A Love Song For Shabbat
The relationship between God and the Jewish people is often compared to a marriage. This is one of the reasons why Lecha Dodi (Come My Beloved)*, the refrain of which refers to…
Zmirot (Songs of Shabbat)
Singing zmirot, songs of Shabbat, on Friday night not only expresses joy for the gift of Shabbat, but also offers praise to God. While many of…
B’shalach 5779-2019
“The שִׁירָה --Shira: The Source of All Song” (Revised and updated from B'shalach 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week’s parasha, parashat B’shalach, we encounter…
Zmirot (Songs of Shabbat)
Singing zmirot, songs of Shabbat, on Friday night not only expresses joy for the gift of Shabbat, but also offers praise to God. While many of the zmirot specifically speak of the beauty…
Sing the Songs of Shabbat
Music is said to raise a person’s spirit (Berachot 57b), and there is no time more appropriate for joyousness than Shabbat, the day of rest. To honor Shabbat, and to bring it more…
Sing the Songs of Shabbat
Music is said to raise a person’s spirit (Berachot 57b), and there is no time more appropriate for joyousness than Shabbat, the day of rest. To honor Shabbat, and to bring it more…
The Songs of the Ibn Ezra
The joy of Shabbat is expressed in many ways throughout the “Day of Rest.” For those of a musical bent (and even for those not so musically inclined), one of the joys of the Shabbat meals…
Shabbat Day Songs
Zmirot are the songs that celebrate the holiness and beauty of Shabbat. There are designated zmirot for each of the three Shabbat meals, and even post-Shabbat zmirot. Two of the most…
A Song For The Dove
Most songs written for Shabbat (zmirot) focus on either God’s resting from creating the world on the seventh day or on the relationship of the Jewish people to Shabbat. The Sabbath song…
B’shalach 5760-2000
"The Shira: The Source of All Song" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, Parashat B'shalach, we encounter the shira, the song, namely the song that Moses and the…