Adon Olam (Hebrew: אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם; "Eternal Lord" or "Lord of the Universe") is a strictly metrical hymn in the Jewish liturgy written in Iambic tetrameter. It has been a regular part of the daily and Shabbat (Sabbath) liturgy since the 15th century.
According to the custom of the Sephardim and in British synagogues generally, it is congregationally sung at the close of Sabbath and festival morning services, and among the Ashkenazi Jews also it often takes the place of the hymn Yigdal at the close of the evening service on these occasions, while both hymns are almost universally chanted on the Eve of Atonement (Kol Nidre). 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).
There are varying texts in the Sephardic version; in some traditions the hymn comprises six stanzas of two verses each, but the fourth (which is but an amplification of the third) is omitted by the Ashkenazim, in others it has 15 lines, in yet others it has 16 lines. For so widespread and beloved a hymn, the traditional tunes are singularly 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.
Of similar construction is a melody of northern origin associated by English Jews with the penitential season.
Its authorship and origin are uncertain. It is often attributed, as least tentatively, to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058), who is known for his Hebrew poetry, but there is no solid evidence apart from the quality of this hymn and the language appears to be older. It has also been attributed to Rav Hai Gaon (939-1038) and even to the Talmudic sage Yohanan ben Zakkai. Although its diction indicates antiquity, it did not become part of the morning liturgy until the 15th century.
This melody is often sung antiphonally, between precentor and congregation, although it was obviously intended for congregational rendering only, 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).
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) — 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, which has become a classic among the British Jews, having been long ago adopted from the "reform" into the "orthodox" congregations, of England and her colonies.
The Adon Olam is one of the most familiar hymns in the whole range of the Jewish liturgy, employed in the various rituals all over the world, though not always at the same period of the service or on the same occasions; thus in the Roman Maḥzor it is placed at the end of Sabbath service and sung together with Yigdal (Leopold Zunz, "Ritus", p. 80). In the Sephardic liturgy it has 12 strophes; in the German, only 10. Baer, in his commentary on the "Prayer-book" (Rödelheim, 1868), says that the hymn seems to have been intended to be recited before retiring, 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. The date and the name of the author are unknown. The most common tune is attributed to the Russian cantor, Eliezar Mordecai Gerovitsch.
This song is sung to many different tunes, and can be sung to virtually any due to its meter. Many synagogues like to use "seasonal" tunes, for instance, Shabbat before Hanukkah, they might do it to Maoz Tzur. In Hebrew schools and Jewish summer camps, the Adon Olam hymn is sometimes set, for fun, to secular tunes like "Yankee Doodle". In 1976, Uzi Hitman created a more upbeat tune for the 8th Annual Hasidic Song Festival. This version has become a favorite worldwide sung outside traditional liturgical settings.
Read more about Adon Olam: Text