This is part one of a two-part series posting these liturgical texts found in the siddur of — and approved of by — the gaon. For this part, the blessings for Friday night, locations where Italian rite’s modern versions of the first and third blessings differ from the version of RaSaG are marked.

Note: “The CAUSE” is used to translate the Divine Name YHVH, based on the philosophical idea of God as the Prime Mover and on the interpretation of the Name as a causative form of the copula – “causes to be.” “God” is used to translate the divine name Elohim. This translation also uses the plural pronouns They/Their/Them to refer to God as a pluralis majestatis, and to avoid the implications of God being assigned a gender. (Find Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis 1:1 for a discussion of the pluralis majestatis when referring to God.) All divine referents (pronouns, epithets, names) are rendered in unicase.

This digital transcription was derived from the text published in Siddur R. Saadja Gaon, edited by I. Davidson, S. Assaf, and B.I. Joel (1963), pp. 110-111.

Source(s)

Maariv l’Shabbat – Siddur R. Saadja Gaon (1963), p. 110

Maariv l’Shabbat – Siddur R. Saadja Gaon (1963), p. 111

Ḥakham Ishak Nieto’s translation of Adon Olam was first printed on page 197 of Orden de las Oraciones de Ros-ashanah y Kipur (1740), his maḥzor in Spanish translation for Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur. The Hebrew text of the piyyut set side-by-side with the translation was transcribed from Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah (1937).

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.)

Source(s)

This is Isaac Pinto’s English translation of Adon Olam from Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and [Yom] Kippur (1766), p. 29. The translation there appears without the Hebrew. The Hebrew text of the piyyut set side-by-side with the translation was transcribed from Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah (1937).

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.)

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The rhyming translation here by David de Aaron de Sola was transcribed from his prayerbook Seder haTefilot vol. 1 (1836), p. 122.

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by George Borrow was shared in his tales in The Bible in Spain (1843), ch. 54, p. 222. (The text in the 1913 edition on page 546 is a bit easier to read.) There, Borrows transliterates the title as “Adun Oulem.”

Source(s)

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The free translation by Rosa Emma Salaman (a/k/a “Mrs. Julius Collins”) appearing here was transcribed from the English edition of Imrei Lev (ed. Hester Rothschild, 1855/1859).

Source(s)

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.)

The German translation of “Adon Olam” appearing here is as found in Rabbi David Einhorn’s עלת תמיד Gebetbuch für Israelitische Reform-Gemeinden (1858), pp. 1-2. The English translation here, by Joshua Giorgio-Rubin, translating Rabbi David Einhorn, is as found in Rubin’s Olat Hadashah: A Modern Adaptation of David Einhorn’s Olat Tamid for Shabbat Evening (2020), p. 14.

Source(s)

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.) The translation appearing here by Tsvi Hirsch Filipowski (1816-1872) is as found on page 2 of his siddur Tefilot Yisrael (1862).

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The rhyming translation here by Jacob Waley was transcribed from the prayerbook of his daughter Julia M. Cohen’s The Children’s Psalm-Book (1907), pp. 298-299.

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is adapted from the abridged arrangement of Rabbi Benjamin Szold translated by Rabbi Marcus Jastrow, “The Lord of All,” as found in Songs and Prayers and Meditations for Divine Services of Israelites (1873), p. 26-27. Hebrew source set side-by-side with the English translation by Aharon Varady.

Source(s)

Rabbi Dr. Moses Gaster’s translation of Adon Olam in Romaninan was first printed on pages 3-4 of Siddur Tefilat Yisrael: Carte de Rugăcĭunĭ Pentru Israeliţĭ (1883), his daily Siddur. Although his siddur follows the Sepharadi tradition in many regards, the text of the piyyut here follows the Ashkenazi tradition.

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.)

