Translated by Rabbi Moshe Miller
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.
One of the themes of the hymn - preparing oneself to greet the
Shabbat - is based on the Talmud?s account of how the Sages would welcome the
Holy Day (Shabbat 119a): Rabbi Chanina would wrap himself in his cloak and say,
?Come, let us go and greet the Shabbat Queen.? Rabbi Yannai would don his robe
and say, ?Enter O bride! Enter, O bride! ?
First stanza and refrain
Come out my Beloved, the Bride to
meet;
The inner light of Shabbat, let us greet.
The Shabbat, the seventh day of the week, is the manifestation
of the seventh sefira - malchut. Since malchut also
corresponds to the Jewish people and to the Shechina, the hymn may be
interpreted as not only referring to the Shabbat, but also alluding to the
Jewish people, to the sefira of malchut and to the Shechina.
Furthermore, transformation of the workaday world into the holy Shabbat mirrors
the redemption of the Shechina and the Jewish people from exile. The hymn
thus looks forward to the time when even during the week we will experience the
same holiness as we experience on the Shabbat.  | | " ...even during the week we will experience the same holiness as on the Shabbat" | | |
The holy Ari included this hymn in his edition of the siddur,
and thus it eventually became an integral part of the Shabbat liturgy of Jewish
communities everywhere.
Commentary
Come out: The Ari zal would go out into the fields around Safed
on Friday afternoon and receive Shabbat there. The fields, the place of work
during the week, correspond to the lower worlds, Beriya, Yetzira, and
Asiya, and specifically to the outer dimension of each of these worlds. Each
day of the week corresponds to one of the seven sefirot with which the
creation was initiated and is sustained - Sunday corresponds to chesed,
Monday to gevura and so on. Shabbat, therefore, corresponds to the
seventh sefira - malchut, also called Shechina. During the week
malchut does its work of gathering (birur) the sparks embedded within
the lower worlds. These sparks are then elevated on the Shabbat.
My Beloved; the Bride: On Shabbat malchut, referred to here as the Bride, becomes elevated to the very highest levels. However, in
order for this to happen, malchut must first be stimulated and energized
by zeir anpin, referred to here as ?my Beloved.? Thus, zeir anpin
must ?come out? to the fields to meet malchut, the Bride. When malchut
has been elevated, and the Shabbat has already been received, the fields then
correspond to chakal tapuchin kadishin. | | " Only the seventh day was without a partner. G-d then promised the Shabbat that the Jewish People would be its only partner" | | |
Bride: In the beginning of creation, every day of the week,
except Shabbat, had a partner. Day 1 and 4 are linked in the formation of light
and the creation of the luminaries; days 2 and 5 are linked in the formation of
water and their being gathered into seas; days 2 and 6 are linked in the
creation of earth and its vegetation. Only the seventh day was without a
partner. G-d then promised the Shabbat that the Jewish People would be its
partner. Therefore, the Jewish People go out to greet the Shabbat just as a
groom goes to meet his bride.
The inner light of Shabbat: When malchut is infused with
light from the six sefirot comprising Zeir Anpin and it becomes
elevated, it is referred to as pnei Shabbat - the inner dimension of
Shabbat - that now begins to shine forth.
Let us greet: When Zeir Anpin infuses malchut with
light, it also receives an additional measure of sanctity and blessing via
bina of Atzilut. It is therefore stated in the plural - both Zeir
Anpin and malchut - welcome the inner light of Shabbat.
To continue on to the next stanza of Lecha Dodi,
click here
To read the entire new translation of Lecha Dodi (without commentary)
click here.
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