Famed author of the Lecha Dodi hymn sung on the eve of the Jewish sabbath, Rabbi Alkabets was one of the founding members of the 16th-century school of Kabbalists based in Safed (Tsfat), Israel.
Next week’s lecture: Gluckel of Hameln!
Love Yiddish culture? Check out the new poster for the 2015 Kultur Festival in Boca Raton! I’m really proud to be doing a book reading (The Kabbalah of Forgiveness) there on March 6. Main event, as always, will be Maestro Aaron Kula’s phenomenal Klezmer Company Orchestra concert on March 1!
Baruch Levine sings a famous song about Rav Shlomo Alkabetz’s grandson who grew up not knowing his heritage, but comes back to Judaism because of Lecha Dodi. He hears it in a Jewish home and is plagued by the fact that the song is very familiar to him. It turns out he is the composer’s grandson! It is a beautiful song and singing it is a perfect start to Shabbos.
-Yocheved Homnick