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Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
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יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים חַי וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח נִמְצָא וְאֵין עֵת אֶל מְצִיאוּתוֹ׃ |
1. The living God O magnify and bless, Transcending Time and here eternally. |
אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ נֶעְלָם וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדּוּתוֹ׃ |
2. One Being, yet unique in unity; A mystery of Oneness measureless. |
אֵין לוֹ דְמוּת הַגּוּף וְאֵינוֹ גּוּף לֹא נַעֲרֹךְ אֵלָיו קְדֻשָּׁתוֹ׃ |
3. Lo I form or body He has none, and man No semblance of His holiness can frame. |
קַדְמוֹן לְכָל דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר נִבְרָא רִאשׁוֹן וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית לְרֵאשִׁיתוֹ׃ |
4. Before Creation’s dawn He was the same; The first to be, though never He began. |
הִנּוֹ אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם לְכָל נוֹצָר יוֹרֶה גְּדֻלָּתוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ׃ |
5. He is the world’s and every creature’s Lord; His rule and majesty are manifest, |
שֶׁפַע נְבוּאָתוֹ נְתָנוֹ אֶל אַנְשֵׁי סְגֻלָּתוֹ וְתִפְאַרְתּוֹ׃ |
6. And through His chosen, glorious sons exprest In prophecies that through their lips are poured. |
לֹא קָם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה עוֹד נָבִיא וּמַבִּיט אֶת תְּמוּנָתוֹ׃ |
7. Yet never like to Moses rose a seer, Permitted glimpse behind the veil divine. |
תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת נָתַן לְעַמּוֹ אֵל עַל יַד נְבִיאוֹ נֶאֱמַן בֵּיתוֹ׃ |
8. This faithful prince of God’s prophetic line Received the Law of Truth for Israel’s ear. |
לֹא יַחֲלִיף הָאֵל וְלֹא יָמִיר דָּתוֹ לְעוֹלָמִים לְזוּלָתוֹ׃ |
9. The Law God gave He never will amend, Nor ever by another Law replace. |
צוֹפֶה וְיוֹדֵעַ סְתָרֵינוּ מַבִּיט לְסוֹף דָּבָר בְּקַדְמָתוֹ׃ |
10. Our secret things are spread before His face; In all beginnings He beholds the end. |
גּוֹמֵל לְאִישׁ חָסִיד כְּמִפְעָלוֹ נוֹתֵן לְרָשָׁע רָע כְּרִשְׁעָתוֹ׃ |
11. The saint’s reward He measures to his need, The sinner reaps the harvest of his ways. |
יִשְׁלַח לְקֵץ יָמִים מְשִׁיחֵנוּ לִפְדּוֹת מְחַכֵּי קֵץ יְשׁוּעָתוֹ׃ |
12. Messiah He will send at end of days, And all the faithful to salvation lead. |
מֵתִים יְחַיֶּה אֵל בְּרֹב חַסְדּוֹ בָּרוּךְ עֲדֵי עַד שֵׁם תְּהִלָּתוֹ׃ |
13. God will the dead again to life restore In His abundance of almighty love. |
Then blessed be His Name, all names above, And let His praise resound for evermore. |
This is the philosophical-creed-as-piyyut, Yigdal, by Daniel ben Judah Dayyan. Yigdal means “Magnify [O Living God]” and is based on the 13 Articles of Faith formulated by Maimonides (1135-1204). Daniel ben Judah spent eight years improving his piyyut, completing Yigdal in 1404. This was not the only metrical presentment of the 13 Articles of Faith; but it has outlived all others, whether in Hebrew or in the vernacular. The English translation here by Israel Zangwill was transcribed from Arthur Davis & Herbert Adler’s מַחֲזוֹר עֲבֹדַת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד: עֲבֹדַת חַג הַכִּפּוּרִים Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim Part II: Morning Service (1904), p. 2.
Source(s)
“יִגְדַּל (אשכנז) | Yigdal, by Daniel ben Yehudah (trans. Israel Zangwill, 1904)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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