Pre-16th Century Shabbat services: Arvit...Shacharit, Musaf, Mincha, Arvit.
Post-16th Century Shabbat services: Kabbalat Shabbat, Arvit: Shacharit, Musaf, Mincha, Arvit
Why institute a new prayer? What is the origin of the prayer?
What happened in the 16th century in Tzfat?
1. Expulsion from Spain, Portugal,Nuremberg, Bavaria, Papal states, Milan, Naples
2. Suleiman the Magnificent 1520 conquers Israel and Egypt from Mamluks
3. Infusion of Jews from all lands and cultures to Tzfat
4. Jewish population explodes
5. Proximity to grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
Great Rabbis of 16th century Tzefat
Rabbi Yaakov Beirav
Rabbi Yosef Karo
Rabbi Moshe Kordovero
Rabbi Yitzchak Luria
Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz
This mystical hymn to the Shabbat was composed by the kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz (c. 5260-5340), teacher and brother-in-law of the famed kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero. Rabbi Alkabetz was one of the esteemed members of the Safed circle of scholars and mystics, which included Rabbi Yosef Caro, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero and Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the holy Ari. The author signed his name - Shlomo HaLevi - in the acrostic formed by the first letter of the first eight stanzas of the hymn.
What is the foundation of the marriage imagery?
Marriage Imagery in the Rabbinic Texts re: the Sabbath
Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai taught: The Sabbath spoke to the Holy One: Master of the universe, each one of the days has a mate but I have no mate. The Holy One replied: The congregation of Israel will be your mate. And when Israel stood before Mount Sinai, the Holy One said to them: Remember the special thing I told the Sabbath, that "the congregation of Israel is to be your mate." It is this that is implied in the verse "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it (li’kodsho)." (Ex. 20:8, Bereshit Rabbah 11:8)
(11) I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. (12) Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us rest in the villages. (13) Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, whether the vine-blossom has opened, and the pomegranates have flowered; there will I give thee my love.
Just as the Kallah arrives before the Hatan, dressed beautifully, with jewelry and perfume,
So Shabbat arrives before Israel dressed beautifully with jewelry….
Just as the Hatan is dressed in magnificent attire, so a person should dress magnificently for Shabbat.
Just as the Hatan enjoys pleasures all seven days of the wedding,
so a person should indulge in pleasures on Shabbat.
Just as the Hatan takes off from work, so does person refrain for work for Shabbat….
One should not eat on Shabbat afternoon so as to enter Shabbat with an appetite,
just as the Hatan fasts from food and drink on the day of the wedding.
So a person should be very careful to sanctify Shabbat with wine,
Just as Hatan is careful to sanctify (kiddushin) his bride [with wine].
(Sefer HaPeliah I 36b)
(כא) וְאֵרַשְׂתִּ֥יךְ לִ֖י לְעוֹלָ֑ם וְאֵרַשְׂתִּ֥יךְ לִי֙ בְּצֶ֣דֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּ֔ט וּבְחֶ֖סֶד וּֽבְרַחֲמִֽים׃ (כב) וְאֵרַשְׂתִּ֥יךְ לִ֖י בֶּאֱמוּנָ֑ה וְיָדַ֖עַתְּ אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃ (ס)
(21) And I will espouse you forever: I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, And with goodness and mercy, (22) And I will espouse you with faithfulness; Then you shall be devoted to the LORD.
(ח) ד"א למה ברכו, ר' ברכיה ורבי דוסתאי ורבי שמואל בר נחמן, רבי דוסתאי אומרים שאין לו בן זוג, חד בשבתא, תרי, תלתא, ארבעתא, חמשא, ערובתא, שבתא לית לה בן זוג...תני ר"ש בן יוחאי: אמרה שבת לפני הקב"ה "רבש"ע לכולן יש בן זוג, ולי אין בן זוג", א"ל הקב"ה "כנסת ישראל היא בן זוגך",וכיון שעמדו ישראל לפני הר סיני אמר להם הקב"ה זכרו הדבר שאמרתי לשבת כנסת ישראל היא בן זוגך היינו דבור (שמות כ) "זכור את יום השבת לקדשו".
