![the Open Siddur Project [logo]](https://opensiddur.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Open-Siddur-Project-Logo-2016.svg){kind=logo}
TOGGLE COLUMNS (on/off):ADJUST COLUMN POSITIONS: select the column header cell and drag it where you want. show me!COPY INDIVIDUAL COLUMN(S): use CopyTables, a browser extension.
| Source (Hebrew) | Paraliturgical Reflection (English) |
|---|---|
מַה־טֹּבֽוּ אֹהָלֶֽיךָ יַעֲקֹב, מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶֽיךָ, יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (במדבר כד:ה) וַֽאֲנִי, בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ, אָבֹא בֵיתֶֽךָ, אֶשְׁתַּֽחֲוֶה אֶל־הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ, בְּיִרְאָתֶֽךָ׃ (תהלים ה:ח) יְהֹוָה, אָהַבְתִּי מְעוֹן בֵּיתֶֽךָ, וּמְקוֹם, מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶֽךָ׃ (תהלים כו:ח) |
How good is this place I am right now. Even though I wrestle with its goodness, I affirm it nonetheless.[1] cf. Numbers 24:5. I enter this place with abundant loving-kindness. I bow in the holy space, in awe.[2] cf. Psalms 5:8. Holy One, I love Your home, where You so intimately dwell. No matter who I am, or how I am feeling, I trust I am welcomed here.[3] cf. Psalms 26:8. |
וַֽאֲנִי אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְאֶכְרָֽעָה, אֶבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי־יְהֹוָה עֹשִׂי׃ (תהלים צה:ו) וַֽאֲנִי תְפִילָתִי־לְךָ ׀ יְהֹוָה עֵת רָצוֹן. אֱלֹהִים, בְּרָב־חַסְדֶּךָ, עֲנֵֽנִי בֶּאֱמֶת יִשְׁעֶֽךָ׃ (תהלים סט:יד) |
I bow, I bend, I kneel to honor my own nature As an Earthling, a formed being, yet made of Spirit. Let my presence here be my prayer, It is an offering to You. I offer my ego to Your great Presence[4] cf. Psalms 95:6. And in this moment, You receive me with ease. God, in your abundant loving-kindness Help me feel You present with me in the all, the A-Z truth of existence. This is what saves me from myself.[5] cf. Psalms 69:14. |
Rabbi Shoshana Meira’s paraliturgical interpretation of Mah Tovu, the prayer for entering sacred communal spaces, was first published in her Siddur v’lo Nevosh (2014). Linear correspondence between the Hebrew source and the English by Aharon Varady.
Source(s)
“מַה־טֹּבוּ | Mah Tovu, a paraliturgical reflection by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
Stable Link:
https://opensiddur.org/?p=31341
Associated Image:
“Tea bowl fixed in the Kintsugi method” (Public Domain). Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.
(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)
Terms of Use:
Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Properly attribute the work to Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman.
- Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
- Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=31341>.
- Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)
Additional Notes:
- The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
- We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
- If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.
Support this work:
The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.
ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17
Comments, Corrections, and Queries