Jigdal

Jigdal ( Hebrew יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים חַי 'Great is (the living God)' ) is a Jewish hymn . He found in the Sephardic and z. Partly also Ashkenazi prayer books input and is recited in the respective ritual traditions on different occasions, u. a. together with Adon Olam at the opening of the services for morning prayer ( Shacharit ) and evening prayer ( Maariw ). The hymn is not used in Hasidism , as Isaac Luria spoke out against it. An early record of the reception is a siddur from Krakow from 1578.

The poetic poetry is built metrically, has continuous rhyme and is a reproduction of the "basic teachings" or "articles of faith" ('iqqarim), which were formulated by Moses ben Maimon . The authorship is attributed to Daniel ben Jehuda Dajan (around 1300). However, this is not completely certain; the poetized version is partly ascribed to his contemporaries Immanuel ben Solomon of Rome . The hymn also has a controversial theological function. Following his example, several other seals were made on the basis of compilations of central Jewish "Articles of Faith". There are several melodies, the most widespread is attributed to Meyer Leoni (approx. 1740–1800), who probably used elements of earlier Jewish and Slavic folk songs. In 1843, the melody of " O you cheerful " by Johannes Daniel Falk was also used as the basis for a Jewish confirmation ceremony.

Text and translation

.יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים חַי וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח - : נִמְצָא וְאֵין עֵת אֶל מְצִיאוּתוֹ
.אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ - : נֶעְלָם וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדּוּתוֹ
.אֵין לוֹ דְּמוּת הַגּוּף וְאֵינוֹ גוּף - : לֹא נַעֲרוֹךְ אֵלָיו קְדֻשָּתוֹ
.קַדְמוֹן לְכָל דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר נִבְרָא - רִאשׁוֹן : וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית לְרֵאשִׁיתוֹ
.הִנּוֹ אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם לְכָל (וְכָל) נוֹצָר - : יוֹרֶה גְּדֻלָּתוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ
.שֶׁפַע נְבוּאָתוֹ נְתָנוֹ - : אֶל אַנְשֵׁי סְגֻלָּתוֹ וְתִפְאַרְתּוֹ
.לֹא קָם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמשֶׁה עוֹד - : נָבִיא וּמַבִּיט אֶת תְּמוּנָתוֹ
.תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת נָתַן לְעַמּוֹ אֵל - : עַל יַד נְבִיאוֹ נֶאֱמַן בֵּיתוֹ
.לֹא יַחֲלִיף הָאֵל וְלֹא יָמִיר דָּתוֹ - : לְעוֹלָמִים לְזוּלָתוֹ
.צוֹפֶה וְיוֹדֵעַ סְתָרֵינוּ - : מַבִּיט לְסוֹף דָּבָר בְּקַדְמָתוֹ
.גּוֹמֵל לְאִישׁ חֶסֶד כְּמִפְעָלוֹ - : יִתֵּן לְרָשָׁע רָע כְּרִשְׁעָתוֹ
.יִשְׁלַח לְקֵץ יָמִין מְשִׁיחֵנוּ - : לִפְדּוֹת מְחַכֵּי קֵץ יְשׁוּעָתוֹ
.מֵתִים יְחַיֶּה אֵל בְּרֹב חַסְדּוֹ - : בָּרוּךְ עֲדֵי עַד שֵׁם תְּהִלָּתוֹ

The living God is exalted and praised, he exists - his existence is not limited by time
He is once and unique - and there is no being that is so unique and unique as he is - his uniqueness is unfathomable and infinite;
He has neither a body nor is he physical - his holiness is incomparable
He is the predecessor of every being that was created - he is the first to be created and nothing precedes him
Look! He is the builder of the universe - every being demonstrates His greatness and sovereignty;
He bestowed his influence on prophecy - his esteemed, glorious people;
No one in Israel will be like Moses again - a prophet who has clearly seen His vision;
God gave his people the doctrine (Torah) of truth - through his prophet, whom he trusted most of his house;
God will neither change nor correct his law - not even because of another God and never
He checks and knows our most hidden secrets - He perceives the result of something from the beginning;
He rewards the good man according to his deeds - He evils the wicked according to his wickedness;
At the end of the days, He will send our Savior - to redeem those who yearn for it;
God will bring the dead back to life in His abundant goodness - blessed is His promised name forever.

