Waking Up With Gratitude

Photo by Magnus Jonasson on Unsplash

In the Jewish tradition, one should pray three times a day and recite 100 Berachot (blessings) a day; that’s a lot of praying. Actually, it’s not hard if you do all of the prescribed prayers, plus do all of the blessings for just everyday occurrences such as food, washing hands, hearing good news, hearing bad news, seeing something for the first time…etc etc.

For many of us, this presents a challenge, especially for our students who want to incorporate more Jewish practice into their daily lives. Can you imagine going from a zero prayer practice, except for maybe in shul, to praying 100 times a day? Impossible. So, I believe starting off small and focusing on one prayer at a time might be easier for many. Many of us may never reach the level of offering 100 blessings a day but I do hope that by adding a prayer practice into our lives, we will feel more connected to the larger world around us, be thankful for life’s blessings, and hopefully feel more connected to God.

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

“But Rabbi, which blessing should I start with?” I get this question a lot and it’s a great question. I believe that starting one’s day off with gratitude is the best way to start the day. Judaism is full of blessings of gratitude here’s one:

Modeh/Modah Ani:

מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך.

Modeh/Modah ani lifanecha melech (ruach) chai v’kayam shehechezarta bi nishmahti b’chemlah, rabah emunatecha.

I offer thanks to You, living and eternal spirit, for You have restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.

Modeh Ani is said immediately upon rising before we get out of bed and should be the first words we utter every morning. When we recite Modah Ani, we are essentially thanking God for giving us another day. We wake up grateful instead of thinking about what may have happened the previous day, and our first conscious thoughts are spent expressing “thank you.” Life is often challenging and hard, and many of us may struggle sometimes, but the Blessing of Modeh Ani is a nice way to wake up and remind ourselves to be thankful instead of thinking about the stuff that weighs us down. Basically, if we wake up with a sentiment of gratitude, we feel grateful, and we can continue with a more positive day; if we don’t then we won’t.

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Rabbi Talk: Waking Up with Gratitude ✡️ Episode 8 Modah Ani / Modeh Ani

In this episode, I discuss the blessings and offer a musical interpretation at the end.

Have a Great Day!