Prayer-eoke: L'cha Dodi

L’cha Dodi is one of the most famous piyyutim (liturgical poems), sung as part of the Kabbalat Shabbat service. Although the authors of many other piyyutim are unknown, L’cha Dodi is an acrostic poem with the first letter of each verse spelling out the author’s name: Shlomo Halevi, refering to the 16th century kabbalist Shlomo Alkabetz. L’cha Dodi contains numerous allusions to kabbalistic thought as well as to rabbinic and biblical teachings. Many verses include biblical phrases referencing Shabbat and the spiritual marriage of God and Israel that traces back to the prophets like Hosea. Other verses of the prayer that we typically do not sing in Reform communities reference Isaiah and the messianic era. Shabbat is thought to be “a taste of the world to come,” or a perfected point in history when there is no more suffering, only piece. The refrain of L’cha Dodi is based on Rabbi Chanina’s custom of going out to greet the Sabbath while saying, “Come, let us go out to welcome the Sabbath Queen” and Rabbai Yanai’s custom of saying, “Come, o Bride, come o Bride,” as described in the Talmud (Shabbat 119a). The 16th century kabbalists in Tzefat (or Safed), Israel would walk into a field or the nearby hills and face the setting sun to recite L’cha Dodi on Friday evenings. Today, for the last verse, we face the entrance of the synagogue and bow to greet the Sabbath Queen as we say the same words, “Boi kallah, come o Bride!” This is the Reform version, so it does not have all eight verses.