literature

Cyrus Adler, Francis L. Cohen: Yigdal. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Volume 12, Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906, pp. 606-610 .
Jeffrey M. Cohen: Blessed Are You. A Comprehensive Guide to Jewish Prayer. Aronson, Northvale NJ et al. a. 1993, ISBN 0-87668-465-7 , 46 f.
Bernard Martin: Prayer in Judaism. Basic Books, New York NY 1968, pp. 84-87.
Stefan C. Reif: Judaism and Hebrew Prayer. New Perspectives on Jewish liturgical History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge u. a. 1993, ISBN 0-521-44087-4 , pp. 211-214.
Aaron Rothkoff, Bathja Bayer: Yigdal. In: Fred Skolnik (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Judaica . Volume 21: Wel-Zy. 2nd Edition. Thomson Gale, Detroit et al. a. 2007, ISBN 978-0-02-865949-7 , 373 f.

Web links

Dan Rabinowitz: Yigdal: A Case Study in Modern Customology , 2007.

Individual evidence

^ Louis Jacobs: The Jewish Religion: A Companion . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, 611.
↑ Ismar Elbogen : The Jewish worship service in its historical development . 3. Edition. Fock, Leipzig 1931 (reprinted by Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1995), p. 88.
↑ Maimonides: Mishnah commentary (Kitāb al-Sirāj), treatise Sanhedrin , introduction to X, 1 (Pereq Heleq), similar in: Mishneh Tora , Sefer ha-Madda, Hilchot Teshuvah, 3, 6–8; the text ed. and over. Fred Rosner : Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah, Tractate Sanhedrin , Sepher-Hermon Press, New York 1981, 134-158; Arabic text also in: Israel Friedländer (Ed.): Selections from the arabic writings of Maimonides , Leiden 1901, reprint 1951; arab. and Hebrew text and German translation by J. Holzer: Moses Maimunis Introduction to Cheleq / On the history of dogmas in the Jewish religious philosophy of the Middle Ages , Poppelauer, Berlin 1901 ( e-text based on it ); German translation also from Josef Maier: [Introduction] On the person and work of Mose ben Maimon , in: Ders. (Ed.): Moses Maimonides. Leader of the Undecided , ed. and over. Adolf Weiss , Vol. 1, Meiner, Hamburg, 2nd ed. 1972, xi-civ, xli-xlviii. Such a codification, which could be understood in the style of a “dogmatics”, was very controversial. For an overview, see Menachem Kellner: Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought. From Maimonides to Abravanel , Oxford 1986; Arthur Hyman : Maimonides' “Thirteen Principles” , in: Alexander Altmann (Ed.): Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1967, 119-144.
↑ This is based on v. a. on a Siddur from 1383, which names an authorship of the grandfather of the owner, cf. Elbogen 1931, p. 88; Samuel David Luzzatto : מבוא למחזור בני רומא (Mavo le-maḥazor bene Roma, introduction to Machsor Benei Roma, that is, to the festive prayer book according to the Roman Jewish rite) , Livorno / Leghorn 1856 (reprint, ed. Daniel Goldschmidt, Tel Aviv 1966) , 18; taken over u. a. with Leopold Zunz : literary history of synagogal poetry , Berlin 1865, 507; Abraham Zvi Idelsohn : Jewish Liturgy and Its Development, New York 1932, 74.
↑ Cf. Rothkoff 2007, 373. Touching sees u. a. already Elbogen (1931, 88). See also Hans-Joachim Schoeps : Jewish faith in this time , collected writings I / I, reprint Olms, Hildesheim 1990, 34. Abraham Sulzbach : The poetic literature , in: Jakob Winter , August Wünsche (ed.): The Jewish literature since Completion of the canon . A prosaic and poetic anthology with biographical and literary-historical introductions , Mayer, Vol. 3, Trier 1896, 3-99 (81f there), had contradicted the attribution to Daniel ben Jehuda in the respective Corrigenda ibid., 904 with the reference that von rather a parody of the Iqqarim des Maimonides was handed down to him. However, this is probably due to a mix-up (cf. the list in Marx 1918f).
↑ See Ronald L. Eisenberg: The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions , Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 2004, 470f.
↑ Alexander Marx names a total of 18: A List of Poems on the Articles of the Creed , in: The Jewish Quarterly Review 9 (1918-19), 305ff.
↑ Cf. Irene Heskes: Passport to Jewish Music: Its History, Traditions, and Culture , Greenwood Press, Westport, CT 1994, 83.
↑ See Klaus Herrmann: Abraham Geiger in Breslau and the Controversy about the Jewish Confirmation for Boys and Girls. in: Christian Wiese , Walter Homolka , Thomas Brechenmacher (eds.): Jewish existence in the modern age , Berlin 2013, 133–160, 141f.

