Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz was born in Thessaloniki in 1550 to a family that had been part of the Spanish expulsion. Moving to Salonica he studied under Rabbi Yosef Taitatzak. He married the daughter of the wealthy Yitzchak Cohen. In 1535 he moved to Tzfas and became one of its leading Kabalists. He was friends with Rabbi Yosef Karo and the Ramak was his brother-in-law. Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz is best known for his composition of the Lecha Dodi which is song each week to great the Shabbat and his prayer for Parnasa.