Shabbat Prayer: As A Bride

“Come! Let us sing to God!” (Psalm 95:1 – the opening verse of Kabbalat Shabbat)

“When He finished – ‘kichaloto’ – speaking to him (Moshe) on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the Two Tablets of Testimony.” (Exodus 31:18)

The Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 41:6) plays on the words ‘kichaloto’ and compares it to a Kallah – a bride: “Whoever says that the words of Torah are not as precious to Israel as a bride to her new husband, it would have been better for him that the Torah would not have been given. We know that Israel found the words so precious as it says, ‘kichaloto’ – as a bride.”

Rashi (Exodus 19:17) continues to apply the metaphor when he explains that Moshe brought the people to the mountain as a bridegroom going to meet his bride.

The Sefat Emet explains that Moshe, the composer of the Psalms we sing for Kabbalat Shabbat, has the ability to reconnect Israel to the Torah with the same passion and excitement as he did at Sinai. When he invites us to sing to God with him, he is offering us the opportunity to reconnect to that special joy of Sinai.