Adon Olam
Adon Olam is a hymn in the Jewish liturgy. It has been a regular part of the daily and Shabbat liturgy since the 15th century.
Origin
Its authorship and origin are uncertain. It is sometimes attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol, who is known for his Hebrew poetry, but there is no solid evidence for this; the regular metric structure does not seem to accord with his other compositions. John Rayner, in his notes for Siddur Lev Chadash, suggests it was written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century in Spain, noting its absence from the prayer book Sefer Abudarham published. It has also been attributed to Hai Gaon and as far back as the Talmudic sage Yohanan ben Zakkai. Although its diction indicates antiquity, it did not become part of the morning liturgy until the 15th century.Text
The text of Adon Olam used in Ashkenazic liturgy contains five stanzas in 10 lines, as follows:| English translation | Transliteration | Hebrew |
| Eternal master, who reigned supreme, Before any creation was created | Adon 'olam, 'asher malakh, b'ṭerem kol yeṣir niv'ra | |
| When it was finished according to his will, Then, "King" his name was proclaimed to be | L'et na'asa v'ḥefṣo kol, Azai melekh sh'mo niqra | |
| When this our world shall be no more, In majesty he still shall reign, | V'aḥarey kikh'lot hakol L'vado yimlokh nora | |
| And he was, and he is, And he will be in glory. | V'hu hayah v'hu hoveh V'hu yih'yeh b'tif'arah | |
| Alone is he, there is no second, Without division or ally; | V'hu 'eḥad v'eyn sheyni L'ham'shil lo l'haḥbirah | |
| Without beginning, without end, To him is the power and sovereignty | B'li reyshiyt b'li taḥ'liyt V'lo ha'oz v'hammis'rah | |
| He is my God, my living redeemer Rock of my affliction in time of trouble | V'hu 'Eli v'ḥay go'ali v'ṣur ḥevli b'eit ṣarah | |
| He is my banner and refuge Filling my cup the day I call | V'hu nissi 'umanos li m'nat kosi b'yom 'eqra | |
| Into his hand I commit my spirit When I sleep, and I awake | B'yado af'qid ruḥi b'et 'iyyshan v'a'ira | |
| And with my spirit, my body The Lord is with me, I will not fear | v'im ruḥi g'viyyati Adonai li v'lo 'ira |
There are varying texts in the Sephardic version containing added lines. In some traditions, the hymn comprises six stanzas, but the fourth stanza is omitted by Ashkenazi liturgists. In others, it has 15 lines; in yet others, it has 16 lines. It has 10 lines in the Koren Sefard siddur and 12 lines in the De Sola Pool Spanish & Portuguese Book of Prayer. It has 15 lines in the Koren Mizrahi siddur, the Orot Sephardic Daily Siddur, and the Orot Sephardic Shabbat Siddur. Morris Silverman considers the Ashkenazic version, which is the shortest, as the probable original version. It is strictly metrical, written in lines of eight syllables; more precisely, each line is composed of two segments of one yated and two tenu'ot, which indeed makes eight syllables.
Practice
Adon Olam is one of the most familiar hymns in the whole of the Jewish liturgy and is sung in many communities at the end of the Mussaf for Shabbat and Jewish holidays. In the Roman Machzor, it is placed at the end of Shabbat services and sung together with Yigdal.According to Seligman Baer, the hymn seems to have been intended to be recited before going to sleep, as it closes with the words: "Into His hand I commit my spirit when I fall asleep, and I shall awake." There is a tradition of reciting it each night at bedtime, and also on the deathbed. It may be, however, that the beauty and grandeur of the hymn recommended its use in the liturgy, and that it was chanted indiscriminately at the beginning or the close of the service.
According to the custom of the Sephardim and in British synagogues generally, the congregation sings it at the close of Shacharit on Shabbatot and festivals. Among Ashkenazi Jews it sometimes, takes the place of Yigdal at the close of the Maariv service on these occasions, while both hymns are sometimes chanted on the eve of Yom Kippur.
In the German rite, it is recited daily at the beginning of morning services.
Because of this solemn association and its opening and closing sentiments, the hymn has also been selected for reading in the chamber of the dying. In some congregations, it is recited in the synagogue to report a death in the community. It is likewise recited or chanted at the commencement of the daily early morning prayer, that its utterance may help to attune the mind of the worshiper to reverential awe. When it is sung at the end of the service, the congregation sits while singing it, as a demonstration that they are not eager to leave the house of prayer but are willing to stay and continue praying.
Tunes
For so widespread and beloved a hymn, the traditional tunes are unusually few. Only four or five of them deserve to be called traditional. Of these the oldest appears to be a short melody of Spanish origin.The most common tune is attributed to the Russian cantor Eliezer Mordecai Gerovitsch, who published it in 1897 with the notation A.W., suggesting that it is an arrangement of an existing tune.
Of similar construction is a melody of northern origin associated by English Jews with the penitential season.
This melody is sometimes sung antiphonally, between Chazan and congregation, like the Spanish tune given above it. The best known of the other traditional antiphonal settings exists in two or three forms, the oldest of which appears to be the one given below.
The most common tune is attributed to the Russian cantor Eliezer Mordecai Gerovitsch. Every one of the synagogal composers of the 19th century has written several settings for "Adon Olam". Most of them—following the earlier practise of the continental synagogues during the modern period —have attempted more or less elaborately polyphonic compositions. But the absurdity of treating an essentially congregational hymn so as to render congregational singing of it impossible is latterly becoming recognized, and many tunes in true hymn form have been more recently composed. The setting written by Simon W. Waley for the West London Synagogue has become a classic among the British Jews, having been long ago adopted from the "reform" into the "orthodox" congregations, of England and its colonies.
This song is often sung to many different tunes on account of its meter. Many synagogues like to use "seasonal" tunes; for instance, on the Shabbat before Hanukkah, they might do it to Ma'oz Tzur. In Hebrew schools and Jewish summer camps, the Adon Olam hymn is sometimes set, for fun, to secular tunes like "Yankee Doodle" or "Jamaica Farewell".
In 1976, Uzi Hitman created a more upbeat tune for the 8th Annual Hasidic Song Festival, which has become the most popular version in Israel when sung outside traditional liturgical settings.
Translations
Throughout the years there have been several English translations which preserve the original Hebrew meter and rhyming pattern, allowing the hymn to be sung to the same tunes as the original. A rhythmic English version in the book Prayers, Psalms and Hymns for the Use of Jewish Children of 1905 only loosely follows the Hebrew text.A rhythmic English version which adheres much more closely to the Hebrew text is attributed to Frederick de Sola Mendes; it appears in the entry in The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 and in the Union Hymnal of 1914.
Two 21st-century rhythmic translations appear to take inspiration from the above works: the rhythmic translation in the Koren Sacks Siddur of 2009 quotes heavily from the initial stanzas of the version in Prayers, Psalms and Hymns for the Use of Jewish Children; the unsigned rhythmic translation in the machzor Mishkan HaNefesh of 2015 has a few verses which echo the version of de Sola Mendes.
Hebrew texts
Music
- of Adon Olam and other Jewish liturgical songs, by Mauro Braunstein
Recordings
; Other- by Brian Shamash
- by Jeanette Rotstain Yahudayan
- ; also, "English Versions of Adon Olam" by Cecil Roth, in his Essay and Portraits in Anglo-Jewish History pages 295–302 and originally in the Jewish Monthly, May 1948.
- , to the tune of "You'll Be Back" from Hamilton
- https://jr.co.il/videos/adon-olam.htm