(8) Why did God bless Shabbat? Rabbi Berekiah says: "Because it has no partner. The first day of the week has the second, the third has the fourth, the fifth has the sixth, but Shabbat has no partner... Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: Shabbat pleaded with the Holy One, Blessed be He saying: "Everyone else has a partner, but I have none!" God answered saying: "The community of Israel will be your partner." God continued: "And when thy stood before Sinai, God said to the Israelites: "Remember what I said to Shabbat, that the community of Israel is your partner, "Remember the Shabbat day lekadsho" (Exodus 20:8)...
(ט) גניבא אמר: משל למלך שעשה לו חופה וציירה וכיירה ומה היתה חסרה? כלה שתכנס לתוכה. כך מה היה העולם חסר? שבת!
Geniva said: This is comparable to a king who prepared a wedding chamber, but was missing a bride. Similarly, the world was missing Shabbat.
Shekhinah is the Sabbath Queen entering the palace of time every Friday evening at sunset. As the seventh sefirah below Binah, Shekhinah is the seventh primordial day. Friday evening is the time of her union with her masculine counterpart, the sefirah of Tif'eret. The Sabbath is God's wedding celebration.
Daniel Matt, The Essential Kabbalah, p. 189
The often quoted suggestion that it is a ‘double mitzvah’ for a married couple to have intimate relations on the Sabbath is directly related to the idea of the unification of God’s male and female dimensions on the Sabbath. It is a mitzvah for the couple to experience intimate pleasure on the Sabbath with one another, but their relationship also echoes the divine unity above. The term Dodi, my beloved, in the hymn’s refrain is not the Sabbath bride but the Kadosh Baruch Hu, the Holy One of Blessing, or the male aspect of the divine – the husband.
Israel is a member of the bridal party celebrating this spiritual marriage within the divine. All week long, the Shekhinah is in exile, just as the Jewish people live in a state of exile. As the Sabbath begins, the Shekhinah comes home and is reunited with her beloved husband. Similarly, Israel spends the week in exile and then tastes a bit of the world to come with the arrival of the Sabbath. These images may seem strange to us – think of them as a kind of living poetry with which the people of Israel described its spiritual state of being as it is reflected in the divine.
The author of Anaf Yosef, a commentary on the Siddur (Rabbi Enoch Zundel ben Joseph, died in 1867), writes:
"All week the Shekhinah wanders about in the lower worlds for our sake. With the coming of the Sabbath, She ascends into the higher world for the sake of the supreme holiness of the Sabbath. We, her children, have a mighty obligation to rejoice upon her ascent with great joy. So we say (to the Holy One), 'Come my beloved go out to greet the bride…' as She ascends into the higher worlds, and, 'Go out to greet and receive her.' And we, Her holy children, say: "Let us welcome the Sabbath." The Sabbath is another name for the Shekhinah, as is mentioned in the Zohar. It is appropriate for a person to rejoice with such intensity as he says, 'Let us welcome the Sabbath" that his soul leaves him from the great desire and rejoicing."
- Read through the verses of Lecha Dodi. Which ones are joyous and which ones are more plaintive? In what way should the subject of each stanza affect the melody?
- What do you think the connection is between the Sabbath and the divine? Is it easier to encounter God on the Sabbath than on other days?
- Is marriage an appropriate metaphor for speaking about our relationship to God today? Why or why not?
- In what ways is marriage a covenant? In what ways is our faith covenantal?
- According to the Anaf Yosef, are we welcoming the Sabbath or accompanying her on her journey when we turn to the back of the synagogue?
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Lecha dodi likrat kala, p’nei Shabbat n’kabelah |
Come, my beloved, to welcome the bride
let us greet Shabbat as she arrives
Zohar
"You shall call Shabbat a delight" (Isaiah 58:13) -
what does "call" mean? It means that one should invite her...as one invites a guest to one's home.
"A delight" - one should invite her, as a guest, to a home that is ready with a prepared table with food and drink, more than on other days.
The first stanza returns us to the events at Mount Sinai when we received the Torah:
Shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad,
Hishmi’anu el ha’meyuchad.
Adonai echad u’shmo echad;
L’shem ul’tiferet v’l’tehila.
"Observe" and "remember" were uttered as one,
we heard it thus from the singular One
God's name is one and God is one,
renowned with honor and deserving of praise
"Observe' and 'Remember' in one utterance: The Ten Commandments appears twice in the Torah, in Exodus 20:8 it reads "Remember (zakhor) the Sabbath Day" and in Deuteronomy 5:12 it reads "Observe (shamor) the Sabbath Day"; the explanation for the difference is that, supernaturally, both words were spoken by God simultaneously.
