Requests on Shabbat — Yedid Nefesh | Sheilot

Requests on Shabbat — Yedid Nefesh

Question

To the esteemed gaon rabbis, shlita
What is the basis for permitting requests on Shabbat in Shabbat zemirot such as Yedid Nefesh?
And may I make requests and recite the piyyut Yedid Nefesh in the Shabbat prayers before “Yihyu leratzon”?

Answer

Shalom u’vrachah.

Anything that is part of a fixed prayer does not pose a problem of requesting one’s needs on Shabbat.

Therefore, at Shabbat meals, or in communities where it is customary to recite this piyyut during the prayer service, there is no problem with doing so.

However, adding requests is forbidden.

Therefore, in a place or at a time when it is not customary to recite it, one should not say this piyyut as a request and prayer.

Answered 5 June 2026 How answers are reviewed
Rabbi Israel Cohen
Answered by
Answers questions at Rav Amram Fried's Beit Horaah
Smicha "Yoreh-Yoreh" (2012), Rav Amram Fried's Beit Horaah
Orach Chaim, Yoreh Deah
About the Rabbi

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