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"Lecha Dodi (Hachamah)," from the album "Chaverai Nevarech"
Melody by Josh Warshawsky
Lyrics by Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, from Kabbalat Shabbat
Produced, Engineered, and Mixed by Jeremy Lawrence
Vocal arrangement by Ayo Awosika
Video by The Matterworks / thematterworks
Track sponsored by the Vales Family
Band: Coleen Dieker, Chava Mirel Brock Pollock, Ayo Awosika, Duvid Swirsky, Lior Shragg, Deborah Sacks Mintz, Jackson Vance Mercer
לְכָה דודִי לִקְרַאת כַּלָּה
פְּנֵי שַׁבָּת נְקַבְּלָה
לא תֵבושִׁי וְלא תִכָּלְמִי
מַה תִּשְׁתּוחֲחִי וּמַה תֶּהֱמִי
בָּךְ יֶחֱסוּ עֲנִיֵּי עַמִּי
וְנִבְנְתָה עִיר עַל תלָּהּ
וְהָיוּ לִמְשִׁסָּה שׁאסָיִךְ
וְרָחֲקוּ כָּל מְבַלְּעָיִךְ
יָשִּׁישּׁ עָלַיִךְ אֱלהָיִךְ
כִּמְשּׁושּׁ חָתָן עַל כַּלָּה
יָמִין וּשְּׁמאל תִּפְרוצִי
וְאֶת ה’ תַּעֲרִיצִי
עַל יַד אִישׁ בֶּן פַּרְצִי
וְנִשְּׁמְחָה וְנָגִילָה
בּואִי בְשָׁלום עֲטֶרֶת בַּעְלָהּ
גַּם בְּשִּׁמְחָה וּבְצָהֳלָה
תּוךְ אֱמוּנֵי עַם סְגֻלָּה
בּואִי כַלָּה בּואִי כַלָּה
COME MY LOVE, THE SABBATH BRIDE IS COMING,
LET US GO OUT AND WELCOME HER
WELCOMING.
I wrote this melody in 2013, set to a poem by Chaim Nachman Bialik about the sun setting behind the treetops, going out together to welcome the Shabbat Queen/Shabbat Bride accompanied by her angels of peace and rest. In 2015, I was searching for new Lecha Dodi melodies, as my friend Rabbi Rebecca Schatz was introducing new melodies in a new service she created at Temple Beth Am called Sovev. She loved this melody, and suggested we try it out for Lecha Dodi. It is traditional in many communities to switch melodies in the middle of Lecha Dodi. The original chorus for this melody was “Bo’i hamalkah, bo’i kallah,” “Come my Queen, Come my Bride,” and so we decided to use this melody for the second half of Lecha Dodi, ending with the verse where we officially welcome the Shabbat Queen into our homes and communities, “Bo’i kallah, bo’i kallah.”