Adon Olam (; "Eternal Lord" or "Sovereign of the Universe") is a hymn in the

Jewish liturgy Jewish prayer (, ; plural ; , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the '' ...

. It has been a regular part of the daily and

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

(

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

) liturgy since the 15th century.Nulman, Macy, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) page 7.

Origin

Its authorship and origin are uncertain. It is sometimes attributed to

Solomon ibn Gabirol Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jews, Jewish poet and Jewish philosopher, philosopher in the Neoplatonism, Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical ...

(1021–1058 CE), who is known for his Hebrew poetry, although there is no solid evidence for this, and the regular metric structure does not seem to accord with his other compositions. John Rayner, in his notes to the

Siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tef ...

Lev Chadash, suggests it was written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century in Spain, noting its absence from the prayer book Sefer Abudarham c. 1340. It has also been attributed to

Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (), better known as Hai Gaon (), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He receiv ...

(939–1038) and even to the Talmudic sage

Yohanan ben Zakkai Yohanan ben Zakkai (; 1st century CE), sometimes abbreviated as for Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, was a tanna, an important Jewish sage during the late Second Temple period during the transformative post-destruction era. He was a primary cont ...

. 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 Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language t ...

liturgy contains 5 stanzas in 10 lines, as follows: There are varying texts in the Sephardic version containing added lines (two after line 6, one after line 8, and two after line 10). In some traditions the hymn comprises 6 stanzas, but the fourth stanza (which can be seen as an amplification of the third) is omitted by the Ashkenazim. In others it has 15 lines; in yet others it has 16 lines. It is strictly metrical, written in lines of eight syllables; more precisely, each line is composed of two segments of one yated and 2 tenu'ot, which indeed makes 8 syllables.

Practice

Adon Olam is one of the most familiar hymns in the whole range of the Jewish liturgy and is sung in many communities at the end of the Additional Service (Musaf) for Shabbat (Sabbath) and Yom Tov (Festival). In the Roman

Machzor The ''machzor'' (, plural ''machzorim'', and , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized ''machzorim'' on the three pilgrimage festiva ...

it is placed at the end of Sabbath service and sung together with Yigdal. According to

Seligman Baer Seligman (Isaac) Baer (1825–1897) was a Masoretic text, Masoretic scholar, and an editor of the Hebrew Bible and of the Siddur, Jewish liturgy. He was born in Mosbach, the northern district of Biebrich, on 18 September 1825 and died at Biebric ...

, 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 Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendan ...

and in British

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s generally, it is sung by the congregation at the close of

and festival morning services, and among the

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

it sometimes takes the place of the hymn

Yigdal Yigdal () is a Religious Jewish music, Jewish hymn which in various rituals shares with ''Adon Olam'' the place of honor at the opening of the morning and the close of the evening service. It is based on the Maimonides#Thirteen principles of faith, ...

at the close of the

maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

service on these occasions, while both hymns are sometimes chanted on the Eve of Yom Kippur (

Kol Nidre Kol Nidre (also known as Kol Nidrei or Kol Nidrey; Aramaic: ''kāl niḏrē'') is an Aramaic declaration which begins Yom Kippur services in the synagogue. Strictly speaking, it is not a prayer, even though it is commonly spoken of as if it we ...

). In the German rite, it is recited daily at the beginning of morning services. Because of this solemn association, and on account of its opening and closing sentiments, the hymn has also been selected for (tuneless) reading in the chamber of the dying, and in some congregations it is recited (subdued and tuneless) in the synagogue as a means of reporting 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 were willing to stay and continue praying (by starting again at the beginning of the day's prayers).

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, Eliezar Mordecai Gerovitsch.Nulman, Macy, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer'' (1993, NJ, Jason Aronson) page 8. Of similar construction is a melody of northern origin associated by English Jews with the penitential season. This melody is sometimes sung

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely compo ...

ally, between

Chazan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also ...

