Ma Tovu () is a prayer recited by religious Jews expressing reverence to entering synagogues and other places of worship in Judaism.
The prayer begins with Numbers 24:5, which records Balaam, sent to curse the Israelites, as instead being overcome with awe at God and the Israelites' worship. Its first line is a quote of Balaam's blessing and is thus the only prayer commonly used in Jewish prayer 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. In this vein is the prayer recited by Jews at the beginning of the morning prayers when one would theoretically have just entered the synagogue.
Text
Musical settings In modern times various composers have developed musical settings for Ma Tovu including:
Samuel AdlerSamuel Adler - Works Ma Tovu on samuelhadler.com Robert Strassburg (1993) Moshav BandMa Tovu (2018)
References
External links Recordings of tunes to Ma Tovu on the Zemirot Database Recordings of Ma Tovu spoken in different speeds