Yedid Nefesh


Yedid Nefesh is the title of a piyyut. It is usually sung on the Jewish Sabbath.

Traditions and origin

Some sing it between Minchah of Friday and the beginning of Kabbalat Shabbat.
It is sung by many Jews during Seudah Shlishit.
Many Chassidim say or sing it every morning before beginning to the Pesukei dezimra section of Shacharit in order to arouse their love of God in preparation for the praises of Pesukei d'Zimra.
This poem is commonly attributed to the sixteenth century Sephardic kabbalist, Rabbi Elazar ben Moshe Azikri, who first published it in Sefer Charedim, but Azikri did not claim authorship of it and there have been other suggested authors. The Hebrew Manuscripts at Cambridge University Libraries by Stefan C. Reif refers to an appearance of Yedid Nefesh in the Commentary On the Book of Numbers by Samuel ben David ben Solomon, a manuscript dated to about 1438—long before Azikri's birth. Azikri's philosophy centred around the intense love one must feel for God, a theme that is evident in this piyyut. The first letters of each of the four verses make up the four letter name of God, known in English as the tetragrammaton.

Text

The words are as follows:

Recordings