Ma Tovu
Template:Short description Ma Tovu (Hebrew for "O How Good" or "How Goodly") is a prayer in Judaism, expressing reverence and awe for synagogues and other places of worship.
The prayer begins with Script error: No such module "Bibleverse"., 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 (Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".; Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".; Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".; and Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".). 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
Template:Verse transliteration-translation
Musical settings
In modern times various composers have developed musical settings for Ma Tovu including:
References
- ↑ Samuel Adler - Works Ma Tovu on samuelhadler.com
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Ma Tovu (2018)