Source(s)

This is Yosef Naḥmuli’s Greek translation of Adon Olam from his bilingual Hebrew-Greek everyday siddur, Καθημεριναι Προσευχαι (Corfu 1885), p. 6-9. I have set the translation side-by-side with the Hebrew text from which it was derived. It seems to me that here, a couple of lines are paraphrase and do not receive full attention.

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the six stanzas version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also some slightly longer variants found in other Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.)

Source(s)

The piyyut, “Adon Olam” became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the fifteen line version familiar to some Mizraḥi and eastern Sefaradi congregations. (A twelve line variant is common among the Western Sefaradim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.)

The Marathi translation was made by Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar as published in סדר תפלת החדש The Daily Prayers translated from Hebrew in Marathi (1889), pp. 7-8. The Marathi was proofread by Aniruddha Walke. (Thank you!) –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

The Seder Tefilat Kol Peh was printed in 1891 in Vienna, and features a full Ladino translation of the entire siddur. This Ladino translation of Adon Olam is found on the left side of pagespread №145. Along with a full transcription of the Ladino text, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer has also prepared a full romanization of the Ladino. I have set the Hebrew text of Adon Olam side-by-side with the Ladino.

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the sixteen-line version familiar to Eastern Sepharadi congregations.

Source(s)

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.) The translation appearing here by Alice Lucas (1851-1935) is as found on page 4 of the The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth of Nations (2nd Revised Edition, 1962), compiled by Rabbi Israel Brodie. This translation was first published in her anthology, Songs of Ẓion by Hebrew singers of Mediaeval times (1894).

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by Israel Zangwill was transcribed from the Jewish Quarterly Review vol. 13 (January 1901), p. 321.

Source(s)

This translation Rabbi J. Leonard Levy of Shlomo ibn Gabirol’s “Adon Olam” was first published in The Children’s Service for Use in Religious Schools (1902). In the second edition from 1904, it is found on page 127.

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen, and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.) The rhyming translation here by Jessie Ethel Sampter was transcribed from Joseph Friedlander and George Alexander Kohut’s The standard book of Jewish verse (1917), p. 394.

Source(s)

Rabbi Dr. Mojżesz Schorr’s translation of Adon Olam in Polish was first printed on pages 8-9 of Modlitewnik na wszystkie dni w roku oraz modlitwę za Rzeczpospolitą ułożoną przez prof. Schorra (1936).

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line, five stanza version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (There are also twelve, fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim.)

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.) The translation appearing here was transcribed from Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s Tefilot l’Rosh haShanah (1937).

Source(s)

This is Artur Carlos de Barros Bastos’s Portuguese translation of Adon Olam from his prayer-pamphlet, Oração Matinal de Shabbath (1939), p. 52-53. I have set the translation side-by-side with the Hebrew text from which it was derived.

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the six stanzas version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also some slightly longer variants found in other Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has five stanzas/ten lines.)

Source(s)

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.) The translation appearing here is as found on page 41 of the Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book (1946), compiled by the Rabbinical Assembly & United Synagogue of America and adapted from a manuscript by Rabbi Morris Silverman.

Source(s)

This is Rabbi Dr. David Prato’s Italian translation of Adon Olam from his bilingual Hebrew-Italian everyday siddur, Tefilah l’David: Preghiere di Rito Italiano (1949), p. 272-275. I have set the translation side-by-side with the Hebrew text from which it was derived, adding a stanza missing in the printed Hebrew that corresponds with the printed Italian translation.

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the six stanzas version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also some slightly longer variants found in other Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has five stanzas/ten lines.)

Source(s)

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.) The translation appearing here is as found on page 204 of the HaSiddur (“The Prayer Book,” 1957), compiled by Ben Ẓion Bokser. He adds the following commentary:

The hymn Adon Olam has been ascribed to the authorship of Solomon ibn Gabirol (born 1021, died 1058). Its sublime conception of God is in the spirit of Gabirol’s work, but there is no proof that he was really the author of it. Because texts of the Prayer Book before the fourteenth century omit it, we may place the date of its composition as not earlier than the early part of that century. Two basic ideas dominate this hymn. One declares that God’s existence and sovereignty are independent of the existent universe, that He fashioned the universe in time, and the He will continue to be after all existence has returned to void. This negates the view that God is only an aspect of the universe in existence. The other declares God’s providential concern for each of His creatures and the abiding peace and security that men find in drawing close to their Maker. The Adon Olam was added to the prayer on retiring for the night. In the synagogue liturgy it has generally been recited as part of the preliminary prayers in the morning service, appropriately so, because it voices gratitude for God’s providence in having enabled us to rise in the morning for a new day of life. As a hymn at the close of the service, it has been recited especially Friday night and the night of Yom Kippur. Presently it is often used at the close of Sabbath and festival morning services as well.

Source(s)

Adon Olam is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 12 line version familiar to Sepharadi congregations. (There are also fifteen and sixteen line variants found in Sepharadi siddurim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.)

This “praying translation” of the piyyut Adon Olam appears in Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s Sabbath Supplement to his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009). From his translation, we can see that Reb Zalman appears to have collapsed the lines together beginning ‘bli.’

Source(s)

This Chinese translation of an Ashkenazi nusaḥ for the piyyut “Adon Olam,” is found on page 73 of the liner notes for the Chinese edition of Richard Collis’s album We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers (Wǒmen gēchàng, wǒmen xiāngjù — Ānxírì chén dǎo qídǎo).

“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.)

Source(s)

The piyyut, “Adon Olam” became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the fifteen line version familiar to some Mizraḥi and eastern Sepharadi congregations. (A twelve line variant is common among the Western Sepharadim. The Ashkenazi version has ten lines.)

The English translation was made by Annie Kantar as published in Invitation to Piyut North America: 18 Piyutim & Mizmorim (2010), p. 17. I have restored the punctuation and layout as initially prepared by Annie Kantar. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

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 rhymed English translation by Jacob Waley (1818-1873) was published posthumously by his daughter, Julia Matilda Cohen, in The children’s Psalm-book, a selection of Psalms with explanatory comments, together with a prayer-book for home use in Jewish families (1907), pp. 300-303.

Source(s)

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 appearing here is as found on pp. 2-3 of Tsvi Filipowski’s siddur Tefilot Yisrael (1862).

Source(s)

This is Rev. Newton Mann’s slightly abridged rhymed English translation of Daniel ben Yehudah Dayyan’s “Yigdal” as first published in Rabbi Max Landsberg’s Ritual for Jewish Worship (1884), pp. 13-14. Mann, a Unitarian minister, had made the translation at the request of Rabbi Landsberg. Over at the Hymnology Archive, Chris Fenner writes,

When Max Landsberg (1845–1927), rabbi of the B’rith Kodesh Congregation in Rochester, New York, was assembling his Ritual of Jewish Worship (1884), he approached his friend Newton Mann, pastor of the Unity Church (Unitarian) in Rochester, about creating a version of the Yigdal in English rhyme. This appeared in the book, beginning “Extollèd be the living God and praisèd be his name,” in 9 rhyming couplets, effectively 8.6.8.6 (Common Meter). This text, unfortunately, did not have the same meter as the Hebrew and could not be used with existing Hebrew tunes. In his preface, Landsberg acknowledged Mann: “I cannot find adequate terms to express my obligations to my dear friend Rev. N.M. Mann, Pastor of Unity Church, for the kind interest he has taken in the preparation of Part First of this Ritual, and the valuable services he has rendered in making the English more idiomatic and perfect.”

Later on, at Rabbi Landsberg’s request, William Channing Gannet (Mann’s successor at Unity Church) revised Mann’s translation. That derived work was published in Unity Hymns and Chorals (1911). Many thanks to the Hymnology Archive and to Chris Fenner for his research.

I have set the text of Mann’s English translation side-by-side with the Hebrew source text of Yigdal indicating several of the verses left untranslated, likely a testament to the ideological differences of the Reform Judaism of Rabbi Landsberg. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)