Lekha Dodi

Lekhah Dodi

לְכָה דוֹדִי

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The following is said in some congregations:

Hebrew

אָנָּא, בְּכֹחַ גְּדֻלַּת יְמִינְךָ, תַּתִּיר צְרוּרָה.
קַבֵּל רִנַּת עַמְּךָ, שַׂגְּבֵנוּ, טַהֲרֵנוּ, נוֹרָא.
נָא גִבּוֹר, דּוֹרְשֵׁי יִחוּדְךָ, כְּבָבַת שָׁמְרֵם.
בָּרְכֵם, טַהֲרֵם, רַחֲמֵי צִדְקָתְךָ תָּמִיד גָּמְלֵם.
חָסִין קָדוֹשׁ, בְּרֹב טוּבְךָ נַהֵל עֲדָתֶךָ.
יָחִיד גֵּאֶה, לְעַמְּךָ פְּנֵה, זוֹכְרֵי קְדֻשָּׁתֶךָ.
שַׁוְעָתֵנוּ קַבֵּל וּשְׁמַע צַעֲקָתֵנוּ, יוֹדֵעַ תַּעֲלוּמוֹת.
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד.

Sephardi

Ana, bechoach gedulat yeminecha, tatir tzerurah.
Kabel rinat amecha, sagevenu, taharenu, nora.
Na gibor, dorshei yichudecha, kevavat shomrem.
Barchem, taharem, rachamei tzidkatecha tamid gamlem.
Chasin kadosh, berov tuvcha nahel adatecha.
Yachid ge'eh, le'amecha peneh, zochrei kedushatecha.
Shav'atenu kabel ushema tza'akatenu, yodea ta'alumot.
Baruch sheim kevod malchuto le'olam va'ed.

English

Please, by the power of Your great right hand, set the captive nation free. Accept Your people's prayer. Strengthen us, purify us, You who are revered. Please, Mighty One, guard like the pupil of the eye those who seek Your unity. Bless them, cleanse them, grant them the compassion of Your righteousness always. Mighty One, Holy One, in Your great goodness guide Your congregation. Only One, Exalted One, turn to Your people, who proclaim Your holiness. Accept our plea and heed our cry, You who know all secret thoughts. Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and all time.

On Yom Tov, Motza'ei Yom Tov and Shabbat Hol HaMo'ed, say only the first two and last two stanzas of "Come, my Beloved."

Hebrew

לְכָה דוֹדִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה, פְּנֵי שַׁבָּת נְקַבְּלָה.
לְכָה דוֹדִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה, פְּנֵי שַׁבָּת נְקַבְּלָה.
שָׁמוֹר וְזָכוֹר בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד
הִשְׁמִיעָנוּ אֵל הַמְּיֻחָד
יהוה אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד
לְשֵׁם וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת וְלִתְהִלָּה.
לְכָה דוֹדִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה, פְּנֵי שַׁבָּת נְקַבְּלָה.

Sephardi

Lekhah dodi likrat kalah, penei Shabbat nekabelah.
Lekhah dodi likrat kalah, penei Shabbat nekabelah.
Shamor vezachor bedibur echad
Hishmi'anu Eil hameyuchad
Adonai echad ushmo echad
Leshem ultif'eret velitehilah.
Lekhah dodi likrat kalah, penei Shabbat nekabelah.

English

Come, my Beloved, to greet the bride; let us welcome the Sabbath. Come, my Beloved, to greet the bride; let us welcome the Sabbath. "Observe" and "Remember" in one act of speech, the One and Only God made us hear. The LORD is One and His name is One, for renown, for splendor, and for praise. Come, my Beloved, to greet the bride; let us welcome the Sabbath.

Commentary

שָׁמוֹר וְזָכוֹר בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד "Observe" and "Remember" in one act of speech: This refers to two versions of the Ten Commandments. In the first (Ex. 20:8), Israel was commanded to "Remember" the Sabbath; in the second (Deut. 5:12), to "observe" it. According to the sages, both were uttered at the same time. "Observe" refers to the negative commandment of Shabbat, the prohibition against work, while "Remember" refers to the positive commandment, to sanctify it in word and deed. The idea that both were spoken simultaneously …

אָנָּא, בְּכֹחַ Please, by the power: A hymn in seven lines, each of six words, whose initial letters spell out a mystical 42-letter name of God. It is attributed to Rabbi Neḥunya ben haKanah (second half of the first century CE).

לְכָה דוֹדִי Come, my Beloved: This song – the one original composition introduced into this service by the Safed kabbalists – was written by Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz. It is a work of surpassing beauty, speaking in turn of Shabbat, Jerusalem, the Jewish people, and the Messiah, before returning in its last verse to the Shabbat again. Artfully woven from biblical quotations, many of them drawn from Isaiah's prophecies of consolation, together with Talmudic and midrashic ideas, its first eight verses form an acrostic, spelling out the name of its author, Shlomo HaLevi.