Post by stepnwolf on Jun 24, 2013 10:39:34 GMT 9.5
Years ago when I attended Synagogue regularly, the Rabbi on Friday evening before the main service often would lead the congregation in singing לכה דודי (L'cha Dodi). This is a poem written by the 16th century Jew with the name of Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz who lived in the Cabalistic community of Safed, now in Israel.
In the poem the Sabbath takes the form of a bride who is coming to greet her betrothed. It is often sung as the day is waning and the departing rays of the sun illuminated the synagogue with a golden light. The Rabbi, who came from an Hasidic background, sang with such fervor that in the last verse, where the congregation turned to the door, we almost saw the Sabbath bride.
Here is the version most similar to the melody I remember: www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5U9NoYKiJU The site also gives the translation of some of the verses.
PS I couldn't get the insert YouTube site function to work.
The Bride is the Soul? The Sabbath, the day of rest, is Death?
"Fear not for the dead, for all goes well with them"
"To all poor and destressed Brn, on land or sea or air, a speedy relief to their suffering and a safe return to their native land should they so desire .. "
Thanks for the link stepnwolf, was worth the visit, and bought so many things to mind.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
"And I seemed to hear the voices of a huge crowd answering, 'Alleluia! The reign of the Lord our God Almighty has begun; let us be glad and joyful and give praise to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb. His bride is ready, and she has been able to dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints'." (Rv.19:5-8).
"Write this, happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." (Rv.19:9).
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband." (Rv.21:1-2).
"One of the angels came to speak to me, and said, 'Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married'. In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond." (Rv.21:9-10).
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
The reign of the Lord ... has begun = different and heightened state of being or consciousness. The Bride is the Soul = spotless, pure. Remember the lambskin apron. The White garment = spotless, perfect. All colours of the auric field integrated or resolved back the the White Light. New heaven and new earth ... does not mean the old heaven and earth are no longer there, just not for the wearer of the white garment.
MM's are reminded that they have overcome the Prince of Terrors... ?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
"One of the angels came to speak to me, and said, 'Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married'. In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond." (Rv.21:9-10).
Wonder if King Solomon's Crown is a reference to the Crown Chakra?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
Post by stepnwolf on Jun 24, 2013 11:39:31 GMT 9.5
There are so many meanings that can be gleaned from the words. Your Christian take on them was fascinating and rings true, doesn't it. These were magical moments in the synagogue even before the service began. The Bride is the PEACE of the Sabbath, the JOY of the Sabbath, the CHESED of the Sabbath. The bridegroom is G-d, to use the Jewish custom. Their union is described in the alchemical work of The Chemical Marriage. There is a mystery here, an allusion to one of the secrets of the Craft in Jewish clothes, so to speak.
