Judah Halevi wrote this, and the refrain is the reason to learn it: the dove found rest there, and there the exhausted will rest. The dove is Noah's, sent out over the water and coming back because there was nowhere to land — and the poem makes the Sabbath the place she was looking for. Every single line of the poem, refrain included, ends on the same syllable, which is a piece of technical showing-off you can hear without knowing any Hebrew at all.
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Key: Dm · 3 chords used ·Dm · Gm · A
96 BPM · 4/4 · Shabbat lunch · five stanzas of four lines, every line in the poem ending on the same syllable, answered by a two-line refrain · to reset the chord panel:
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The dove found rest in it, and there the weary of strength will rest.
כְּרֵיחַ (krei-ach) and הַנִּיחוֹחַ (ha-ni-cho-ach) are the sacrificial phrase from Leviticus, a pleasing fragrance, applied here to a memory rather than to smoke. And every line ends in the same sound: לִשְׁכֹּחַ (lish-ko-ach), הַנִּיחוֹחַ (ha-ni-cho-ach), מָנוֹחַ (ma-no-ach), כֹחַ (cho-ach). That single rhyme runs through all twenty-five lines of the poem.
This day is honoured by the children of the faithful,
זְהִירִים
ze-hi-RIM
careful ones
לְשָׁמְרוֹ
le-sham-RO
to keep it
אָבוֹת
a-VOT
fathers
וּבָנִים
u-va-NIM
and sons
|Dm|A|
careful to keep it, parents and children;
חָקוּק
cha-KUK
engraved
בִּשְׁנֵי
bish-NEI
on two of
לֻחוֹת
lu-CHOT
tablets of
אֲבָנִים
a-va-NIM
stones
|Gm|Dm|
it is engraved on two tablets of stone,
מֵרֹב
me-ROV
out of abundance of
אוֹנִים
o-NIM
vigour
וְאַמִּיץ
ve-a-MITZ
and mighty
כֹּחַ
KO-ach
strength
|A|Dm|
out of great vigour and mighty strength.
יוֹנָה
yo-NA
a dove
מָצְאָה
matz-A
found
בוֹ
vo
in it
מָנוֹחַ
ma-NO-ach
rest
וְשָׁם
ve-SHAM
and there
יָנוּחוּ
ya-nu-CHU
will rest
יְגִיעֵי
ye-gi-EI
the weary of
כֹחַ
CHO-ach
strength
|GmDm|ADm|
The dove found rest in it, and there the weary of strength will rest.
חָקוּק (cha-kuk) means carved into stone, not written on it, and the poem is precise about the difference: the commandment is cut into the material rather than laid on top of it.
and they opened their mouths and answered: the LORD is one.
בָּרוּךְ
ba-RUCH
blessed is
הַנּוֹתֵן
ha-no-TEN
the one who gives
לַיָּעֵף
la-ya-EF
to the weary
כֹּחַ
KO-ach
strength
|A|Dm|
Blessed is He who gives strength to the weary.
יוֹנָה
yo-NA
a dove
מָצְאָה
matz-A
found
בוֹ
vo
in it
מָנוֹחַ
ma-NO-ach
rest
וְשָׁם
ve-SHAM
and there
יָנוּחוּ
ya-nu-CHU
will rest
יְגִיעֵי
ye-gi-EI
the weary of
כֹחַ
CHO-ach
strength
|GmDm|ADm|
The dove found rest in it, and there the weary of strength will rest.
נַעֲשֶׂה (na-a-se) and וְנִשְׁמַע (ve-nish-ma) are the two words Israel says at Sinai in Exodus 24 — we will do and we will hear, in that order, which has been the subject of commentary ever since. הַנּוֹתֵן (ha-no-ten) through כֹּחַ (ko-ach) is a line from the morning blessings, so the stanza runs from Sinai to this morning.
He spoke in His holiness on the mountain of myrrh:
יוֹם
yom
day
הַשְּׁבִיעִי
hash-vi-I
the seventh
זָכוֹר
za-CHOR
remember!
