Modeh Ani | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | June 3rd 2025

a uh meaningful shàuote. So, what we're going to do today um because there was no Sunday this week, so it was a little harder for me to get a a source sheet a week and a half in advance. Um so, so today we're going to focus we're going to we're going to we're going to start with the first fila of of of the day. Um and although we haven't yet finished some of the general overall topics, I did want to start at least the beginning going through the seedor and today I think it's a great opportunity using the seedor as a jumping point. And we're going to start with the of ani modi just to uh to translate the words. We'll say an I thank you uh hashem or I thank in front of you. We're going to talk about why it says, okay, a king who is alive and enduring that you returned within me with with grace and with uh with compassion. Great is your We're going to talk about exactly what that means. All of these different pieces, but one one one piece that I think is important. where where's the where does Modani come from? What is the history of Modani? So I haven't yet been able to figure out who actually authored Modani. Um but what the what a number of the sources indicate is that it it really goes back actually to a garot mentions that when a person wakes up he should say the of okay is that many of us are familiar with that we actually end up saying a little bit later where we thank Hashem for um for we thank Hashem we talk about the the the soul the God has given us um and we discuss it in detail And that is supposed to be originally says the garra what a person should say when they wake up in the morning. The problem is that um it has Hashem's name and as many of us are familiar with you're not supposed to say Hashem's name in the morning when you first wake up without first washing your hands. And therefore what ultimately happened over time was that another called ani which has a similar theme to elk was developed for us to say when we first wake up in the morning. We say that before because that that does not have Hashem's name and therefore we can say it before we go. We wake up before we wash our hands and then the elk was moved a little bit later. Many there's different places where people say it. Um I personally say it right after I say a then I say some people say it here in there's different places where you say it but it's later on after you've already begun your day and now it's appropriate to say that has name. So that's that's kind of a little bit of the historical background of modi. What I'd like to do is actually go through this. It's a that I think many of us all if not all of us are familiar with. Hopefully we say it every single day. But when you break it down and you highlight certain aspects of it, there are a lot of things that I think a lot of important lessons that I think we can either learn or even if they are lessons that we already know, certainly lessons that we can remind ourselves of uh as well. So the first thing we say Thank you Hashem or thank you I thank you in front of of Hashem. So there's a number of so the the first thing that stands out is that as a Jew the first thing that we do every single morning is we give thanks to Akadu. Okay now this makes a lot of sense. We as Jews we are called Yehoudim. The name of Yehoudim comes from who? Yehudah. When when Leia names Yehud she says Hashem this time I will thank Hashem. So the root of the word yehudah comes from the concept of thanks. And therefore when we call ourselves yudim the key element the key lesson is that we fundamentally are meant to be living lives of thanks. We're meant to be recognizing u and understanding where all of the things that we have come from. And therefore it's very appropriate that the first thing we say in the morning is I thank you hashem before we even begin talking about what we're thanking him for. Just the fact the first thing we say in the morning is mod moani the fka already highlights for us the importance of thanks there are a number of people and again I don't remember who I saw this from specifically but the number number of people who point out that from a dictuk perspective the order of the saying is actually wrong it shouldn't be if I want to say thank you to somebody else right now if somebody does something for me let's say in modern Hebrew I I don't say an I thank you I say modela I thank you. The proper way to say it at least in today's language would be I thank you for what you did for me. And yet we wake up in the morning and we say we don't say we say ani why. So the answer that I saw which I thought was very very beautiful and and really inspiring is that the first words out of our mouths should not be ani should not be an it should be mod. The first words out of our mouths every single morning should be thank you. And therefore, and if we were to say anime, then it would be starting with me. And I remember hearing from somebody that very often the first thing that goes on in our minds when we wake up in the morning, we we wake up in the morning before we even say anything, what do we often think about? I'm so tired. I can't believe I have to get up. The alarm clock went off already. I need to do this. I need to meaning our minds automatically go to the eye. they automatically go to what do I need? I need to go to the bathroom but I don't want to get out of bed or I need to do this but I need to do that. It's all about my own personal needs. And so what Khazal are teaching us is that we need to shift that perspective. We need to shift we need to fight against the automatic ani. We need to fight against this this this desire to focus simply on myself. Excuse me. And to turn that