מַה טּבוּ אהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקב מִשְׁכְּנתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל
Mah tovu ohalekha Ya’akov, mishkenotekha Yisrael.
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your habitations, O Israel!
—Numbers 24:5
We sing this song “Mah Tovu” in the hopes that we might slow down when encountering the stranger and get beyond our walls of fear and self-protection to see the humanity of the other with compassion. We sing this song as a prayer that we might all lift up our prophetic voices and turn curses into blessings, that all who search for sanctuary will be embraced in goodness.
For more on this prayer, read “Mah Tovu: Transforming Curses to Blessings in Parshat Balak.”
