Shabbat songs & zemirot
Lecha Dodi, Shalom Aleichem, Eishet Chayil, the zemirot of the Shabbat table and the Havdalah melodies that end the day — as heard on The Kol Yehudim Show. Shabbat begins every Friday at sundown and ends Saturday night at nightfall.
▶ Listen now · freeShabbat songs we've played on The Kol Yehudim Show
The Shabbat songbook
Lecha Dodi Yedid Nefesh Shalom Aleichem Eishet Chayil Kol Mekadesh Menucha V'simcha Ka Ribon Tzur Mishelo Dror Yikra Yom Zeh L'Yisrael Adon Olam Eliyahu HaNavi Hamavdil
About the music
Shabbat is the most sung day of the Jewish week. Friday night opens with Kabbalat Shabbat — Yedid Nefesh, the psalms, and Lecha Dodi, welcoming the Sabbath bride — then Shalom Aleichem and Eishet Chayil at home before Kiddush. The table songs, the zemirot, run through the day: Kol Mekadesh, Menucha V'simcha, Ka Ribon, Tzur Mishelo, Dror Yikra, Yom Zeh L'Yisrael. Havdalah ends it with Eliyahu HaNavi and Hamavdil.
Every one of these has hundreds of melodies — Carlebach, Modzitz, Sephardi, Israeli, contemporary — and The Kol Yehudim Show's Sunday broadcast is, in a sense, a week's worth of Shabbat music played back for the whole family.
Artists on this page
Eitan Gedalya Sol Zim Yossele Rosenblatt
What are the traditional Shabbat songs?
Friday night: Yedid Nefesh, Lecha Dodi, Shalom Aleichem and Eishet Chayil. At the table: zemirot such as Kol Mekadesh, Menucha V'simcha, Ka Ribon, Tzur Mishelo, Dror Yikra and Yom Zeh L'Yisrael. Saturday night: Eliyahu HaNavi and Hamavdil at Havdalah.
Can I listen to Shabbat music online?
Yes — My Jewish Radio streams Jewish music free, 24/7, at myjewishradio.com, and every Shabbat melody we play is listed with its artist on the site.
Who wrote Lecha Dodi?
Lecha Dodi was written by Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz in 16th-century Safed; the opening letters of its verses spell his name.
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