(8) Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.
or it could be translated:
“Remember the Sabbath day to marry it. (kiddushin)”
Why do we light two candles on Shabbat according to the Kaabalists?
“Happy is the one who knows how to unite Shamor and Zachor and thereby brings blessings to the world – both external and internal.” (Ibn Gikatalia, Shaarei Orah I 136). Under Kabbalist influence it became the practice to light not one but two Shabbat candles which are called Shamor and Zachor (Rabbi Yaacov Landau, Sefer Agur 358). (Reuven Kimmelman, p. 37-41).
Genesis Rabbah
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish taught: The day of Shabbat came before the Holy One and said, "Creator of the world, every day has a partner (Sunday has Monday...) but i have no partner?" The Holy One replies, "Israel shall be your partner." And what Israel stood at Sinai, God said to them, "Remember My promise to Shabbat that 'Israel will be your partner.'" Thus it is written, "Remember the day of Shabbat to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8).
The second stanza returns us to the story of the original blessing of creation:
Likrat Shabbat l’chu v’nelcha,
Ki hi m’kor ha’bracha.
Me’rosh mi’kedem n’sucha;
Sof ma’aseh b’mach’shava t’chila.
Let us go out to greet Shabbat,
sacred wellspring of blessing,
conceived at the beginning of time,
finally formed at the end of six days.
Sof ma’aseh b’machHsavah t’hilah is a prophetic and later philosophic term but also a kabbalist one. In prophecy Isaiah says God predetermines history from the beginning through to the end of time (Isaiah 46:10). In philosophical terms this means God had planned out in his mind all that God went on to do in the six days of Creation. In Kabbalist terms it means that the tenth sefirah, the Shekhinah symbolized by the Messiah (who comes at the end of history) and the Shabbat the last day of the week are already implicit in the first sefirah, the Keter, the most abstract thought. Thus the circle is completed and all that emerges in the end was already implicit in the beginning.
While the first two stanzas refer to the temporal image of Shabbat as a mitzvah and a source of blessing, the next six stanzas relate to Jerusalem, the spatial image, personified as the bride of Israel and God, now abandoned in its destruction. Jerusalem is not a virginal young bride but an abandoned woman sitting shivah. This is the imagery of Eicha /Lamentations, the poems lamenting the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE).
Mikdash melech, ir m’lucha,
Kumi, tze’i mi’toch ha’hafecha.
Rav lach shevet b’emek ha’bacha;
V’hu yachmol alai’yich chemla.
Shrine of our sovereign, royal city,
rise up from destruction and fear no more.
End your dwelling in the tear-filled valley,
for with God's compassion you will be upraised
The task of the singer of L’cha Dodi is to comfort the mourning city and to urge her to “get up” from sitting shivah, to change clothes and to leave behind the emek ha’baca/the valley of tears. He reassures her that the original beloved bridegroom who abandoned her will be back and now it is time to ready herself for his return.
Hitna’ari me’afar kumi,
Livshi bigdei tifartech ami.
Al yad ben Yishai beit haLachmi;
Karva el nafshi g’ala.
Awake! Rise up from the dust!
Dress yourself in this people's pride.
By the hand of Jesse's son, of Bethlehem's tribe
bring my redemption without further delays.
The Biblical customs of mourning are used not only for death but for abandonment, captivity involving enslavement and loss of status, and nidui / banishment. Sitting on the ground, covered in dust especially on one’s forehead, the place of tefillin, and wearing torn or shabby clothes, are typical.
The image of shaking off the dust and dressing in grand clothing is a central metaphor in Isaiah. It refers both to the transition from enslaved capture to royal lady and from abandoned woman mourning her beloved and her exiled children to remarriage in bridal clothes, setting on a bride’s throne.
Hitna’ari meyafar kumi commands the poet (Isaiah 52:2), to throw off your depression, regain your dignity and self-respect, and prepare for your liberation from captivity. The Shabbat entrance is correlated with Israel’s rise to redemption. So Alkabetz’s messianic metaphor is the commandment to change our “literal” clothes and our mood as Shabbat approaches and we emerge from the alienation and dusty reality of weekday existence.
Hit’oreri, hit’oreri,
Ki va orech, kumi uri.
Uri, uri, shir daberi;
K’vod Adonai alai’yich nigla.