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 (C). The most common tune is attributed to the Russian cantor, Eliezar 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 (see

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

)—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. Special mention should be made of the setting written by Simon W. Waley (1827–1876) for the

West London Synagogue The West London Synagogue, abbreviated WLS, and fully the West London Synagogue of British Jews () is a Reform Judaism, Reform Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located near Marble Arch, at 34 Upper Berkeley Street, in the City of Wes ...

, which 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 (

Iambic tetrameter Iambic tetrameter is a meter (poetry), poetic meter in Ancient Greek poetry, ancient Greek and Latin poetry; as the name of ''a rhythm'', iambic tetrameter consists of four metra, each metron being of the form , x – u – , , consisting of a spo ...

). Many synagogues like to use "seasonal" tunes, for instance, ''Shabbat'' before

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

, they might do it to

Ma'oz Tzur "Ma'oz Tzur" () is a Jewish liturgical poem or ''piyyut''. It is written in Hebrew, and is sung on the holiday of Hanukkah, after lighting the festival lights. The hymn is named for its Hebrew incipit, which means "Strong Rock (of my Salvation)" ...

. In Hebrew schools and Jewish summer camps, the Adon Olam hymn is sometimes set, for fun, to secular tunes like "

Yankee Doodle "Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state song of the U.S. ...

" or "

Jamaica Farewell "Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song (mento). The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess ( Irving Burgie), an American-born, half- Barbadian songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands. Harry Belafont ...

". In 1976,

Uzi Hitman Uzi Hitman (; 9 June 1952 – 17 October 2004) was an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer, actor, director and television personality. Biography Uzi Hitman was born in Giv'at Shmuel and lived all his life in Ramat Gan. His parents, Holocaust su ...

created a more upbeat tune for the 8th Annual Hasidic Song Festival and 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 Frederick de Sola Mendes (July 8, 1850 – October 26, 1927) was a rabbi, author, and editor. Family history and education Frederick de Sola Mendes was born into an old Spanish & Portuguese rabbinic family. He was the son of Rabbi Abraham Pereir ...

; it appears in the entr
Adon Olam
in

The Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

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 The ''machzor'' (, plural ''machzorim'', and , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized ''machzorim'' on the three pilgrimage festiva ...

Mishkan HaNefesh of 2015 has a few verses which echo the version of de Sola Mendes.

References

Sources

External links

Adon Olam, with explanations

Hebrew texts

kadisha.biz article about the song

Music

of Adon Olam and other Jewish liturgical songs, by Mauro Braunstein.

Recordings

Text, translation, transliteration, recordings from The Zemirot Database.

Recordings of Adon Olam spoken in different speeds
; Other
Adon Olam sung to a melody by Eliezer Gerowitsch (1844–1913)
by Brian Shamash
Adon Olam sung to a Persian melody
by Jeanette Rotstain Yahudayan.
Adon Olam setting by Kenneth Lampl

Adon Olam Ashkenazi version

Adon Olam setting by Salamone Rossi (''ca''. 1570–1630)

''Adon Olom: Past-Present-Future'' a song about the prayer and its significance by Samuel Schuman, 1944.

Aaron Minsky plays his published cello variations on Adon Olam

Traditional Sephardic Singing of Adon Olam

Standard Book of Jewish Verse (NY 1917, now public domain) several English translations of Adon Olam, pages 390–396.
also, "English Versions of Adon Olam" by Cecil Roth, in his ''Essay and Portraits in Anglo-Jewish History'' (1962, Philadelphia, Jewish Publ'n Society) pages 295–302 and originally in the ''Jewish Monthly'', May 1948.
אדון עולם (Adon Olam), עוזי חיטמן ועודד בן-חור , השיר והמילים
Cantor Azi Schwartz of Park Avenue Synagogue, to the tune of "You'll Be Back" from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

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187 Adon Olam Videos on YouTube and the Hebrew lyrics with nikud (vowels), an English transliteration of the Hebrew and an English translation.

{{Authority control Jewish liturgical poems Jewish prayer and ritual texts Works of unknown authorship Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings