Lecha Dodi (Hachamah)

WELCOMING.

I wrote this melody in 2013, set to a poem by Chaim Nachman Bialik about the sun setting behind the treetops, going out together to welcome the Shabbat Queen/Shabbat Bride accompanied by her angels of peace and rest. In 2015, I was searching for new Lecha Dodi melodies, as my friend Rabbi Rebecca Schatz was introducing new melodies in a new service  she created at Temple Beth Am called Sovev. She loved this melody, and suggested we try it out for Lecha Dodi. It is traditional in many communities to switch melodies in the middle of Lecha Dodi. The original chorus for this melody was “Bo’i hamalkah, bo’i kallah,” “Come my Queen, Come my Bride,” and so we decided to use this melody for the second half of Lecha Dodi, ending with the verse where we officially welcome the Shabbat Queen into our homes and communities, “Bo’i kallah, bo’i kallah.”