This mystical hymn was written by the prominent Safed Kabbalist of the 16th century, Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz. The opening letters of the first eight stanzas form the acrostic of the name of the author - Shlomo HaLevi. Lecha Dodi opens with the words: “Come, my friend, to meet the bride; let us welcome the presence of Shabbat.” The Kabbalists of Safed viewed Shabbat as the marriage of the Shekhinah – the Divine presence, and the Jewish people. Traditional poem is nine verses long, of which we chose to record only the last one. It is customary to change the melody of Lecha Dodi in the middle, usually after the fifth stanza. Our recording introduces two melodies: a tune composed by an Israeli songwriter of a Russian origin, Mordechai Zeira and a folk version of the hymn.
RUSSIAN:
Этот мистический гимн был написан выдающимся Каббалистом Цфата 16го века, раввином Шломо Галеви Алкабец. Первые восемь строф образуют акростих имени автора - Шломо Галеви. Леча Доди начинается со слов: "Давай, мой друг, встречать невесту; давайте поприветствуем приход Шаббата." Каббалисты Цфата считали Шаббат браком Shekhinah (Божественного присутствия) и Еврейского народа. В этом гимне девять стихов, но мы выбрали для записи только последний. При исполнении Леча Доди часто меняют мелодию по середине, как правило, после пятой строфы. В нашей записи мы используем две мелодии: одна написана израильским композитором российского происхождения, Мордехайем Зейрой; вторая мелодия из фольклерной версии гимна.
Come, my friend, to meet the bride;
let us welcome the presence of Shabbat!
"Observe" and "Remember the Sabbath day,"
God said those words to us.
God One, and God's name is One,
Renowned and glorious and praiseworthy!
Come, my friend, to meet the bride...
Come in peace, holding your beloved's crown,
With rejoicing and with happiness.
In the midst of the faithful of the chosen people:
Come, O bride; come, O bride!
credits
from Zing Along Shabes,
released December 30, 2014
Cantors Maria Dubinsky and Natasha Hirschhorn. Melody by M. Zeira and Yerushalmi/Ashkenazi
Zing Along Shabes is a companion musical recording to the Zing Along Shabes project, a set of materials to help families
foster traditions around celebrating Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. The project was created by Inna Barmash, Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch and Irina Sheynfeld....more
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