[1] Louis Jacobs: The Jewish Religion: A Companion . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, 611.

[2] Ismar Elbogen : The Jewish worship service in its historical development . 3. Edition. Fock, Leipzig 1931 (reprinted by Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1995), p. 88.

[3] Maimonides: Mishnah commentary (Kitāb al-Sirāj), treatise Sanhedrin , introduction to X, 1 (Pereq Heleq), similar in: Mishneh Tora , Sefer ha-Madda, Hilchot Teshuvah, 3, 6–8; the text ed. and over. Fred Rosner : Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah, Tractate Sanhedrin , Sepher-Hermon Press, New York 1981, 134-158; Arabic text also in: Israel Friedländer (Ed.): Selections from the arabic writings of Maimonides , Leiden 1901, reprint 1951; arab. and Hebrew text and German translation by J. Holzer: Moses Maimunis Introduction to Cheleq / On the history of dogmas in the Jewish religious philosophy of the Middle Ages , Poppelauer, Berlin 1901 ( e-text based on it ); German translation also from Josef Maier: [Introduction] On the person and work of Mose ben Maimon , in: Ders. (Ed.): Moses Maimonides. Leader of the Undecided , ed. and over. Adolf Weiss , Vol. 1, Meiner, Hamburg, 2nd ed. 1972, xi-civ, xli-xlviii. Such a codification, which could be understood in the style of a “dogmatics”, was very controversial. For an overview, see Menachem Kellner: Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought. From Maimonides to Abravanel , Oxford 1986; Arthur Hyman : Maimonides' “Thirteen Principles” , in: Alexander Altmann (Ed.): Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1967, 119-144.

[4] This is based on v. a. on a Siddur from 1383, which names an authorship of the grandfather of the owner, cf. Elbogen 1931, p. 88; Samuel David Luzzatto : מבוא למחזור בני רומא (Mavo le-maḥazor bene Roma, introduction to Machsor Benei Roma, that is, to the festive prayer book according to the Roman Jewish rite) , Livorno / Leghorn 1856 (reprint, ed. Daniel Goldschmidt, Tel Aviv 1966) , 18; taken over u. a. with Leopold Zunz : literary history of synagogal poetry , Berlin 1865, 507; Abraham Zvi Idelsohn : Jewish Liturgy and Its Development, New York 1932, 74.

[5] Cf. Rothkoff 2007, 373. Touching sees u. a. already Elbogen (1931, 88). See also Hans-Joachim Schoeps : Jewish faith in this time , collected writings I / I, reprint Olms, Hildesheim 1990, 34. Abraham Sulzbach : The poetic literature , in: Jakob Winter , August Wünsche (ed.): The Jewish literature since Completion of the canon . A prosaic and poetic anthology with biographical and literary-historical introductions , Mayer, Vol. 3, Trier 1896, 3-99 (81f there), had contradicted the attribution to Daniel ben Jehuda in the respective Corrigenda ibid., 904 with the reference that von rather a parody of the Iqqarim des Maimonides was handed down to him. However, this is probably due to a mix-up (cf. the list in Marx 1918f).

[6] See Ronald L. Eisenberg: The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions , Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 2004, 470f.

[7] Alexander Marx names a total of 18: A List of Poems on the Articles of the Creed , in: The Jewish Quarterly Review 9 (1918-19), 305ff.

[8] Cf. Irene Heskes: Passport to Jewish Music: Its History, Traditions, and Culture , Greenwood Press, Westport, CT 1994, 83.

[9] See Klaus Herrmann: Abraham Geiger in Breslau and the Controversy about the Jewish Confirmation for Boys and Girls. in: Christian Wiese , Walter Homolka , Thomas Brechenmacher (eds.): Jewish existence in the modern age , Berlin 2013, 133–160, 141f.