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.