around into modi. I thank you. I'm full of thanks. I'm full of thanksgiving. I'm full of thanks for what you have done for me. Rav Hutner um one of the great rabbis in in America in the 20th century yes Berlin. So he points out something very very fascinating. He points out that the word leod can actually mean two things in in in in Hebrew. The standard understanding for leodote is I thank you. The other definition of the word or translation of the word leod is to admit to praise would be usually means either to thank means I thank you. Yeah. To praise would be okay could either mean to thank or it can mean to admit says what's the connection? We know that there's no such thing as a coincidence. What's the connection between thanking and admitting? Anyone have any ideas? What's the connection? that you admit that it is not I did it is somebody excellent says Hutner the essence of being thankful the essence of thankfulness is a recognition that I needed somebody else it's it's an admission that I can't do it all by myself when someone does something for me and I thank them for it what I'm recognizing is it's not all me I needed somebody else I was lacking I am dependent upon somebody else for what I am receiving and that is the essence of of things and want to bring for you um in Rabbi Abraham Juet Turski and his he has a beautiful book on on fila and he talks about this from a from a from from his perspective as a psychiatrist and he says the following I'm just going I'm going to read it read it for you I wasn't able to uh to bring the source sheets but if anyone wants to know exactly where this is I'd be happy to share share it with you he says the following feeling and gratitude should not be taken lightly there seems to be an inherent reluctance to be thankful mothers will tell you how reluctant youngsters may be to say thank you, right? Very often when you're trying to raise your children, you want them to be say thank you and the kid, I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to. Very often as parents or as you as adults, it's very hard for us to say thank you to somebody else. Why? The reluctance to acknowledge and express gratitude undoubtedly says says Dr. Turski has its origins and feelings of low self-esteem. People who harbor inferiority feelings may interpret receiving a favor as being dependent on others. Just as a small child who feels dwarfed in a world of grown-ups will stand on a chair and declare, "Look how big I am," so may those who feel inferior try to demonstrate their superiority. The idea of, "I am totally self-sufficient and do not need any help is the equivalent of the child's attempt to show how tall he is or how big he is." Very often, we as adults are very proud. We're very proud of who we are. We're proud of our independence. We're proud of what we've accomplished. And therefore, we're hesitant to say thank you, whether it's to other human beings, whether it's to other people or it's to God. Because when we do that, we recognize that there is something beyond us. That this isn't just about who we are. And that we are lacking. We need that whatever it is that that person is giving us. And therefore, that's why the root of the word leod can both mean to thank and to admit. Because the essence of being someone who is thankful is admitting that I need somebody else. I need someone who is able to uh to help me and it's not just it is not just me. And so every morning when we wake up and we say ani I thank you Hashem what we are highlighting for ourselves is everything we have is dependent ones. Everything we have our life our essence everything that we have in this world is all dependent on you Hashem. And not only are we recognizing that we depended on you, but we're thanking you for the fact that you have given us the ability to to continue to continue to live. And that's something that I think is is incredibly important. One other element of huda that Rabbi Saxs in another place that I saw highlights, Rabbi Saxs points out that one of the values and the and the and the ideals of thanking a kadosh or saying thank you or opening up our day with thanks causes us to shift our perspective not just in our relationship with Hashem but also in how we we relate to all those around us in terms of in terms of not being jealous of other people, not feeling s a sense of inferiority and a sense of not being up to par. When we look around in our day, very often we compare ourselves to other people, who they are, what they've accomplished, what they have. The essence of being able to overcome that is the concept of being thankful, of recognizing what you have. The more you recognize what you have, the more rec that you recognize what you have, the less you're worried about what other people have. And therefore says by sachs the idea of opening up our day with hoda is meant to again begin our day with the sense of I'm thankful for what I have. I recognize what I have and hopefully that will shape the way that we not only our interactions with but also will shape our interactions with those with those around us. I'm just going to again read the quote from Sax because I think he captures it really beautifully. If your new car makes me envious, I may be motivated to buy a more ex expensive model that I never needed in the first place, which will give me satisfaction for a few days until I discover another neighbor who has an even more costly vehicle. And so it goes. Should I succeed in satisfying my own envy, I will do so only at the cost of provoking yours in a cycle of conspicuous consumption that has no natural end. Hence the bumper sticker. He who has the most toys when he dies wins. The operative word here is toys. For this is the ethic of the kindergarten and it should have no place in a mature life. The antidote to envy is gratitude. Who is rich? Asked Benzma and replied, "One who rejoices in what he has right." There's a beautiful Jewish practice that performed daily is life transforming. The first words we say on waking are mod ani. I thank you living and eternal God. We thank before we think. That's the key line. We thank before we think. Judaism is gratitude with attitude. I like that. Also, Judaism is gratitude with attitude. Only Rab Saxs can have these uh these snippets, these beautiful snippets. cured of letting other people's happiness diminish our own, we release a wave of positive energy, allowing us to celebrate what we have instead of thinking about what other people have. So we open up our day not by focusing on what others have but by focusing on what we ourselves have and to be what we are instead of wanting to be what we are not. And so that again sax is highlighting here that the concept of opening up with mod ani is not just about expressing and recognizing that everything we have comes from but it also helps us in the way that we interact with all those around us. Recognizing that we have what we have because that's what we're supposed to have. And therefore the idea of the way to fight envy the way to fight jealousy is again to recognize what we do have. I remember I don't I'm trying to remember who it was. It could be this is my own memory is not it could be this was also an idea that I heard from Abra Abraham Jay Turski where he talked about one of the keys to happiness it might have been actually now that I'm remembering I think it was by Zelica also a well-known rabbi and author wrote wrote a lot about happiness and I remember hearing from him once that if you really want to be happy for seven days straight sit down and just write 30 things that you're thankful for just sit down and he said over I said I guarantee you after that week it will shift shift the way that you look at your life and the way that you look at things because very often we go through life and we just take so many things for granted and the best way said to be able to fight against the taking for granted and and and and the and the monotony and the frustrations that we have is to stop for a second and say wait a second I have this and I have that so many of and and and sometimes often unfortunately it takes our inter us to interact with people who don't have certain things people who can't walk the way that we walk who can't who aren't able to talk who aren't able to hear who don't have the skills or the abilities that we have to all of a sudden appreciate our own. But how great would it be if we could appreciate those things without having to see somebody who doesn't have them or hearing about somebody who doesn't have them. And therefore, one of the best ways for us to reframe our own emotions and our own day is by opening up modi. I thank you Hashem for whatever I have and I'm going to strive to appreciate that every single day. So that's the mod ani. Now let's move on ani. Now again as we mentioned if we were speaking proper Hebrew it would be an as opposed to but also what is what is I thank in front of you. It should be I thank to you or I thank you. That's how you say I thank you. What is so again it seems that the understanding is is that we're is that what does invoke within us? A recognition that we are standing in front of a bar we are standing in front of Hashem the concept that the writes in the very beginning that one of the most important I don't know if it's here but many many have it they don't have it this right the concept of hashem that I should have and I should be I should be walking and living my life with a recognition that everything I'm doing everywhere I'm going I'm standing in front of God I'm standing in front of Hashem and so we say an we're not just saying thank you we're saying thank in front of you I recognize As I begin my day, everything I do and everything I say is in front of you. It's in front of you. And as we say, as the next part goes, the recognition recognition that Hashem is the king who is alive and is enduring. Yes. I always had the impression that you say it in the morning because you're getting up from sleeping and sleeping is like not being there. Yeah. Well, we're going to discuss that. We're going to discuss we're going to we discuss. Yes. Yes. I'm happy to be here. Yes. Correct. Thank you. So, what you're saying is that we're going to rec we're going to see soon that a big part of what we're thanking Hashem for is the recognition that when we were sleeping say that sleeping is 160th of death. That we believe that our nish went up to we're thanking Hashem for a return. And we'll get we'll get to all of that. And therefore the I agree but that could be that that could be doesn't have to be and I think the is meant to highlight a certain understanding of us being and standing in front of in front of Yeah. Yes. You have to say it while standing. No. No. When I I say standing, I just mean our existence yet. I don't I don't mean I don't mean actually we actually have to be sitting. No. If anything, you should say it when you're when you should sit should ideally sit up if you can. If not lying down, but meaning you should be saying it close to when you when you wake up. And the idea being Yes. When I say the I just the imagery that I think about is is standing in front of God, but obviously when we sit, we're also sitting in front of God. It was just an imagery that I was that I was trying to create. And and yes, I'm also grateful that I woke up. Absolutely. Our ages. Absolutely. Woke up. Thank you. I would I would say even more at all ages, we should be thankful that we woke up. But yes, 