אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם
Adon Olam
“Sovereign of the world” — the hymn that crowns the table
Sung by Rabbi Jonathan Cohen and family. From the family’s recordings of Western Sephardi home singing.
Sung by Hazzan Daniel Halfon and family. Adon Olam to a melody of Mozart.
Text & translation
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ, בְּטֶרֶם כָּל יְצִיר נִבְרָא.
Adon olam asher malakh, b’terem kol y’tzir nivra.
לְעֵת נַעֲשָׂה בְחֶפְצוֹ כֹּל, אֲזַי מֶלֶךְ שְׁמוֹ נִקְרָא.
L’et na’asah v’ḥeftzo kol, azai melekh sh’mo nikra.
וְאַחֲרֵי כִּכְלוֹת הַכֹּל, לְבַדּוֹ יִמְלוֹךְ נוֹרָא.
V’aḥarei kikhlot hakol, l’vado yimlokh nora.
וְהוּא הָיָה וְהוּא הוֹוֶה, וְהוּא יִהְיֶה בְּתִפְאָרָה.
V’hu hayah v’hu hoveh, v’hu yihyeh b’tif’arah.
וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי, לְהַמְשִׁיל לוֹ לְהַחְבִּירָה.
V’hu eḥad v’ein sheni, l’hamshil lo l’haḥbirah.
בְּלִי רֵאשִׁית בְּלִי תַכְלִית, וְלוֹ הָעֹז וְהַמִּשְׂרָה.
B’li reshit b’li takhlit, v’lo ha’oz v’hammisrah.
וְהוּא אֵלִי וְחַי גּוֹאֲלִי, וְצוּר חֶבְלִי בְּעֵת צָרָה.
V’hu Eli v’ḥai go’ali, v’tzur ḥevli b’et tzarah.
וְהוּא נִסִּי וּמָנוֹס לִי, מְנָת כּוֹסִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא.
V’hu nissi umanos li, m’nat kosi b’yom ekra.
בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי, בְּעֵת אִישָׁן וְאָעִירָה.
B’yado afkid ruḥi, b’et ishan v’a’irah.
וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי, יְיָ לִי וְלֹא אִירָא.
V’im ruḥi g’viyyati, Adonai li v’lo ira.
בְּמִקְדָּשׁוֹ תָּגֵל נַפְשִׁי, מְשִׁיחֵנוּ יִשְׁלַח מְהֵרָה.
B’mikdasho tagel nafshi, m’shiḥenu yishlaḥ m’herah.
וְאָז נָשִׁיר בְּבֵית קָדְשִׁי, אָמֵן אָמֵן שֵׁם הַנּוֹרָא.
V’az nashir b’veit kodshi, amen amen shem hannora.
A singing translation
Eternal One, who ruled supreme,
Before Creation’s form was framed,
When You created all by Will,
Then did You, Pathmaker, reign.
When all shall end, God’s majesty
Shall still extend—an endless story;
God was, God is, and God will be
in never-ending fame and glory.
God’s purely One—alone, unique,
For all that lives, the only Root.
Without beginning, without end,
God’s power and rule are absolute.
Measureless and imageless,
God alters not, nor changes state,
Conjoined with none, of nought a part,
Powerful, Almighty, Great.
God is my sole redeeming Power,
My Rock, when in my grief I fall,
My miracle, my refuge strong,
Who answers me when I do call.
God is the First, and the Last source
of all material and form,
God heals, and is the Healing Force,
Far-seeing Helper in each storm.
Into God’s Hand I trust my soul,
When I do sleep, when dawn appears,
And when that soul my body flees,
God will be with me: I’ll not fear.
In God’s House, my spirit sings:
“Hasten Redemption!,” it exclaims,
For then full-throated praise I’ll bring:
“AMEN, AMEN, GOD’S HOLY NAME!”
Singing translation by Marc Michael Epstein.
About this song
A metrical hymn to God’s eternity and providence, in strict syllabic metre, sung since at least the fifteenth century and traditionally — if uncertainly — ascribed to Solomon ibn Gabirol.
The Western Sephardim hold a wealth of melodies for it, from Amsterdam and Livorno to London; their text closes with the couplet Be-mikdasho tagel nafshi and a triple Amen. The singing translation below is a free, metrical rendering meant to be sung to the same tunes.
In the living tradition
These are not museum pieces. The same songs are sung today at Kehillah Kedoshah Zikhron Zvi, the egalitarian Western Sephardi congregation of the Hudson Valley — the community at the endpoint of the Program’s Sephardi Liturgy project.