Inauguration of the Sabbath

The Standard Prayer Book, tr. by Simeon Singer, [1915], at sacred-texts.com

p. 151

INAUGURATION OF THE SABBATH.

On Kindling the Sabbath lights say:—

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light.

Psalm xcv.

O come, let us exult before the Lord: let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving: let us shout for joy unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To-day, oh that ye would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, and proved me, although they had seen my work. Forty years long was I wearied with that generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways. Wherefore I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.

Psalm xcvi.

O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name:

p. 152

proclaim his salvation from day to day. Recount his glory among the nations, his wondrous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are things of nought: but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give unto the Lord, ye families of the peoples, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: take an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, the Lord reigneth: the world also is set firm that it cannot be moved: he shall judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; let the plain triumph and all that is therein; yea, let all the trees of the forest exult before the Lord, for he cometh; for he cometh to judge the earth: he will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm xcvii.

The Lord reigneth; let the earth be glad; let the many coast-lands rejoice. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his adversaries round about. His lightnings illumine the world: the earth seeth and trembleth. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of the whole earth. The

p. 153

heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples behold his glory. Ashamed are all they that serve graven images, that make their boast of things of nought: worship him, all ye gods. Zion heareth and rejoiceth, and the daughters of Judah are glad because of thy judgments, O Lord. For thou, Lord, art most high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. O ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his loving ones; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks to his holy name.

Psalm xcviii.

A Psalm. O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath wrought salvation for him. The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he revealed in the sight of the nations. He hath remembered his lovingkindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy unto the Lord, all the earth; break forth into exultation, and sing praises. Sing praises unto the Lord with the lyre; with the lyre and the sound of song. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout for joy before the king. the Lord. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the streams clap their hands, let the mountains exult together before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth: he will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

p. 154

Psalm xcix.

The Lord reigneth; let the peoples tremble: he sitteth above the cherubim; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the peoples. Let them give thanks to thy great and dreaded name; holy is he. And the strength of a king that loveth justice thou didst establish in equity; thou hast wrought justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool: holy is he. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name, called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He spake unto them in the pillar of cloud: they kept his testimonies, and the statute that he gave them. Thou didst answer them, O Lord our God: a forgiving God thou wast unto them, though thou tookest vengeance on their misdeeds. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mount; for the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm xxix.

A Psalm of David. Give unto the Lord, O ye children of the mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth, even the Lord upon the great waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox. The voice of the Lord cleaveth flames of fire; the voice of the Lord maketh the

p. 155

wilderness to tremble; the Lord maketh tremble the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to travail, and strippeth the forests bare: and in his temple everything saith, Glory. The Lord sat as king at the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth as king for ever. The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

 ^* Come, my friend, to meet the bride; let us welcome the presence of the Sabbath.

"Observe" and "Remember the Sabbath day," the only God caused us to hear in a single utterance: ^† the Lord is One, and his name is One to his renown and his glory and his praise. Come, etc.

Come, let us go to meet the Sabbath, for it is a well-spring of blessing; from the beginning, from of old it was ordained,—last in production, first in thought. Come, etc.

O sanctuary of our King, O regal city, arise, go forth from thy overthrow; long enough hast thou dwelt in the valley of weeping; verily He will have compassion upon thee. Come, etc.

Shake thyself from the dust, arise, put on the garments of thy glory, O my people! Through the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, draw Thou nigh unto my soul, redeem it. Come, etc.

Arouse thyself, arouse thyself, for thy light is come: arise, shine; awake, awake; give forth a song; the glory of the Lord is revealed upon thee. Come, etc.

p. 156

Be not ashamed, neither be confounded. Why art thou cast down, and why art thou disquieted? The poor of my people trust in thee, and the city shall be builded on her own mound. Come, etc.

And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all hat would swallow thee shall be far away: thy God shall rejoice over thee, as a bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride. Come, etc. Thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left, and thou shalt reverence the Lord. Through the offspring of Perez we also shall rejoice and be glad. Come, etc.

Come in peace, thou crown of thy husband, with rejoicing and with cheerfulness, in the midst of the faithful of the chosen people: come, O bride; come, O bride.

Come, my friend, to meet the bride; let us welcome the presence of the Sabbath.

Psalm xcii.

A Psalm, A Song for the Sabbath Day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: to declare thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, with an instrument of ten strings and with a harp, with thoughtful music upon the lyre. For thou, O Lord, hast made me rejoice through thy work: I will exult in the works of thy hands. How great are thy works, O Lord: thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth it not, neither doth a fool understand this: when the wicked sprang up as the grass, and all the workers of iniquity flourished, it was that they might be destroyed for ever. But thou, O Lord, art on high for evermore. For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for,

p. 157

lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn hast thou exalted, like that of the wild-ox: I am anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also hath seen my desire on mine enemies; mine ears have heard my desire of them that rose up against me, doers of evil. The righteous shall spring up like a palm-tree; he shall grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall blossom in the courts of our God. They shall still shoot forth in old age; they shall be full of sap and green: to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm xciii.

The Lord reigneth; he hath robed him in majesty; the Lord hath robed him, yea, he hath girded himself with strength: the world also is set firm, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is set firm from of old: thou art from everlasting. The streams have lifted up, O Lord, the streams have lifted up their voice; the streams lift up their roaring. Than the voices of many waters, mighty waters, breakers of the sea, more mighty is the Lord on high. Thy testimonies are very faithful: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for evermore.

The following Kaddish is said by a Mourner.

Mourner.—Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which he hath created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.

p. 158

Cong. and Mourner.—Let his great name be blessed for ever and to all eternity.

Mourner.—Blessed, praised and glorified, exacted extolled and honored, magnified and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be he; though he be high above all the blessings and hymns, praiser and consolations, which are uttered in the world; and say ye, Amen.

Cong.—Let the name of the Lord be blessed from this time forth and for evermore.

Mourner.—May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

Cong.—My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Mourner.—He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

When a Festival or one of the Intermediate Days of a Festival falls on Sabbath, the Inauguration Service commences with "A Psalm, a Song, etc.," p. 156.

Footnotes

155:* In this poem, written in the form of an acrostic on the name of the author, R. Shelomo Halevi (Alkabets), the Sabbath is personified as a bride, whose visit to the faithful of Israel it is desired to honor and welcome.

155:† A reference to the Midrashic explanation (see Talmud Shebuoth, 20b) of the discrepancy between the two versions of the Fourth Commandment in Exodus xx. 8 and Deut. v. 12.