100% that is that is that is a major a major a major part of it. There's a there's a well-known gumar where where the sorry makes all the difference in the world. It does. It does. There is a uh there is there was a well-known there was a well-known kamar that um the students are ben zakai right before he died they asked him to teach them a lesson like what's what's your last lesson that you want to teach us before you pass away and benzakai's message was forgive me that I don't remember the exact quote but basically it was that you should your fear of heaven should be as great as your fear of your fellow man again that your fear of heaven should be as great as your fear of fellow man and they turned to him and they turned seem yeah exactly I just remember the exact the exact quote the exact right that yeah that moram should be as great as your moa as your moorra of your peers and they said to him that's it and he said halvi we should be able to get to that level why because most of us and this is normal this is I guess human nature when we're in front of other people we make sure to act in a certain way we want to you know we have a reputation to uphold we have to make sure that we act a certain way we we we do that that we talked about to feel a bit seour sometimes When you're domining bet, you're going to domin in a certain way, right? When you're when you when you're out in public and people see you, you're very aware of the way that you act and the things that you do. Unfortunately, when we're in quote unquote private, we're less aware. We're less sensitive. We're less aware of it. Even though we know, we know in the back of our minds that Hashem is there, too. And therefore, right now, fundamentally, most people's fear of God is not as great as their fear of man. And what mod is meant to highlight for us is wherever we are even we we wake up in the morning we're sitting in our bed and maybe there's no one else around I'm living my life in front of you God. I am going about my day in front of you God. everything I'm doing is and we stress that in the morning very in the in the the very beginning of our day in order to remind us that everything we do throughout the day is ultimately moving on from to me again this is very very interesting okay obviously it's true God is a me is a godam but normally when we say hashem's name or let's say we say abra or we talk about god what do we say That is usually the description we will have for God. And yet here we say it's a unique description. It's something that's a little bit different from how we normally refer usually refer to God as what is so I'd like to share with you. I heard this from a peer of mine, Rabbi Eton Schnal who's a rabbi from he's a a rabbi university and a rabbi in in the young Israel of Hillrest. And he suggested that when we highlight the words, we're stressing something very important. Basically means that God is alive. God is is active. Again, we don't understand what that means 100%. But we believe that God doesn't just exist, but that he is active in the world. Okay? And number one, so that's part of the that we're that that that we're interacting with a God who interacts with the world. But what we're also saying is means you're eternal. And we're about to say, "Thank you, Hashem, eternal God, for giving me back my nisha." Now, mishama, as we know, and as we're going to talk about a little more detail very shortly, my nishama is really what what happens when we sleep, we believe that our goes up and goes up to heaven and recharges. There's a certain spiritual re-energiz re-energization. Excuse me, my my English is I'm losing my English here. Okay, that occurs when our nish is goes up to heaven. But what happens then? We wake up and our n is which is the spark of godliness within us returns and we begin our day. If God is eternal, if God is vik and every single morning when we wake up, we receive back our nisha which is a spark of God. What that means is that we also have a spark of eternity within us. When we do what we are supposed to do, we follow to mitzvot. And we follow theem what we are doing is we're tapping into that. And so we highlight in the morning when we say so that's but when we're thinking beginning our day setting up our day deciding what our day is going to look like we add you are a mel you are a king who is active in the world and is eternal. And we thank you, Hashem, for giving us our nish, for giving us our soul, for giving us that spark of God. Because through that, we're also able to tap into that eternality. We're able to tap into the internal the eternal nature of who God is. And when we do Torah and we're tapping into that nish and we're highlighting the aspect of who we are that is that is eternal. Let's move on. We said the next part is that you have returned within me my so as as I mentioned this is based on the idea this is based on the concept that that and this is a gor says that that sha sleep is 160th of death what does that mean that sha is 160th of death what it means is that when we are sleeping our bodies are dormant in a certain way again they're also very active our brains are very active study of psychology studies this that what happens when we're when when we're sleeping sleeping but from a spiritual perspective we believe that as we are sleeping our soul returns to God re-energizes itself becomes you know re-energizes spiritually as it were cleanses itself such that every morning we wake up and God has returned our nish the first we're doing is we're saying as you said thank you God for returning my nishama it's not move on may it's not self understood that every single morning we're going to wake up and be able to have another day okay and we'll talk about soon. If God