Modim (cont.): Gratefulness for Everything

Last class, we continued our general introduction of the seventeenth blessing of the Shemoneh Esrai (and the first blessing of our final section of thanksgiving). Now we can turn to our usual method of textual analysis as we again look at the bracha of Modim.  As always, let’s start with the text of the bracha;

“We gratefully thank You, for it is You Who are HaShem, our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers for all eternity; Rock of our lives, Shield of our salvation are You from generation to generation. We shall thank You and relate Your praise – for our lives, which are committed to Your power and for our souls that are entrusted to You; for Your miracles that are with us every day; and for Your wonders and favors in every season – evening, morning, and afternoon. The Beneficent One, for Your compassions were never exhausted, and the Compassionate One, for Your kindnesses never ended – always have we put our hope in You.”

The blessing starts with the word “Modim”, to gratefully thank. Rav Avraham Chaim Feuer, citing the Abudraham, notes that the gematria, or numerical value, of the word Modim equals 100, which is a reference to our obligation to recite 100 brachos each day.

There is, of course, a connection between our everyday brachos and this particular blessing within the Shemoneh Esrai. For instance, we recite blessings before and after any food or drink that we consume, ensuring that we thank Ha-Shem for providing us with our necessary (and oftentimes delicious) sustenance. Just as we thank Ha-Shem when we recite our 100 brachos, we are doing the same at this portion of the Shemoneh Esrai.

Rav Feuer also points out that the end of the blessing describes G-d as both the “Rock of our lives” and as the “Shield of our salvation.” Rav Feuer explains that G-d protects us from danger in two different ways. In some instances, He acts as the Rock of our lives, protecting us from danger to the extent that we don’t even realize we were ever in harms way. Other times, HaShem acts as the Shield of our salvation, allowing us to be exposed to danger and still protecting us.

Longtime readers may realize that we learned a similar lesson all the way back in the first bracha of Shemoneh Esrai, when we wondered why G-d is described in four different ways – our King, our Helper, our Savior, and our Shield. It’s particularly apt given that we’ve used the same word – Shield – both here and there. As a reminder, here’s what we learned back then:

“Imagine you are walking down a street late at night when, out of the blue, a man steps in front of you brandishing a weapon. Panic rips through your body as you realize that, at best, you are going to lose all of your money and valuable possessions. You don’t even want to imagine the worst-case scenario. Suddenly, however, a cop car that was parked on the street pulls up and apprehends the man, leaving you no worse for wear. How thankful you would be to G-d! You would sing His praises and it would be quite a while before you forgot this incident. This obvious instance of G-d’s kindness is when He is acting as a King.

Now imagine you are walking down a street late at night but make it home safe. The next morning, you read in the paper that, no more than five minutes after you left that street, a man was mugged! You may not feel the same sense of relief, the same acute awareness of G-d’s presence, as you would in the first example but you would nonetheless thank G-d for keeping you out of harm’s way. This level, slightly removed, is an example of G-d acting as a Helper.

Now return to our familiar example. After making it home safe, the next morning you read in the paper that a man had been mugged one street over from you! Once again, the level of relief and awareness of G-d’s kindness may be slightly reduced but you remain thankful, ever cognizant of your close call. This is an example of G-d as Savior.

Finally, imagine a man who intended to mug everyone who walked down your street at night is arrested on an unrelated at charge at 9 a.m. that morning. You will never know that, had that arrest not happened, you would have been mugged or worse! G-d has saved you but you have no awareness of this beneficial act. This final level is G-d as Shield.

Though the example was quite long, the take-away message is rather short. There are times in life where we can clearly see G-d’s hand guiding events in our favor. Other (and maybe most) times we never see all of the good done on our behalf. As we go about our day, let’s remember to thank Ha-Shem for the constant good He is doing on our behalf – even if we never get the chance to see it.”

We’ll continue next class with our deep dive into this bracha but let’s add one last point for this class. In Modim, as noted above, we say “For Your miracles that are with us every day…” We obviously want to thank HaShem for the miracles that He provides but let’s not lose sight, as we’ve mentioned often during this series, that every day contains miracles from HaShem.

The mundanity – and consistency – of life often means that we forget that every breath that we take, every moment that our eyes work, every piece of food we successfully swallow, is no less miraculous than the greatest of miracles. As we recite Modim three times a day, we again have a perfect opportunity to not only verbally thank G-d for these everyday wonders, but to ensure that we’re truly working on our gratitude as well.

Go to Torah.org

Date: May 15, 2025

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