https://youtu.be/9zR8GHSDH3cKabbalat Shabbat - Amar Ribi ElazarAccording to most Sephardi traditions, ‘Amar Ribi Elazar’ is read immediately after the perek ‘Bameh Madlikin’. This is followed by Kaddish Derabanan and the singing of ‘Lekha Dodi’. In the Spanish and Portuguese rite, however, these waypoints follow a slightly different routing: Bameh Madlikin, Lekha Dodi, Amar Ribi Elazar and finally the Kaddish. I have been unable to find any source for this latter order. However, intuition suggests that the framers of the Spanish and Portuguese minhag wanted to make clear the precise point at which the Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony ends and Arbit begins. This they achieved by setting the Kaddish as a marker, preceded by an Aggadic text.The chant in this recording is that of the London community, and begins with the Hazzan repeating ‘Bo’i Kallah’ - the final two words of ‘Lekha Dodi’. In common with Amsterdam and Bordeaux, the chant is a continuation of the ‘Bameh Madlikin’ mode. Congregation Shearith Israel, which in many respects has one of the most beautiful Friday night services on the planet, disappointingly eschews this motif in favour of the much more commonly used psalmodic mode, thereby losing the melodic connection between the two Talmudic selections. In order to create ‘a more perfect union’ might it not be appropriate to change, or dare I even say, revert to what may well have been an earlier, and much more satisfying, practice?HEADS UP: I have created a playlist of all the Friday night material that I’ve recorded over the past few years which can be found here. I hope you find it of use.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxSB7LQD8G3OxD39jNdX3p9I