מַה־טֹּבֽוּ | Mah Tovu, translated from Rabbi David Einhorn's Olat Tamid (1858) by Joshua Giorgio-Rubin (2020)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=46020

Date: 2022-08-06

Last Updated: 2025-03-27

Categories: Entering Sacred Spaces

Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., centos, German translation, petiḥah, Prayers for Praying, מה טבו mah tovu

Excerpt: This is Joshua Giorgio-Rubin's English translation of Rabbi David Einhorn's adaptation of the opening prayer "Mah Tovu" as found in Rubin's Olat Hadashah: A Modern Adaptation of David Einhorn’s Olat Tamid for Shabbat Evening (2020). Rabbi Einhorn identifies the prayer by its familiar incipit from the verse Numbers 24:5, but left that verse untranslated. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Adaptation (German)	Translation of German (English)
מַה־טֹּבֽוּ אֹהָלֶֽיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶֽיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (במדבר כד:ה)	[Mah Tovu]	[Mah Tovu]
וַֽאֲנִי בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבֹא בֵיתֶֽךָ אֶשְׁתַּֽחֲוֶה אֶל־הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ בְּיִרְאָתֶֽךָ׃ (תהלים ה:ח)	In Zuversicht auf Deine große Gnade betreten wir, o Gott, Dein Haus, beten in tieffter Ehrfurcht im Tempel Deiner Heiligkeit. (Psalms 5:8)	Trusting in Your infinite love, O God, we enter this, Your house; in reverence we draw near unto You in Your holy Temple.
יְהֹוָה אָהַבְתִּי מְעוֹן בֵּיתֶֽךָ וּמְקוֹם מִשְׁכַּן כְּבוֹדֶֽךָ׃ (תהלים כו:ח)	Herr! wir lieben Deiner Wohnung stätte, den Ort, wo der Odem Deiner Heiligkeit weht. (Psalms 26:8)	We love Your dwelling-place, O Eternal, this sanctuary that proclaims Your holy presence.
וַֽאֲנִי אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְאֶכְרָֽעָה אֶבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי־יְהֹוָה עֹשִׂי׃ (תהלים צה:ו)	Wir beugen das Knie vor Dir und beten Dich an, Gott, der uns geschaffen. (Psalms 95:6)	We bend our knees before You and adore You.
וַֽאֲנִי תְפִילָתִי־לְךָ ׀ יְהֹוָה עֵת רָצוֹן. אֱלֹהִים, בְּרָב־חַסְדֶּךָ, עֲנֵֽנִי בֶּאֱמֶת יִשְׁעֶֽךָ׃ (תהלים סט:יד)	Und Du nimm gnädig auf unser Flehen in dieser stunde, o Gott, in deiner Gnaden Fülle. Erhöre uns, unser treuer Hort und Helfer! (Psalms 69:14)	O Creator, graciously accept our prayer at this time. In the fullness of Your kindness, please answer us, for You are our stronghold and support.
אָמֵן׃	Chor und Gemeinde. Amen.	Amen

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This is Joshua Giorgio-Rubin’s English translation of Rabbi David Einhorn’s adaptation of the opening prayer “Mah Tovu” as found in Rubin’s Olat Hadashah: A Modern Adaptation of David Einhorn’s Olat Tamid for Shabbat Evening (2020). Rabbi Einhorn identifies the prayer by its familiar incipit from the verse Numbers 24:5, but left that verse untranslated.

Source(s)

 

 

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Joshua Giorgio-Rubin
  Bio: Joshua Giorgio-Rubin is a Senior Lecturer of English at Indiana University South Bend, and he spent ten years as the spiritual leader of the Jewish community at Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana. He is the high holidays ḥazzan at Temple Israel in Valparaiso, Indiana, and a student of all things Jewish. He lives in South Bend, Indiana, with his husband, son, and small menagerie.
  Website: https://clas.iusb.edu/english/faculty/giorgio-rubin.html
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/joshua-giorgio-rubin
• 
  Name: David Einhorn
  Bio: David Einhorn (November 10, 1809 – November 2, 1879) was a German-Jewish rabbi and leader of Reform Judaism in the United States. Einhorn was chosen in 1855 as the first rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, the oldest congregation in the United States that has been affiliated with the Reform movement since its inception. While there, he compiled a siddur in German and Hebrew, one of the early Reform Jewish prayerbooks in the United States. (The siddur, later translated to English, became one of the progenitors of the Reform Movement's Union Prayer Book.) In 1861, Einhorn's life was threatened by a mob angered by his strong abolitionist anti-slavery views, and was forced to flee to Philadelphia. There he became rabbi of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. He moved to New York City in 1866, where he became rabbi of Congregation Adath Israel. (from his wikipedia article)
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Einhorn_(rabbi)
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/david-einhorn
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
  Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

Featured Image:

Title: Har Sinai, Baltimore
Caption: