יִגְדַּל
Yigdal
“Magnified be…” — the Thirteen Principles in verse
Sung by Rabbi Jonathan Cohen and family. From the family’s recordings of Western Sephardi home singing.
Text & translation
יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים חַי וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח, נִמְצָא וְאֵין עֵת אֶל מְצִיאוּתוֹ.
Yigdal Elohim ḥai v’yishtabaḥ, nimtza v’ein et el metzi’uto.
אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ, נֶעְלָם וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדּוּתוֹ.
Eḥad v’ein yaḥid k’yiḥudo, ne’lam v’gam ein sof l’aḥduto.
אֵין לוֹ דְמוּת הַגּוּף וְאֵינוֹ גוּף, לֹא נַעֲרוֹךְ אֵלָיו קְדֻשָּׁתוֹ.
Ein lo d’mut haguf v’eino guf, lo na’arokh elav k’dushato.
קַדְמוֹן לְכָל דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר נִבְרָא, רִאשׁוֹן וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית לְרֵאשִׁיתוֹ.
Kadmon l’khol davar asher nivra, rishon v’ein reshit l’reshito.
הִנּוֹ אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם לְכָל נוֹצָר, יוֹרֶה גְדֻלָּתוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ.
Hinno Adon olam l’khol notzar, yoreh g’dullato umalkhuto.
שֶׁפַע נְבוּאָתוֹ נְתָנוֹ, אֶל אַנְשֵׁי סְגֻלָּתוֹ וְתִפְאַרְתּוֹ.
Shefa n’vu’ato n’tano, el anshei s’gullato v’tif’arto.
לֹא קָם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה עוֹד, נָבִיא וּמַבִּיט אֶת תְּמוּנָתוֹ.
Lo kam b’Yisrael k’Mosheh od, navi umabbit et t’munato.
תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת נָתַן לְעַמּוֹ אֵל, עַל יַד נְבִיאוֹ נֶאֱמַן בֵּיתוֹ.
Torat emet natan l’ammo El, al yad n’vi’o ne’eman beito.
לֹא יַחֲלִיף הָאֵל וְלֹא יָמִיר דָּתוֹ, לְעוֹלָמִים לְזוּלָתוֹ.
Lo yaḥalif ha-El v’lo yamir dato, l’olamim l’zulato.
צוֹפֶה וְיוֹדֵעַ סְתָרֵינוּ, מַבִּיט לְסוֹף דָּבָר בְּקַדְמָתוֹ.
Tzofeh v’yodeaʿ s’tareinu, mabbit l’sof davar b’kadmato.
גּוֹמֵל לְאִישׁ חֶסֶד כְּמִפְעָלוֹ, נוֹתֵן לְרָשָׁע רָע כְּרִשְׁעָתוֹ.
Gomel l’ish ḥesed k’mif’alo, noten l’rasha ra k’rish’ato.
יִשְׁלַח לְקֵץ יָמִין מְשִׁיחֵנוּ, לִפְדּוֹת מְחַכֵּי קֵץ יְשׁוּעָתוֹ.
Yishlaḥ l’ketz yamin m’shiḥenu, lifdot m’ḥakkei ketz y’shu’ato.
מֵתִים יְחַיֶּה אֵל בְּרוֹב חַסְדּוֹ, בָּרוּךְ עֲדֵי עַד שֵׁם תְּהִלָּתוֹ.
Metim y’ḥayyeh El b’rov ḥasdo, barukh adei ad shem t’hillato.
תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה אֱמֶת וּנְבוּאָתוֹ, בָּרוּךְ עֲדֵי עַד שֵׁם תְּהִלָּתוֹ.
Torat Mosheh emet un’vu’ato, barukh adei ad shem t’hillato.
A singing translation
Let’s thank our Living God,
Forever sing God’s fame,
God was, and is, will be,
One and the same:
God’s Oneness is unique,
from any One we know,
God’s hidden, God is endless,
In us, above, below.
No body and no form
can house God’s holiness;
Beyond our comprehension is
God’s special specialness.
The One forever God
before this world was formed,
the First, the Last, the Only One
Who keeps us safe from harm!
God is Adon Olam:
Creation speaks God’s praise,
and everything—above, below,
God’s voice obeys.
We feel God’s Presence near,
We sense God’s Plan and Will:
God spoke to us in history,
And God is speaking still.
With the special bond
that God with Mosheh shared,
From ancient times ’til our day,
Nothing can compare.
God’s Torah is true,
each mitzvah and command,
It is God’s special gift to us,
God never will exchange
That gift for something new;
the Torah’s the inheritance
of every single Jew.
God looks so deep within
And knows our inner heart,
God knows the outcome of each
thing before its start.
God rewards ẓaddikim,
for all the good they do,
and punishes resha‘im,
but shows them mercy too.
And at the End of Days
Mashiaḥ God will send
for all who cry and suffer,
their pain to make an end!
The dead will rise again,
for God’s love is that great,
And so God’s praise and power
we’ll evermore relate.
These thirteen key ideas,
our Torah’s basis true,
Form the firm foundation
of the faith of every Jew.
Mosheh’s Torah is Emet
from Mosheh’s loyal hand.
Its words are true!
Singing translation by Marc Michael Epstein.
About this song
A metrical creed by Daniel ben Judah Dayyan of Rome (completed c. 1404), versifying Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Faith.
The Western Sephardim sing it to close the Friday-evening service and again at the table, and — unlike the Ashkenazic thirteen lines — append a fourteenth affirming the Torah of Moses, which also helps the verses fall into the melodies that move in threes.
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.