today we continue the series with a very unusual version of Lecha Dodi, an integral part of the Kabbalat Shabbat service.

According to Wikipedia, Lecha Dodi means "come my beloved," and is a request of a mysterious "beloved" that could mean either God or one's friend(s) to join together in welcoming Shabbat that is referred to as the "bride": likrat kallah ("to greet the [Shabbat] bride"). During the singing of the last verse, the entire congregation rises and turns to the open door, to greet "Queen Shabbat" as she arrives.

It was composed in the 16th century Ottoman Empire city of Edirne by Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, a Safed Kabbalist. As was common at the time, the song is also an acrostic, with the first letter of the first eight stanzas spelling the author's name. The author draws much of his phraseology from Isaiah's prophecy of Israel's restoration, and six of his verses are full of the thoughts to which his vision of Israel as the bride on that great Shabbat of Messianic deliverance gives rise. It is one of the latest of the Hebrew poems regularly accepted into the liturgy, both in the southern use, which the author followed, and in the more distant northern rite.
 
The lyrics, in Hebrew, with English translation and transliteration, appear below the video:

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#	English translation	Transliteration	Hebrew
Chorus:
1	Let’s go, my beloved, to meet the bride,	Lekhah dodi liqrat kallah	לכה דודי לקראת כלה
2	and let us welcome the presence of Shabbat.	p'nei Shabbat neqabelah	פני שבת נקבלה
Verse 1:
3	"Observe" and "recall" in a single utterance,	Shamor v'zakhor b'dibur eḥad	שמור וזכור בדבור אחד
4	We were made to hear by the unified God,	hishmiʿanu El hameyuḥad	השמיענו אל המיחד
5	God is one and God’s Name is one,	Adonai eḥad ushemo eḥad	יי אחד ושמו אחד
6	In fame and splendor and praiseful song.	L'Sheim ulitiferet v'lit'hilah	לשם ולתפארת ולתהלה
Verse 2:
7	To greet Shabbat let’s go, let’s travel,	Liqrat Shabbat lekhu v'nelekhah	לקראת שבת לכו ונלכה
8	For she is the wellspring of blessing,	ki hi maqor haberakhah	כי היא מקור הברכה
9	From the start, from ancient times she was chosen,	merosh miqedem nesukhah	מראש מקדם נסוכה
10	Last made, but first planned.	sof maʿaseh b'maḥashavah teḥilah	סוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה
Verse 3:
11	Sanctuary of the king, royal city,	Miqdash melekh ʿir melukhah	מקדש מלך עיר מלוכה
12	Arise! Leave from the midst of the turmoil;	Qumi tze'i mitokh ha-hafeikhah	קומי צאי מתוך ההפכה
13	Long enough have you sat in the valley of tears	Rav lakh shevet b'ʿeimeq habakha	רב לך שבת בעמק הבכא
14	And He will take great pity upon you compassionately.	v'hu yaḥamol ʿalayikh ḥemlah	והוא יחמול עליך חמלה
Verse 4:
15	Shake yourself free, rise from the dust,	Hitnaʿari me'afar qumi	התנערי מעפר קומי
16	Dress in your garments of splendor, my people,	Livshi bigdei tifartekh ʿami	לבשי בגדי תפארתך עמי
17	By the hand of Jesse’s son of Bethlehem,	ʿAl yad ben Yishai beit ha-laḥmi	על יד בן ישי בית הלחמי
18	Redemption draws near to my soul.	Qorvah el nafshi g'alah	קרבה אל נפשי גאלה
Verse 5:
19	Rouse yourselves! Rouse yourselves!	Hitʿoreri hitʿoreri	התעוררי התעוררי
20	Your light is coming, rise up and shine.	Ki va oreikh qumi ori	כי בא אורך קומי אורי
21	Awaken! Awaken! utter a song,	ʿUri ʿuri shir dabeiri	עורי עורי שיר דברי
22	The glory of the Lord is revealed upon you.	K'vod Adonai ʿalayikh niglah	כבוד יי עליך נגלה
Verse 6:
23	Do not be embarrassed! Do not be ashamed!	Lo tivoshi v'lo tikalmi	לא תבושי ולא תכלמי
24	Why be downcast? Why groan?	Mah tishtoḥai umah tehemi	מה תשתוחחי ומה תהמי
25	All my afflicted people will find refuge within you	bakh yeḥesu ʿaniyei ʿami	בך יחסו עניי עמי
26	And the city shall be rebuilt on her hill.	v'nivnetah ʿir ʿal tilah	ונבנתה עיר על תלה
Verse 7:
27	Your despoilers will become your spoil,	V'hayu limshisah shosayikh	והיו למשסה שאסיך
28	Far away shall be any who would devour you,	V'raḥaqu kol mevalʿayikh	ורחקו כל מבלעיך
29	Your God will rejoice concerning you,	Yasis ʿalayikh Elohayikh	ישיש עליך אלהיך
30	As a groom rejoices over a bride.	Kimsos ḥatan ʿal kalah	כמשוש חתן על כלה
Verse 8:
31	To your right and your left you will burst forth,	Yamin usmol tifrotzi	ימין ושמאל תפרוצי
32	And the Lord will you revere	V'et Adonai taʿaritzi	ואת יי תעריצי
33	By the hand of a child of Perez,	ʿAl yad ish ben Partzi	על יד איש בן פרצי
34	We will rejoice and sing happily.	V'nismeḥah v'nagilah	ונשמחה ונגילה
Verse 9:
35	Come in peace, crown of her husband,	Boi v'shalom ateret baʿalah	בואי בשלום עטרת בעלה
36	Both in happiness and in jubilation	Gam b'simḥah uvetzahalah	גם בשמחה ובצהלה
37	Amidst the faithful of the treasured nation	Tokh emunei ʿam segulah	תוך אמוני עם סגלה
38	Come O Bride! Come O Bride!	Boi khalah boi khalah	בואי כלה בואי כלה

Project Shabbat Project Manager: Ronnie Ayalon
Artistic direction: Guttman Foundation
Musical producer: Israel Kassif
Photographer: Ofer Shechtman
Editor: Gideon Mosiknsky and songs Alzra
Sound: Roy Geva
After Effects: Danny Ben-Yaacov
Artists: Ilan Damari, Roi Levy, Nadav Bachar, Rabbi Oded David, Tamir Yamin, Neria Moyal, Shahar Ariel, Ehud Ariel, Eyal Maoz, Yaniv Ahiel, Ofer Shechtman, Omer Horvitz, Ronen Tessie, Israel Kasif, Micha Michaeli, Gil Ladin, Fishi Hagadol