Episode 4: Lecha Dodi

Welcome to Shabbat Unbound, the world's longest Friday night Sabbath service, stretching over eight episodes. Instead of rushing through all the Friday night Shabbat prayers in one sitting, like we might in a classical synagogue environment, we're taking our time diving deep into one prayer each episode through song study and sacred conversation. It's the most original and traditional way to engage in the transition into Shabbat, taking each prayer as its own world with its own Torah to teach us. Miriam Terlinchamp, Lex Rofeberg and an incredible group of musicians invite you to discover what happens when Shabbat slows down. The fourth episode focuses on Lecha Dodi. **\[1]** Source for writing Lecha Dodi.  Rabbi Chaim Vital (1543-1620),  student of  Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 1534-1572), writes in his *Pri Etz Chaim (Sha’ar Shabbat*) the Arizal’s precise procedure for Kabbalat Shabbat: He would go out into the fields and first recite Psalm 29 (‘*Mizmor l’David*’). Then he would say *bo’i kallah* three times, followed by Psalm 92 (‘*Mizmor Shir l’Yom haShabbat*’). That was it! The Arizal would then return home, and had another set of rituals around the meal table. One of these was to recite the words *Zachor v’shamor b’dibbur echad ne’emru,* to recall the mitzvah of Shabbat in the Ten Commandments. Recall that in the first passage of the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus, God says *zachor et yom haShabbat*, to “commemorate” the Sabbath day, while in the second passage of the Ten Commandments in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses recorded it as *shamor et yom haShabbat*, to “safeguard” the Sabbath day. Our Sages explained that God had said *both* words simultaneously—the people heard *zachor v’shamor b’dibbur echad*, to “commemorate” and “safeguard” in a single utterance. **\[2]** Miriam mentions bridal imagery in Lecha Dodi and Sabbath practices in general. Here is a sweet article about mystic love by Sara Crispe in her www.myjewishlearning.com essay, “Love Lessons from Lecha Dodi.”  **\[3]** Love this rendition of Lecha Dodi? Great! Check out Batya Levine’s other recordings and compositions on her website www.batyalevine.com. Batya’s newest album “Yivarechecha” focuses on blessings and is a downright magical compilation of gorgeous and resonant music.  **\[4]** If you want to listen to some of the other nearly 1,000 tunes for Lecha Dodi, we have a few special one’s highlighted on our website at: www.judaismunbound.com/shabbat5785. There’s one set to “All of me” by John Legend, another by “The Jews of Uganda”, a Bretzlover chasidic tune, and more!   **\[5]** Want to watch the music video of our version of Lecha Dodi? Great you can find it here.