Guest Author - Lauren Tuchman
Have you ever wanted to attend services at a local synagogue but were unsure if you’d be able to follow the service? Are you a frequent synagogue-goer and still find yourself lost during services? I am going to outline the structure and content of Shabbat (Sabbath) services in the hope that this will prove useful to a first-time synagogue attendee as well as someone with more experience and background. This article’s main focus is how a typical Friday evening service is structured in a more traditional congregation but there are many synagogues who do not follow this order strictly or add in prayers that are meaningful for them. If you’re not entirely sure what to expect at the synagogue you’re visiting, the best thing to do is ask the rabbi who would be more than happy to help you! Most siddurim (Jewish prayer books) have English translations or transliterations of the Hebrew text so that people who are not as fluent in Hebrew or do not have a Hebrew background are able to fully participate. There are also many fantastic resources online and off for getting a deeper sense of the prayers and the way in which they are said or sung.
The Friday evening service is most often divided into two distinct sections—Kabbalat Shabbat, the series of psalms and prayers welcoming in the Shabbat and Maariv which is the evening service, said daily by observant Jews but with some changes on Friday evening.
Kabbalat Shabbat is a much beloved part of Jewish liturgy and is of rather recent origin. Although Kabbalat Shabbat is now part of the liturgy for Jews around the world, it began being recited in Safed, Israel in the sixteenth century. Safed was a center for the study of Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism. One of the most prominent Kabbalists from Safed was Isaac Luria, also known as The Ari and it was his followers who began instituting the practice of saying Kabbalat Shabbat. Kabbalat Shabbat consists of several beautiful liturgical piyyutim (poems) and a series of psalms, one for each of the days of the week.
Most congregations begin their Kabbalat Shabbat service by singing Yedid Nefesh, a Jewish religious poem written by Rabbi Elazar Azikri, a Kabbalist who lived in Safed in the sixteenth century. The four verses or stanzas of this poem make up the ineffable four-letter name of G-d. Rabbi Azikri believed very strongly that we must always focus on increasing our love for G-d and this need is the theme of the poem. It is most often sung to a beautiful and haunting melody.
After Yedid Nefesh, we sing psalms 95 through 99 which speak of G-d’s kingship. There is a seemingly endless array of melodies for these psalms. One of the most popular composers of melodies for use during Kabbalat Shabbat is the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach who enjoyed a decades-long career in Jewish music. Congregations of all stripes use his melodies. Another popular composer, most often found in more liberal communities is Debbie Friedman.
After psalm 99 psalm 29 is recited. It is customary that the congregation stands while this psalm is sung. Psalm 29 is also said on Saturday morning as the Torah is being returned to the Ark.
Some, though not all congregations will next say Ana B’Koach, another liturgical poem which is said to have been written by a Kabbalist though its authorship is unknown. Some attribute it to a second century sage. Ana B’Koach is a plea for Israel’s redemption from its long exile. It contains seven lines of six words each. The first letter of the first word of each line spells out a divine name for G-d which has caused many mystics to speculate as to its meaning.
Undoubtedly the high point of Kabbalat Shabbat is when the congregation recites L’cha Dodi—Come, My Beloved. This liturgical poem has nine stanzas or verses. There are probably more melodies for L’cha Dodi than for any other Jewish prayer. L’cha Dodi, like so much else in Kabbalat Shabbat is of Kabbalistic origin. It was written by Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz. The first letter of each of the first eight verses of L’cha Dodi spell out Rabbi Alkabetz’s name. The first two and the final verse refer to Shabbat directly while the remainder of the verses speak of Israel’s messianic redemption. In some congregations, L’cha Dodi is abridged. When the congregation gets to the last verse, they turn east or towards the door of the synagogue as a means of reenacting the Kabbalistic practice of literally going out into the fields to welcome the Holy Shabbat. L’cha Dodi most often compares Shabbat to a bride or queen.
Kabbalat Shabbat ends with the recitation of psalms 92 and 93. Psalm 92 and 93 were said on Friday nights originally as part of the evening service before saying Kabbalat Shabbat became standard practice. Psalm 92 is the shir shel yom (the psalm for the day) on Shabbat. In Jewish liturgy, there is a given psalm that’s said every day in deference to the practice in the Temple of having the Levites sing a different psalm each day of the week.
If there is anyone in mourning in a congregation and if a minyan (a quorum of ten adult Jews) is present, Kaddish Yatom—Mourner’s Kaddish is said after psalm 92. In some congregations, the study of rabbinic texts related to Shabbat serves as a brief interlude between Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv.