is giving us back our means that he has something in mind for us, that he has something that he expects something from us that he believes in us. That's what we're going to get to at the end. Okay? That you returned my soul. So, first of all, what this highlights is number one that every single day is a new day. Every single day, it's almost as if we are alive new. Why do we need to wash our hands in the morning when we wake up from sleeping? For the same idea. Because when we're sleeping there's a certain element a very small element of death and every morning when we wake up every morning when we wake up we need to wash our hands to show that we are almost we are we are we we are we are like we are like a new person. In fact the this is a the words are we are new in the mornings that every single morning when we wake up there is something there is a certain newness to our lives. There's a certain newness to who we are. There's a newness to the day. There's a freshness to the day that we have to that we have to take advantage of. And that what that means is again that every single morning is an opportunity to restart. Whatever happened the night before, whatever happened the day before, whatever happened the weeks before, when we say I am starting a new, I am being reborn, quote unquote, not in the not in the in the Christian sense. We are being reborn in the more literal sense that we are now a new and we have the ability to start this day differently than the days before. Yes, we stay up all night. Do we say moan? Excellent. Excellent question. The standard approach is that I if I'm not mistaken, there's a whole it's a big question what you should say and when you should say it. As I understand, you do not say moani. Um, but you you do say you do say you do say that when you if when you go to the bathroom and wash your hands, you say and you would say those are the that you would say and then there are certain that normally you only say when you wake up like and that the minag is you should say it from somebody who did sleep and and have in mind to be to fulfill your obligation with them. Yeah. Exactly. You know meaning most of those are not necessarily relevant for somebody who didn't sleep and botra also we generally say you should only say if you uh if you slept and therefore what you do is like I said very often in the beginning for most mo most schuls what they'll have is right before they start shakar or before they start root depending what they start with somebody will get up and will somebody who slept they appoint somebody who slept he's like this you know like the like the uh like the like the self-appointed driver right so here you have the designate the designated sleeper uh so that person comes in and he but he still gets up for and he comes and he'll say the one sleepless night. That's an excellent excellent question. Um I think a similar idea if you if you literally didn't sleep at all then uh then I think in that case you would not necessarily again you could still say and when you went to the bathroom after after daybreak but in terms of mod and things like that I don't think you I believe I believe that you wouldn't you wouldn't necessarily say that because again that's all and by the way what happens if you wake up it's also true that if you wake up before dawn you should wait until later to say modani meaning we believe that the idea of modani happens if let's say you wake up at let's say 2:00 in the morning and you're up for the day so if I'm not if I'm not mistaken, you don't even say modi then, but you should wait until after the day begins because it's a combination of your sleep and the and the new day and the dawn and the and the fact that creation is starting a new and that's when you should say modani so that you would end up saying it a little bit a little bit later. That's a great question. Why don't you need to washi? Why do why don't you? Ah, so that's an excellent question because it doesn't have hashem's name. I mean we we mentioned earlier that the the the original that you were supposed to say uh when you first wake up the garra says is elokai which is again talks about god returning his nishama to us and and and investing the nishama within us um but be and then but the min became you can't say that right away right when you wake up because it has hashem's name in it you have to wash your hands and therefore modi was instituted almost as a shorter replacement to say right when you wake up and then we say alohama later on I I heard I could be wrong that if you're on I could be wrong Don't worry that if you're on an airplane and you fall asleep for like half an hour or an hour, you should say mod. Yeah, there there you did sleep. There you did there was there was a sleep and therefore again I I don't remember the exact word to draw the line but I think it's about about a half hour or 40 minutes if I'm not mistaken. And at that point then that's considered to be enough of a sleep that it can qualify uh like you know those guys who uh put their heads down in the middle of uh you know in the middle of shift night and then next thing you know it's like 2 hours later. Um but yeah, that's the that's the basic idea. Okay. Now, Shabas afternoon nap also means it. No. So, Shabas afternoon nap doesn't count because again it's not the new day. So then you wouldn't say mod. You should wash your hands. You would wash your hands because again the washing of our hands is actually for two different reasons. The reason we wash our hands in the morning is number one based on the idea according to the rash. It's based on the idea that we have a new soul. Our soul has been returned a new beginning. The other is because while we're sleeping our hands might have touched