Lecha Dodi likras kallah. “Come, my beloved, to greet the bride.” (Let us welcome the presence of Shabbos.)
Lecha Dodi is one of the most famous liturgical poems (Piyutim) in Jewish tradition. Authored by the sixteenth century mekubal, Horav Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz, we sing it Friday night, concluding the psalms of Kabbolas Shabbos. The piyut integrates Kabbalistic, Biblical and Midrashic themes to express the longing we experience for Shabbos, as a kallah. This – like so many tefillos – has the powerful depth and meaning upon which we should and would focus if we would take the proper amount of time to understand and internalize its meaning.
Lecha Dodi follows an acrostic structure with the first letter of each stanza forming the name Shlomo HaLevi – the author’s signature. It consists of nine stanzas, each focusing on different aspects of Shabbos, redemption and the Divine Presence. Each stanza is followed by the refrain: Lecha Dodi likras kallah.
