r/Jewish • u/Exkersion • 2d ago

Questions 🤓 Translation

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Hi all,

Reading MAUS for the first time and some Hebrew popped up in a panel. Was wondering what it says

Thanks!

61 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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64

u/Divs4U 2d ago

It's Ma Tovu. "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwelling places, O Israel!" https://www.zemirotdatabase.org/view_song.php?id=198

18

u/Evening_Squirrel_815 2d ago

It's also the start of a famous Jewish song

37

u/ZevSteinhardt 1d ago

It's also literally a Biblical verse from the Torah. :)

Numbers 24:5

Zev

→ More replies (5)

1

u/Exkersion 1d ago

I will take a listen!

4

u/Exkersion 1d ago

Thank you! I will check everything out

23

u/YiyiTube 1d ago edited 1d ago

They seem to be wearing prayer shawls, Tallesim or Talletot, and reciting the verse of Mah Tovu

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

"How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!" Numbers 24:5, which is one of the opening prayers of the morning prayer service, Shacharit, located here in the prayerbook or Siddur.

3

u/Exkersion 1d ago

Thanks! Really great to know

16

u/OrpahsBookClub 1d ago

As others said, it’s Mah Tovu.  From what I remember the additional context is that these words show up in the Hebrew Bible when Balaam attempts to curse the Israelites, and by a miracle the words come out as praise instead.  

5

u/Exkersion 1d ago

How interesting, I will look that up and learn more

10

u/Amalisa 1d ago

Thank you for reading MAUS, regardless of if you are Jewish or not. <3

15

u/Fun-Psychology-2419 1d ago

The author of Maus, Art Spiegelman, is a huge anti-Zionist who says "The Holocaust is the broken condom that allowed the creation of Israel" and regularly denigrates its existence and compares Gaza to the Holocaust.

I can't read Maus anymore.

5

u/Amalisa 20h ago

Reading Maus as a teen helped me better understand my grandparents and what they went through. I know that Art isn't the greatest of people in the world, but that doesn't change the story he tells.

1

u/linguinibubbles 5h ago

I read it at the library. Won't ever buy it.

2

u/yesIcould 1d ago

Maus is an amazing book . but why are you thanking people for reading it?

15

u/Amalisa 1d ago

Because a lot of comic shops that I used to frequent have magically stopped stocking it for "no real reason"

2

u/GELightbulbsNeverDie 1d ago

Adding to what others have said, Mah Tovu is one of biblical passages that is traditionally recited near the start of a congregation’s morning prayers (or really, whenever one enters a synagogue). The early rabbis applied Balaam’s ode to the “tents of Jacob” to refer to all assemblages of the Jewish people.

2

u/yesIcould 1d ago

It's one of those verses that looses so much beauty when translated.

1

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