places that we normally keep covered. And the is that if your hands touch places that you normally keep covered then you should wash your hands. Um, and therefore we wash our hands no matter what when we wake up. But you wouldn't say modi. Um, there is a discussion where if you slept in the afternoon but you didn't sleep at night, maybe you should still say to but that's a that's a a different a different discussion. Okay. So again the the the is about again thanking Hashem for giving us back our nish. Now, Rabbi Tski again has a beautiful um a beautiful couple of words where paragraphs where he connects the idea of being thankful to Hashem and our recognition that we're dependent on Hashem and this idea of God returning to us. I'm going to read the words because his words are are very powerful. Our relationship with God is not just that of a child to a parent, but of an infant to a parent. An infant is totally dependent on his parents and develops a trust in his parents knowing that his needs will be addressed and provided. Right? A little kids, they have a certain uh you ask a little kid, you know, who will take care of you? Aba will take care of you, right? They think their father is like the strongest person in the world. They think he can beat up any any anyab. We're talking with my son, unfortunately, and my three-year-old about about he's asking us all the time, what's going to happen if there's an there's an Azaka. Theim are going to come and the are going to come. So there's a certain there's a certain you know purity and an understanding that people will take care of him. A certain recognition that I am dependent I I I know that I will be safe and usually that sense of safety is because of parents. An infant is totally dependent on his parents develops a trust in his parents knowing that his needs will be addressed and provided. One aspect of is that we become aware of our utter dependence on God. Not only for our needs but for life itself and that we develop a profound trust that he will provide these for us. This is a very important point. One of the aspects of is a recognition a certain understanding what we would call a trust in that he will take care of us that come what may Hashem will take care of us. Immediately upon awakening, we declare that we are fully aware of our dependence on God. During the night, we are essentially in a state of suspended animation. Tradition has it that while we sleep, our shama ascends to heaven. It is cleansed and returned to us in a pure state. As we open up our eyes in the morning, we attest to our awareness that Shama has mercifully been returned to us. We acknowledge our dependence and trust in God. We may extend this to our understanding of Modani. The patient who undergoes a heart transplant has sufficient trust in his doctor that he allows him to essentially take his life by removing his heart and resurrect him by inserting another in its place. That is the trust in God that we should feel when we retire each night. So when we say that you returned my to me with compassion, it's based on a certain recognition that we trust Hashem that he will do that when we go to sleep at night. We have faith and we have trust. And that's why by the way according to some interpretations what does mean? The last part means your your there's different interpretations but in in this context could mean your trust with worthiness is great. We trust you God. We believe in you. To me that that the image of a of a of a heart of a heart surgeon is actually a very strong idea. What happens? You literally give your life to this heart surgeon. If somebody has to go through a heart transplant, he literally is giving his life. He is saying I trust you to open me up. Take out my heart and put something else in. Now obviously you don't take that decision lightly. It's only somebody who you have complete trust in. Every single night we're trusting to take our to take our essence and yet we believe that every single morning he'll give it back to us. means you are trustworthy. Your trustworthiness is great and therefore we trust to give it to us. But let's get back to because also has other interpretations literally means great is your amuna. Great is your belief. Whose belief? Hashem's belief or our belief? Ah so it can go in both both ways. Both ways I think I think both are true. One attitude is means great is your belief is great is our belief in you. Great is our belief in you means that we believe in you and we know that you that that when we attach ourselves to you and to your mission, we're doing something great. And so every single morning when we wake up, we say we trust you. We believe in you. We believe in what this is all about. Every single person when they wake up in the morning needs something to wake up for. Needs a mission to wake up for. Needs something that they believe that they that they believe in to push them to do something. Whether it's their family, whether it's their job, whether it's the things they do to help other people, whether it's the they do, whatever it's going to be, there's something. And therefore, when we wake up and we say, "We believe in you. We trust in you. We have faith in you." What we're also saying is we believe in what's going on. And that gives us a context within which to push ourselves to wake up and have a productive day. But there is an alternative explanation and then I'll get to your questions or comments. One second. There's an alternative explanation which is it's not just about our belief in Hashem, but it's about God's belief in us. There's another there's another well well-known puk that we say often from. What is we say? We talk about your goodness in the morning and at night your faith. Now the