Ma Tovu (
Hebrew for "O How Good" or "How Goodly") is a
prayer in
Judaism, expressing reverence and awe for
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s and other
places of worship.
The prayer begins with , where
Balaam, sent to curse the Israelites, is instead overcome with awe at
God and the Israelites' houses of worship. Its first line of praise is a quote of Balaam's blessing and is thus the only prayer commonly used in
Jewish services that was written by a
non-Jew. The remainder of the text is derived from passages in
Psalms relating to entering the house of worship and preparation for further prayer (; ; ; and ). In this vein is the prayer recited by
Jews upon entering the synagogue; in the Western Ashkenzic rite, it is usually sung before beginning
Maariv on Festivals, especially the second night of Yom Tov.
Text
Musical settings
In modern times various composers have developed musical settings for Ma Tovu including:
*
Samuel Adler
*
Robert Strassburg
Robert Strassburg (August 30, 1915 – October 25, 2003) was a
leading American conductor, composer, musicologist and music educator of the twentieth century. His studies in music were completed under the supervision of such leading composers a ...
(1993)
*
Moshav Band
Moshav, formerly known as Moshav Band, is an Israeli-American Jewish rock band originating from Moshav Mevo Modi'im. Founded in 1995 by Yehuda Solomon and Duvid Swirsky, the group moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and has released seven studio albu ...
Ma Tovu (2018)
/ref>
References
External links
Recordings of tunes to Ma Tovu on the Zemirot DatabaseRecordings of Ma Tovu spoken in different speeds
{{Jewish prayers
Shacharit
Jewish prayer and ritual texts
Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings