L’chu n’ra’n’na La’Adonai

Oh, go forth, let us express our joy! (Psalm 95:1)

These are the first words of the traditional Kabbalat Shabbat Service. They are meant to move us out of our complacency and awaken us to the miracle of Shabbat which is just happening. The word n’ra’n’na is related to ra’n’nim, which are a certain kind of very expressive bird (mentioned in Job 39:13). Birds are so very unself-conscious in how they express their joy. They are our teachers of song. This is a practice of finding whatever joy might be locked up in your heart, and letting it out. In expressing our joy, we then can invite each other to step forth into the sacred realm of Shabbat.

To hear the various parts of the chant, use the audio players. To download a part, right-click a note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• An Invitation to Shabbat 1  
• An Invitation to Shabbat 2  
• An Invitation to Shabbat Mix  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Invitation to Shabbat PDF. For the musical notation, click L’chu Music.