- Yedid Nefesh
Yedid Nefesh (
Hebrew : יְדִיד נֶפֶשׂ "y’did nefesh") is the title of a "piyyut ". It is usually sung on theJewish Sabbath .Traditions and origin
Some sing it between
Minchah (afternoon prayer) of Friday and the beginning ofKabbalat Shabbat (literally: receiving or greeting the Sabbath — a collection ofpsalms usually sung to welcome in theShabbat queen, as it were, the restful contentment that descends from above during nightfall on Friday).It is sung by many Jews during
Seudat Shlishit (the third meal onShabbat ; the first is on Friday night, the second on Saturday lunch, and the third on Saturday before nightfall). This beautiful poem was originally written by the sixteenth century kabbalist, Rabbi Elazar Azikri, the author ofSefer Charedim . His philosophy centred around the intense love one must feel for God, a theme that is evident in this "piyyut" (see references). The first letters of each of the four verses make up the four letter name of God, known in English as the "tetragrammaton ".Audio
Follow these links to hear a couple of versions:
* [http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media.asp?AID=265805 A high quality recording of Yedid Nefesh sung to a traditional tune in the Ashkenaz style by Zalman Goldstein and Chaim Fogelman for chabad.org]
* [http://www.aishfiles.com/audio/shabbat/aishcomshabbossongs/Yedid_Nefesh_v1.mp3 A recording from Aish HaTorah]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hZpKfG1R-0 Video of a live performance of the song in the Moroccan Andalusian style by Binyamin Buzaglo and the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra (התזמורת האנדלוסית הישראלית).]
* [http://modzitz.org/media/yedid.ram Yedid Nefesh sung to a Modzitz nigun]
Text
The words are as follows:
References
* Siddur Rinat Yisrael - Hotza'at Moreshet, p. 180
*Siddur Sim Shalom , RA/USCJ , p. 252
* The CompleteArtscroll Siddur (סדור קול יעקב) — Rabbi Nosson Scherman, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, Rabbi Sheah Brander — Mesorah Publications, p591.
* Artscroll Transliterated Linear Siddur, Sabbath and Festival (סדור זכרון אברהם) — Rabbi Nosson Scherman,Rabbi Benjamin Yudin , Rabbi Sheah Brander — Mesorah Publications, p82.
* The Essential Shiron-Birkon — Feldheim, p90.
* The NCSY Bencher — Rothman Foundation, p51.External links
* [http://zemirotdatabase.org/view_song.php?id=24 Recordings, text, translation, transliteration from The Zemirot Database]
* [http://www.aish.com/shabbathowto/shabbatday/Shabbat_Afternoon_and_Third_Meal.asp Full transliteration and translation in an article on Shabbos afternoon and the third meal by Lori Palatnik for Aish HaTorah]
* [http://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-yedidnefesh.htm Sephardi transliteration of the first verse]
* [http://israelidances.com/Audio/Yedid%20Nefesh_Jonathan%20Gabay%201971_Gadi%20Alon.ram Instrumental accompaniment to the first few lines]
* [http://www.shiron.net/songView.aspx?song_id=5075&singer_id=770&song_title=55b9d The first verse in Hebrew]
* [http://kolzimrah.info/resources/KZFridayNightTransliteration.pdf Transliterated text of kabbalas Shabbos including full sephardi transliteration of Yedid Nefesh]
* [http://www.usy.org/songs/view_song.php?songID=40 Details of the first verse with audio from project z'mirot]
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