May, 2023
Rabbi Moshe Taub
There are certain minhagim that we scarcely notice until they are brought to our attention. A few weeks ago, a shul member approached me and said with concern, “Rabbi, whenever Mr. X davens at the amud Friday night, he uses the same niggun for the entire Lecha Dodi! Maybe you can explain to him that he is supposed to switch the niggun at Lo Seivoshi.”
People may dismiss such a complaint on the grounds that this change in niggun is not a halachah and that the minhag is not universal; in fact, some have the minhag not to sing Lecha Dodi at all! (For a complete list of minhagim for Lecha Dodi, see Kovetz Beis Aharon V’Yisrael, 70, pp. 135-138.)
Although certainly not a reason to reprimand a chazzan, the fact that this change in niggun is a popular minhag Yisrael should give us pause, especially since thepremise for niggunei Shabbos is rooted in basic halachah.
The Rema states a halachah in Shulchan Aruch (siman 281) that we should add melodies to our davening on Shabbos to lengthen the tefillah and make it sweeter.
The Arugas Habosem comments, “Since on Shabbos there is a great need to daven with complete joy and energy, and because niggun awakens the heart to the joy in mitzvos Hashem, I will quote from the Maavar Yabok [d. 1639]: ‘The Zohar teaches of a special sanctuary in Shamayim that is only opened through song… The song of the chazzan who sings is brought up to the highest realms… And for this reason there is a minhag for the mispallelim in shul to sing [with the chazzan] on Shabbos and Yom Tov” (Otzar Hatefillos, p. 331, and Maavar Yabok, sifsei tzedek, ch. 31; for more sources in halachah for the importance of singing during davening on Shabbos, see Kovetz Halachos, Shabbos, Vol. 1, p. 297, note #5; see also Asifas Gershon L’Shabbos and Piskei Teshuvos, siman 267, notes 35-38).
There are several suggested reasons for the Lo Seivoshi niggun change, but first, some brief background on Lecha Dodi.
Chazal state that on Erev Shabbos, Rabi Chanina would dress in his finery, stand and declare, “Let us go out to greet the Shabbos Malkah.” Rav Yannai would put on his Shabbos clothes and declare, “Bo’i kallah bo’i kallah” (Shabbos 119a and Bava Kama 32b; see also Shabbos 26b).
The pronouncement “Lecha Dodi”is not given in this Chazal; the expression comes from Shir Hashirim: “Lecha Dodi…come, my beloved, let us go out to the field, let us lodge in the villages” (7:12). Based on this and other sources, Rav Shlomo Alkabetz composed the words to the piyut Lecha Dodi in the 1570s or 1580s.
Some posit that we should omit the phrase Lecha Dodi altogethersince we no longer go outside to greet Shabbos (Yosef Ometz, siman 589).
The author of the Shulchan Aruch, Rav Yosef Karo, who was a contemporary of Rav Alkabetz, writes, “One should wear nice clothes and celebrate the arrival of Shabbos as one would to greet a king or a bride and groom. Rabi Chanina would wrap himself (in finery) and stand waiting in the evening as Shabbos was approaching and say, ‘Come and go out to greet the Shabbos Queen,’ and Rabi Yannai would say, ‘Bo’i kallah bo’i kallah’” (Shulchan Aruch, siman 262:2).
Anyone familiar with the Shulchan Aruch knows that it is rare for the author to quote directly from the primary source, as he does here. It is likely that the piyut of Lecha Dodi was already well accepted at the time of this writing.
A friend shared with me an email from Rav Zilberstein’s kollel, in which he explained that the change in niggun at Lo Seivoshi is based on our relationship to the Shabbos “bride.” In the piyut, we follow the pattern of the two steps of halachic marriage—eirusin and nisuin. At weddings nowadays, we do both of these steps under the chuppah back to back, separating them with the reading of the kesubah. On Shabbos, we separate these two stages of our relationship with Shabbos by changing the melody.
There are even earlier discussions of this practice. Rav Shlomo Zalman Geiger (d. 1878) was a rav in Frankfurt at the time of Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch. Partly due to his disagreement with Rav Hirsch’s perceived change in certain practices, Rav Geiger composed a sefer comprising the shul minhagim for Frankfurt throughout the year in a sefer titled Divrei Kehillah. Since he was also a baal tefillah, he cites many of their niggun practices as well.
There we find this custom, although with a slight variation. The minhag in Frankfurt was to change the niggun, but not at Lo Seivoshi, the sixth stanza; it was changed at the fifth stanza, Hisoreri. This was because the initial letters of the first four stanzas spell “Shlomo.” This is an allusion not only to the author’s name, but also to “Ben Shlomo”—Moshiach (see Rambam, who describes him as Ben Shlomo in his 13 Ikkarim, Peirush Hamishnayos, Sanhedrin; see also Divrei Hayamim, 1:22:9-1). Indeed, the stanza before Hisoreri mentions Ben Yishai.
Rav Geiger writes that in Frankfurt, they would sing a simpler tune until Hisoreri, and then switch to a celebratory niggun, alluding to the complete geulah. They would then return to the original niggun at Bo’i Kallah (ibid., p. 61).
As for the current practice of changing the melody at Lo Seivoshi, some suggest that until that point, the piyut describes our hope for geulah, and from Lo Seivoshi onward it describes that era.
Nevertheless, some still suggest changing the melody earlier, as they did in Frankfurt, so that the four stanzas that spell “Shlomo” can be sung with the same melody, and the next four stanzas, whose initial letters spell “Halevi,” can be completed with its own melody.
Over 25 years ago, in the well-known Torah journal Beis Aharon V’Yisrael (Vol. 84, pp. 131-132), Rav Aryeh Butbul requested from its knowledgeable readership the source for this change in niggun, and many talmidei chachamim wrote back with sources and suggestions.
One respondent cited the sefer Mekor Hatefillos, which states that we change the melody simply because in larger shuls some mispallelim may get lost and not know which stanza the shul is up to! The niggun change aides them in resuming unified singing (ibid., Vol. 86, pp. 142-143).
It should be noted that some consider the possibility that people will lose the place as a reason to avoid this minhag altogether since a chazzan may struggle to finding his second niggun (Ha’admor Rav Dovid of Luluv; see Mekurei Tefillah, 4:52)
Another respondent told an amazing story that demonstrates deference for this minhag (ibid., Vol. 87, pp. 116-117).
When the third Rebbe of Vizhnitz, the Ahavas Yisrael, was escaping the town of Vizhnitz during the First World War, he wound up in another town for Shabbos. The gabbai honored him with the amud on Friday night. Although the minhag in Vizhnitz was not to sing Lecha Dodi, the Rebbe acquiesced to the local custom.
However, when it came to Lo Seivoshi, the Rebbecontinued with the same niggun with which he had begun, causing a minor tumult. The gabbai explained the issue, and the Rebbe changed to a different melody at the next stanza, V’hayu Limshisa.
Rav Geiger concludes that this is why Vizhnitz still has the minhag to change the niggun at V’hayu Limshisa!
Although we have only scratched the surface of this piyut, it is enough to realize that we should not reject out of hand any minhagim regarding the way it is recited. Minhagim are important! ●
Shul Chronicles 
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