Ma Tovu – How Good are Your Tents?

Written by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt — 22 September 2024

Ma Tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, mishkanotecha Yisrael.

“How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.”

This prayer is one that Ruach students have been focusing on this week as part of their Hebrew studies.

The sentence was originally uttered by the non-Jewish prophet Balaam, when he is charged by an enemy of the Israelites to curse them, but is unable to do so – instead speaking blessings that are put into his mouth by God. As Rabbi Ken Chasen points out, every time we walk into synagogue and pray these words, we are forced to re-study the story of Balaam.

Rabbi Chasen also points out, that we don’t necessarily need to think about the episode in terms of God placing words into the prophet’s mouth. Perhaps instead what really happened, was that Balaam carefully observed the Israelites and saw their habits and the values by which they lived, and therefore spontaneously blessed the Israelites.

The medieval commentator Rashi argues that the words of Balaam are not simply a statement of fact in his own time, but that it is also a prediction about the future: not only how good are the tents of the Israelites in the wilderness, but how good and fair will the Temple in Jerusalem be in the future.

And we could think of this sentiment as extended to us as well. How wonderful is it for us to have this beautiful space in which to pray, to come together, to celebrate and mourn together; to study together.

But it is not just about having a beautiful building – a great home in which to live. It is also about how we behave towards one another, how we treat each other when we are here.

In the midst of Elul, and as we prepare ourselves for the High Holy Days, we are invited to ask ourselves whether we are living up to the ideals of ma tovu. Are we treating each other in a way that would cause someone watching to look upon our beautiful building and say ma tovu ohalecha Ya’akov. Or would they instead say, ‘Nice building, shame about the people.’

At the end of our service, we will sing the words of Psalm 27, which are so evocative of this time of year: Achat sha’alti – one thing do I ask: to be able to dwell in the house of God. To be worthy of living in the house of God. To live a life that causes others to praise our dwelling places. That is the challenge of the month ahead.

And so I invite all of us, as we make that journey towards the High Holy Days, to ask ourselves: what are we doing to enable us to be our best selves? What are we doing so that, when God – or when other people – look upon our lives, they might say those words:

Ma Tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, mishkanotecha Yisrael.

“How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.”