standard explanation for is that when we're in the morning when we live a life that is as clear as day. Daytime things are much clearer. Things are easier to see. You can see what's going on around you. When we're living in a world where God's presence is clear, like daytime, it's easy to talk about God's kindness in the morning or in in a when we're living a life that is like morning, where things are clear as day. When we're living a life or or when our lives enter a period that is nighttime, where things are darker, things are harder to understand, things we don't see as clearly, then we need to rely on our amuna. We need to rely on our amuna and hashem. During daytime, we can talk about it. We can say God is great. We can talk about how great God is because we can see it clearly. At night time, when things aren't so clear, then we need to rely on our am our belief. Our belief that even though it's not so clear, we believe that has a plan. But another interpretation for is that it's referring to God's belief in us. That even in times of darkness, even in times of challenge, we remember that God believes in us. God believes in who we are. And God believes in what we can accomplish. And the same thing is here could mean our belief in God giving us a sense of purpose. But what could also mean is God believes in us. That's the way this is translated by the way. I'm sorry. That's the way this is translated that it says the your your again your the question is what? Yes. Your your is meaning your faith. Your faith. Well, that the literal translation is your faith. The question is what does your faith mean? It could mean a faith in you or it could mean but because it's because again well the fact that it's capitaliz capitalized means that it's Hashem's faith. Yes. Yes. Yes. 100%. And I again that's a simple translation but I'm not sure that everyone would would necessarily translate it that way. Um and and I but I think it's incredibly inspiring. I think it's incredibly inspiring. The concept is is that believes in us and what gets us up in the morning is a recognition as Lavagebi used to say and many people have said this before God believes in you. Just the fact that he allows you to wake up in the morning means that he has something that he wants you to accomplish today that no one else can accomplish. And so we wake up in the morning, we say what we say to ourselves, God believes in us. God cares about us. God God has something for us to do today. And that is why I'm alive today. And therefore, I need to tap into that belief. I need to take advantage of that belief and I need to be active and I need to make sure to act according to that belief. There was a there's a uh there's a quote from that said in the name of Aman. I'm I'm you reading the English translation of it. But the day you were born is the day that Hashem decided that the world can no longer continue without you. Just the fact that God brought us into the world means that there is something that we are meant to accomplish in this world that no one else can accomplish. And the same thing is about every single day. If God woke us up in the morning, even if we're homebound or bedridden, there's something we can accomplish that day. Otherwise, God wouldn't wake us up. Otherwise, God wouldn't bring us into life. And so, every single morning, we would we we end this the the these two this line with I believe in Hashem and Hashem believes in me. God believes in what I can accomplish and who I and who I can be. So, I just want to uh um to to um do a quick review on what we saw today. This is one line or two lines depending on what city you're in. That had that is really packed with a tremendous amount of beauty and a tremendous amount tremendous amount of meaning. We start with modi. We start with opening up with the words mod. We noted that it says modani as opposed to ani mod because every single Jew should open up not with the ani ani ani. And we should fight against the urge to care about my own thoughts. What do I need? What do I want? Which is natural. We need to fight against that and we need to open up our day with mod. Thank you. I recognize that you have done something. Thank you, Hashem, for what you have given me. We noted that Raner points out that the word Mod means both to thank and to admit because when somebody thanks somebody else, he admits that he needs them. He admits that he is dependent upon them. And even though we often or children certainly, but also even adults sometimes have fight or have ch have trouble saying thank you, have trouble being thankful because it means that I needed I needed somebody else. It means I am not able to take care of myself just by myself. And that that is a Jewish concept. The recognition that everything in our lives is not just about us, but that we need other people to complete us, to help us, to take care of us, and certainly to to think to think to thank God. And so Modi is a recognition that Hashem is the source for all that we have. Realizing and admitting that we we are dependent on Hashem. We also mentioned that hod a corner by sachs is the key to our interpersonal relationships. In order to fight against envy, to fight against whatever jealousy we might have of other people, we need to to basically to to to tell us or we need to remind ourselves, excuse me, that in order to be happy and in order to fight against envy, we need to remind ourselves of what we have. I mentioned Rabbi Bliskin who wrote who who suggested every day sitting down and writing 30 things that you're grateful for because in order to in order to in order to fight the envy that we have towards other people, we need to remind ourselves of the things that we that we do of. We mentioned that usually