Lecha Dodi
Lecha Dodi ("Come, my beloved"), the Friday-night hymn that greets the Sabbath as a bride, sung in Hebrew to the old Ashkenazi melody kept for the weeks of the Omer, for 2 to 4 singers. The refrain says: come, my beloved, to meet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath; the first verse tells that "keep" and "remember" were spoken in one word by Hashem, who is one, and the last welcomes the Sabbath, her husband's crown, in peace and joy.
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The first verse
Words: Solomon ha-Levi Alkabetz (16th century)Tune: traditional Ashkenazi melody for the Omer weeks (printed by Francis L. Cohen, 1904)
Lecha dodi likrat kala,penei Shabat nekabela.
About Lecha Dodi
Lecha Dodi, "Come, my beloved", is the Friday-night hymn that greets the Sabbath as a bride. Solomon ha-Levi Alkabetz wrote it in the sixteenth century, and the first letters of eight of its nine verses spell his name. This tune, which the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1904 says was kept for the weeks of the Omer, is read from Francis L. Cohen's printing there, in G as printed; the Hebrew is fitted by us, and the four parts are our own. It is sung in Hebrew, transliterated, for 2 to 4 singers: the refrain, then verses 1 and 9, each followed by it. It is sung with the substituted names customary when singing outside prayer: Kel and Adoshem.
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