Every Jewish schoolchild knows that the very first word out of our mouths each morning is โModeh ani.โ Rav Shimshon Pincus zโl once opened a class on tefillah with the question: Why is it that we say โModeh aniโ (Grateful am I) and not โAni modehโ (I am grateful)? And he answered: Because first, we offer thanks to the Creator and only then do we relate to the party that was created.
When giving his final blessing to Yehuda, Yaakov tells him: โYehuda, [as for] you, your brothers will acknowledge you.โ (Bereishit 49:8) The Midrash (Bereishit Rabba 98) explains this verse as follows: โAll of your brothers will be called by your name. After all, a Jew does not say โI am a Reuveiniโ or โI am a Shimoniโ; but he does say โI am a Yehudi.โโ
The Sfas Emes (Vayigash 5631) teaches in the name of his father, the Chiddushei HaRim, that hodaโah โ gratitude โ is essential to the Jewish persona, and it is for this very trait that we have become known as Yehudim. When we are grateful for and acknowledge Hashemโs involvement and kindness in every aspect of our lives, we are fulfilling our unique purpose as Jews.
Leahโs Declaration
When we examine the initial naming of Yehuda, we see something intriguing. โAnd she [Leah] conceived again and bore a son, and she said, โThis time, I will thank Hashem!โ Therefore, she named him Yehudaโฆโ (Bereishit 29:35)
The words โthis timeโ not only seem superfluous, but in fact appears to minimize the gratitude being shown here. This was Leahโs fourth child. Only now did she thank Hashem? Can we really believe that this righteous foremother did not thank Hashem for her other children?
Even more baffling is the Gemara (Brachos 7a) which tells us that until Leah came along and said โthis time I will thankโฆ,โ no one had ever given thanks before Hashem. How can it be that this trait is so important, so essential to our essence as Jews, and yet this was the first time anyone in the history of our forefathers showed gratitude to Hashem?
Rashi tells us the following on this verse: โThis time I must thank Hashem because I took more than my share.โ Leah knew that Yaakov would have four wives and twelve sons. Logically then, each woman would be mother to three of the tribes. And yet, here she was giving birth to a fourth child. She was overflowing with gratitude, but not just any gratitude. It was a feeling of being given something beyond her expectations that brought her to praise Hashem in a way that no one had until this point.
On the Receiving End
Rav Chaim Friedlander (Sifsei Chaim, Middos vโavodas Hashem Part I) brings another interesting Midrash about Leah. โLeah grasped the trait of hodayah and she then brought forth men of hodayah โ Yehuda who acknowledged that Tamar was correct.โ
When we are grateful we are also giving โ giving back to the benefactor a positive feeling for what he has done, and even encouraging him to continue in his giving.
The hodaโah of Leah and of Yehuda are put in the same category, and while both come from the same Hebrew root, the two forms of โhodaโahโ are at face-value entirely different. In the context of Leah, hodaโah means gratitude; she praised and thanked Hashem. But in Yehudaโs case, it refers to being โmodeh al hamemesโ โ admitting the truth when he was able to testify to Tamarโs innocence. (See Bereishit 38:26). Why are these two ideas linked together as one, and why do they share the same root word?
The Sifsei Chaim goes on to explain that man has an inherent internal battle when it comes to gratitude. He was actually created to be a giver, to emulate Hashem as the ultimate provider for the world. A giver does not want to receive, and showing gratitude for a favor puts him in the very uncomfortable state of admitting that he is a receiver.
But in truth, it is all just a matter of perspective. Because in a sense, when we are grateful we are also giving โ giving back to the benefactor a positive feeling for what he has done, and even encouraging him to continue in his giving. So while man may feel that saying โThanksโ puts him down, it can also raise him up, making him into a provider as well.
A Noble Admission
It is this challenge which is assigned to us: to admit that we needed and benefited from anotherโs kindness, and to show our gratitude. The challenge exists in every area โ as much with our fellow human beings as it does with Hashem. Overcoming it begins with realizing that the ability to be modeh al haemet and show hodaโah is not a weakness, but is rather a display of stellar moral character and strength.
In areas where we really feel we have been given something beyond our expectations, it is that much easier to adopt a perspective of gratitude. That is why Leah was able to express a certain level of gratitude that had previously not been attained; she felt completely undeserving.
But as Yehudim, this trait is meant to be infused into every gift we receive, for us to come to the ultimate recognition that we are constantly dependent on the kindness of Hashem. When we understand that everything is โextraโ we can show this โextra special gratitudeโ on a regular basis and live up to our noble identity.
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