Rouse Yourself, rouse yourself
for your lamp is lit; let the flame rise up and glow.
Awake awake, utter songs of praise,
for God's glory is revealed to your gaze.
In the context of L’cha Dodi’s love imagery, the kallah, Jerusalem sits in the darkness, but she begins to shine in response to the expected arrival of the “light of her life” – oreich – which is her personal source of illumination. The kallah is invited to sing /shir. Even today the typical language of love songs is suffused with light imagery as are folk songs.
In the Shabbat context in which L’cha Dodi is sung, ironically as dusk comes, the darkness is lit up by the light of love as God illuminates our lives. For mystics, this involves a spiritual awakening as well.
In Safed HaARI and other mystics chose to wear not just beautiful clothes on Shabbat but white clothes. White represents “clothes of light,” purity from the sin of the Garden, mercy by which God judges us, sanctity like the high priest on Yom Kippur and the cloths that we will wear in the world to come in which we will resemble the angels of light. In short we awaken to light and dress in light and thus redeem humankind from the Fall and prepare the way for the world to come where all wear white clothes. .
Beginning with this stanza Hassidim generally change the melody from sadder to a more hopeful and assertive one for the messiah has been mentioned and it is no longer time to be shy and ashamed.
In these three stanzas Shlomo Alkabetz adopts Isaiah’s extended metaphor comparing the remarriage of the abandoned woman to her original husband, to the rebuilding (v’nivneta ir al tila) of the abandoned city of ruins. Thus the city sits in ruins but her remarriage to her returning husband involves a change of clothes, the rebuilding of her walls and her expansion –left and right- breaking out beyond her previous borders.
Lo tevoshi ve'lo tikal'mi
mah tishtochachi umah tehemi,
bach yechesu ani'ei ami,
venivnetah ir al tilah.
Do not be embarrassed, do not be ashamed.
Why are you downcast? Why do you moan?
The poorest of your people, trust in this:
the city will be rebuilt as in ancient days.
Your despoilers shall be despoiled,
your tormentors removed far away.
God and you will celebrate together,
a bride and groom in joyful embrace
Yamin usmol tif'rotzi,
ve'et hashem ta'aritzi,
al yad ish bein partzi,
venis'mechah venagilah.
You will spread out to the left and the right,
acclaiming Adonai God with delight,
Redeemed by the scion of Peretz's line,
we shall joyously chant songs of praise.
That is the hope of Moshe Cordevero and Alkabetz that by adding from hol to kodesh, by absorbing some of the week into Shabbat as we do by accepting Shabbat in early, we have begun the redemptive process by which all distinction between holy and secular will be abolished for everything will return to its sacred origin in God.
Temporally Shabbat is to be viewed not as end of the week but as the middle of the week just as Israel is the center of the earth, its navel according to ancient midrashic traditions. Thus Shabbat will expand to the left and to the right temporally absorbing part of Friday and part of Sunday. Ultimately Shabbat will absorb all time and the world to come will be a day which is all Shabbat (yom shekulo Shabbat).
A verse about balance:
In sefirotic language the central sefirot of Tiferet and Shkhina will expand left and right to absorb the flanking opposites – Din and Rachamim.
Redeemed by the scion of Peretz's line: Meaning a descendant of Peretz, a son of Judah, an ancestor of King David; a poetical description of the Messiah.
Bo’i v’shalom, ateret ba’ala,
Gam b’simcha uv’ tzhala.
Toch emunei am segula; Bo’i chala, bo’i chala.
Come in peace, crown of your spouse,
surrounded by gladness and joyous shouts,
Come to the faithful, the people You treasure with pride,
come, my bride, my bride...
Why do we bow toward the door at the end of Lecha Dodi?
Rabbi Hanina robed himself and stood at sunset of the Sabbath eve and exclaimed, 'Come and let us go forth to welcome the queen Sabbath.' Rabbi Jannai donned his robes, on Sabbath eve and exclaimed, 'Come, O bride, Come, O bride!' Boi Kallah - Boi Kallah(BT Sabbath 119a)
L’cha Dodi combines Redemption and Shabbat as do the Rabbis and many Kabbalists. For as the Rabbis explained: (TB Shabbat 119b) “Jerusalem was destroyed only because of the desecration of Shabbat” and (TB Shabbat 118a) “If only Israel would observe just two Shabbatot, then they would immediately be redeemed.”