Yigdal

The hymn which in the various rituals shares with see Adon 'Olam the place of honor at the opening of the morning and the close of the evening service. It is based on the thirteen ARTICLES OF FAITH (usually called the Thirteen Creeds) formulated by Moses ben Maimon, and was written by Daniel ben Judah Dayyan (Zunz, "Literaturgesch." p. 507), who spent eight years in improving it, completing it in 1404 (S. D. Luzzatto, "Mebo," p. 18). This was not the only metrical presentment of the Creeds; but it has outlived all others, whether in Hebrew or in the vernacular. A translation is to be found in the Daily Prayer-Book.

With the Ashkenazim only thirteen lines are sung, one for each creed; and the last, dealing with the resurrection of the dead, is solemnly repeated to complete the antiphony when the hymn is responsorially sung by ḥazzan and congregation. The Sephardim, who sing the hymn in congregational unison throughout, use the following line as the fourteenth: "These be the thirteen bases of the Rule of Moses and the tenets of his Law."

Sephardic Tunes.

YIGDAL—A (Sephardic Festival)

YIGDAL—B ("Leoni")

YIGDAL—C (Penitential, "Polish")

YIGDAL—D (Penitential, "South German")