שָׁמוֹר וְזָכוֹר בְּדִבּוּר אֶחָד. הִשְׁמִיעָנוּ אֵל הַמְיֻחָד. ה’ אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד. לְשֵׁם וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת וְלִתְהִלָּה: ‘Safeguard!’ And ‘Remember’ in a single utterance the One and Only G-d made us hear. Hashem is One and His Name is One, for renown, splendour and praise. As is well known, the two accounts of the ten commandments have … More Shamor Ve Zachor – Why one is not enough
The phrase Lecha Dodi is borrowed from the pasuk in Shir Hashirim 7:12, ‘Come my beloved and let us go out to the field, let us lodge in villages’. The most simple idea here is that this is a reference to the Gemara that talks about the various Sages who would go out and greet … More Lecha Dodi – Where are We Going?
Shabbos and especially Shabbos afternoon is representative of Yichud, unification with Hashem. On Friday night we say ata kidashta, which is a reference to Kiddushin. On Shabbos morning we say yismechu bemalchuscha, which alludes to the chosson being like a king at his chuppa. We also daven mussaf which is a hint to the tosefes … More The Heavenly Yichud Room
לכה דודי לקראת כלה פני שבת נקבלה Come my beloved to meet the bride, The Sabbath presence, let us welcome! The beloved referred to here is none other than Hashem Himself. Together Hashem and Klal Yisrael go out to welcome the Sabbath bride. We know that the Jewish people are referred to as Hashem’s … More An Epic Love Story
Having learnt through the six chapters of Kabalas Shabbos we can now proceed to approach the piyut, lecha dodi. Of all the piyutim written for Shabbos davening, this is by far the most widely accepted and most popular. Although it is hard for us to imagine bringing in Shabbos without it, it is important to … More Intro to Lecha Dodi
