Chaya Herszberg: ‘Lekha Dodi’
Chaya Herszberg reading ‘Lekha Dodi’
Dance in the sabbatical l’shem ul’tiferet v’lithilah
Flail the top of your arms in Jubilee
Lay white dresses on the rich and poor bending over in fields — hit’oreri hit’oreri
Pepper seeds of serenity on people who labour till the sun falls
ki hi m’qor haberakah she whispers and carries pain b’emeq habakha
in her heart and her womb waiting and waiting
Is there no meaning in the present unless tied to the future?
Shut the corners of your worn out mouth
Take a sip of the Kiddush wine and may it tire your knees
Knot strings of dough and bless them in two liqrat shabbat
hitna’ari me’afar qumi find peace in your soul and salt at the table
Come, my beloved, meet the bride
Chaya Herszberg is a JD candidate at the University of Melbourne and holds a BA with majors in Creative Writing and Philosophy. Her poem is an adaptation of Lekha Dodi—an accepted part of the traditional Shabbat liturgy and a central feature of the religious and linguistic environment in which she was raised.