וְשָׁמוֹר
ve-sha-MOR
and keep!
|Dm|A|
the seventh day — remember it and keep it;
וְכָל
ve-CHAL
and all
פִּקּוּדָיו
pi-ku-DAV
His precepts
יַחַד
ya-CHAD
together
לִגְמֹר
lig-MOR
to complete
|Gm|Dm|
and all His commandments, to complete them together,
חַזֵּק
cha-ZEK
strengthen! (2ms)
מָתְנַיִם
mat-NA-yim
loins
וְאַמֵּץ
ve-a-METZ
and gather
כֹּחַ
KO-ach
strength
|A|Dm|
brace the loins and gather strength.
יוֹנָה
yo-NA
a dove
מָצְאָה
matz-A
found
בוֹ
vo
in it
מָנוֹחַ
ma-NO-ach
rest
וְשָׁם
ve-SHAM
and there
יָנוּחוּ
ya-nu-CHU
will rest
יְגִיעֵי
ye-gi-EI
the weary of
כֹחַ
CHO-ach
strength
|GmDm|ADm|
The dove found rest in it, and there the weary of strength will rest.
זָכוֹר (za-chor) and וְשָׁמוֹר (ve-sha-mor) are the two verbs of the two versions of the commandment, remember and keep, put in one line — the same move Menucha VeSimcha makes on Friday night. הַמֹּר (ha-mor) is the mountain of myrrh from the Song of Songs, used here as a name for Sinai.
may He remember to keep His covenant and His oath to them,
לְבַל
le-VAL
so that not
יַעֲבֹר
ya-a-VOR
may pass
בָּם
bam
upon them
מִקְרֵי
mik-REI
an occurrence of
רָעָה
ra-A
evil
|Gm|Dm|
so that no evil may befall them,
כַּאֲשֶׁר
ka-A-sher
as
נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ
nish-ba-TA
You swore
עַל
al
concerning
מֵי
mei
the waters of
נֹחַ
NO-ach
Noah
|A|Dm|
as You swore concerning the waters of Noah.
יוֹנָה
yo-NA
a dove
מָצְאָה
matz-A
found
בוֹ
vo
in it
מָנוֹחַ
ma-NO-ach
rest
וְשָׁם
ve-SHAM
and there
יָנוּחוּ
ya-nu-CHU
will rest
יְגִיעֵי
ye-gi-EI
the weary of
כֹחַ
CHO-ach
strength
|GmDm|ADm|
The dove found rest in it, and there the weary of strength will rest.
The last line names the dove's flood, which the refrain has been alluding to for five stanzas without saying so. נֹחַ (no-ach) is Noah, and מֵי (mei) his waters — the oath is Isaiah 54, where God swears never to flood the earth again. The poem has been building to this word since its first refrain.
♫ Singing notes
The refrain is eight words and returns five times. It is also the only part with a name in it, so it is the part people remember.
Every line of the whole poem ends on the same syllable. If you are singing by ear and a line does not land on it, you have gone wrong.
Around 96 BPM, steady. Slower than Yom Zeh Mechubad, which usually precedes it at the same table.
Sung at lunch. Some tables take it after the fish and before the meat, which is as good a reason as any.
♦ About this song
Judah Halevi
Eleventh and twelfth century, Spain, and the poet whose name is attached to more Hebrew verse still sung today than almost anyone's. The Daat edition names him in a closing line, which is editorial matter rather than part of the song and was removed by the scaffold.
The dove
Genesis 8: the dove goes out from the ark, finds no resting place for the sole of her foot, and comes back. The poem takes the word for that resting place and makes the Sabbath into it, then waits until the last line of the last stanza to mention the flood at all.
One rhyme, twenty-five lines
A monorhyme of this length is a formal exercise inherited from Arabic poetry, and Halevi was working in a tradition where it was expected. The effect on a singer is practical rather than decorative: it makes the whole poem one continuous shape instead of five separate stanzas.
Hebrew: Siddur Ashkenaz, Shabbat, Daytime Meal, Zemirot for Second Meal, Yom Shabbaton · Daat Siddur Ashkenaz · Public Domain, via Sefaria, pinned in this repo at content/songs/source/015.json.
English gloss lines authored for this site; the source translation is used as raw material only. Transliteration generated by this site's own engine (assets/translit.js).