The Kabbalat Shabbat service, or the welcoming of Shabbat, was composed by 16th century Kabbalists. It is the mystical prelude to the formal Friday night service. Six psalms, corresponding to the six days of the week, comprise the service. The main feature of the service is the prayer Lekha Dodi, "Come, My Beloved," composed by Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi in the mid-1500s. The prayer describes greeting the Sabbath Queen as one would greet a bride.
Click on the links below to hear the prayers chanted and to view the Hebrew
and transliteration.
Kabbalat Shabbat
Ma'ariv Service