standard Hebrew would be creates a certain imagery of we are in front of God. We are in front of everything we do. We're setting up our morning recognizing that our day is all in front of and reminded ourselves of the said that our fear of me of God should be as great as our fear our fear of men. We mentioned Melam. Melam is is an understanding that God is alive involved in the world and he is eternal. And when we tap into we are tapping into that into that eternal nature and we are ourselves are take are becoming eternal in a certain way. We talked about is a recognition that every single morning we wake up it's a miracle. Every single day is new. Every single day is is fresh. And what it's recognizing is that we are dependent on Baraku just like an infant is totally dependent on his parents and trusts them implicitly believes that his parents will take care of him no matter what. Aba will take care of whatever bad guys come into the house. You can beat them up, right? Aba, that's my son says, "Yes, of course I can." And and there's a certain sense of of belief, a simple belief that God will take care of us. Just like someone who goes through surgery has a belief in that the doctor will take care of who they are. So too we go to sleep every night having that belief that that simple belief that will take care of us. And then we ended with could on the one hand just mean that um that we that we trust Hashem that he'll give us back our can also mean that your amuna is great. Your is great either it is our belief in God our belief in what in in what in in in living a life according to God's values. It also can mean can also mean that God believes in us in in who we are. Yes, please. A religious cardiologist made a comment that there are 12 seconds that you should Oh, I heard this also. Yes, please. Please, please, please. No, I I I heard this. I don't remember where where I saw it, but I apparently according to certain studies, there is a there is a there is a concept that um when you first wake up in the morning, you shouldn't rush up. You shouldn't sit up and stand up immediately. that if you do that then the the the rush from one one one position to the other can be potentially dangerous for you and could cause some kind of injury to your body. And they say they recommend that when you first wake up you should lie down and sit there for 12 seconds and count to 12 before you before you move. Anyone want to guess how many words there are in the modi? 12 words. 12 words. So something to think about. I want to do something even a little bit a little bit different. We have a few minutes left and I'd like to I'm not going to sing the song or play the song for you, but there is a very very popular well-known song um by by a singer named Omar Adam. Omar Adam is a very well-known Israeli Israeli singer and he has a song I highly recommend listening to it. It's really a beautiful song. It's called Mod Ani. Also a very f it's a well-known song in in Israel. And I'd like to read with you some of the lyrics that I think are very very powerful. The words are I'm going to I'll read it in Hebrew and translate it. I thank you every morning that you returned my I thank you for the the garments, the clothing that you put on my my body so that I will not be cold. You will take care of me. I thank you every morning for the light and for my existence. I thank you for the bread that you put on my on my on my uh table so that I won't be hungry. So that I won't no pain for for my constant smiles. I thank you and all of my for all of my talents and for all of my songs. All of them I will I will dedicate to you. You should know that I thank you. I will shout to you your great name. To you I will call Hashem. And then he continues. I thank you Hashem every morning for my strength for my father and for my mother. Modi aleat. Thank you for the rain that you brought to my fields to worry about all those loved ones. You gave me life to take care of those that I love for the day of rest. I thank you for all that I have in my family. All everything I am and have is is in yours. And then he says the following, the final for all of my mistakes. I thank you, Hashem. All those times I got upset, I got frustrated, I thank you. All of my fears, all of those things that caused me to make mistakes, I thank you. They are all for my good. There was nothing else in my heart. Just to you, I thank Hashem. And I think he captures in very very beautiful again I recognize it's a really a beautiful song. Um it's called Modi by Omar Adam and he highlights how there is so much for us to be thankful for. There is so much that we should be thankful for every aspect of our lives from the positive to even as he points out the negative are there for our own good. And every morning we wake up and we say it's meant to help us recognize that everything we have in our lives is due to and ultimately everything in our lives is is for our good. So I hope that bes uh starting tomorrow I'm talking to myself as well. We'll have a little bit more kavana when we wake up in the morning. We'll sit there during those 12 seconds same o with the with with with a little bit more kavana uh and a little bit more recognition of who believes in us and what we can accomplish. Yes. It's interesting that I'm jumping much ahead in the only thing that we say together with a different text. No one. Yes. Well, that's because both because because again no one can think you you can only thank right if somebody does something for you, you say tell them thank you for me, right? It's very very different. We believe that modim the concept of thanks needs to be done personally and not necessarily by by somebody else. Okay. Wishing everybody a wonderful wonderful day. Thank you.