Pray and Mean It #8 -- Modim -- Thanks We Give

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Pray and Mean It is an occasional listserv – every 1 to 2 weeks. Its
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Thanks and best wishes – Cantor Jack Chomsky, Congregation Tifereth
Israel, Columbus Ohio

Pray and Mean It 8
This is the 8th installment in this series.

As we turn our attention to the second-to-last b’rachah of the Amidah,
we find a text that for me outshines almost anything else in the
liturgy. You’ll recall that, at the outset of this project, we
imagined saying only one prayer and having it suffice for our daily
spiritual diet. If any prayer rises to that quality among those
recited daily, it might well be Modim -- the elegant yet simple
Thanksgiving prayer. It is this sense of thankfulness that is at the
heart of the Jewish spiritual essence.

I have arranged the Hebrew (and the English) so that the structure of
the prayer is a little more transparent than might usually be the
case. . .
מוֹדִים אֲנַֽחְנוּ לָךְ,
שָׁאַתָּה הוּא, ה' אֱ-לֹהֵֽינוּ וֵא-לֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ, לְעוֹלָם
וָעֶד,
צוּר חַיֵּֽינוּ, מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵֽנוּ, אַתָּה הוּא לְדוֹר וָדוֹר,
נֽוֹדֶה לְּךָ וּנְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ,
עַל חַיֵּֽינוּ הַמְּסוּרִים בְּיָדֶֽךָ,
וְעַל נִשְׁמוֹתֵֽינוּ הַפְּקוּדוֹת לָךְ,
וְעַל נִסֶּֽיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל יוֹם עִמָּֽנוּ,
וְעַל נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽיךָ וְטוֹבוֹתֶֽיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל עֵת, עֶֽרֶב וָבֹֽקֶר
וְצָהֳרָֽיִם,
הַטּוֹב, כִּי לֹא כָלוּ רַחֲמֶֽיךָ,
וְהַמְרַחֵם, כִּי לֹא תַֽמּוּ חֲסָדֶֽיךָ, מֵעוֹלָם קִוִּֽינוּ לָךְ.
וְעַל כֻּלָּם יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִתְרוֹמַם שִׁמְךָ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ תָּמִיד
לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד.
וְכֹל הַחַיִּים יוֹדֽוּךָ סֶּֽלָה,
וִיהַלְלוּ אֶת שִׁמְךָ בֶּאֱמֶת,
הָאֵ-ל יְשׁוּעָתֵֽנוּ וְעֶזְרָתֵֽנוּ סֶֽלָה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', הַטּוֹב שִׁמְךָ וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהוֹדוֹת.

Modim Anachnu Lach,
Sha-atah hu Adonai Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu, l’olam va-ed,
tzur chayeinu, magein yisheinu, atah hu l’dor vador
nodeh l’cha u-n’sapeir t’hilatecha
al chayeinu ham’surim b’yadecha,
v’al nishmoteinu hap’kudot lach,
v’al nisecha sheb’chol yom imanu,
v’al nifl’otecha v’tovotecha sheb’chol eit, erev vavoker
v’tzahorayim,
hatov ki lo chalu rachamecha,
v’ham’racheim ki lo tamu chasadecha, meiolam kivinu lach.
V’al kulam yitbarach v’yitromam shimcha malkeinu tamid l’olam va-ed.
V’chol hachayim yoducha selah, vi-hal’lu et shimcha be-emet
ha-eil y’shuateinu v’ezratenu selah.
Baruch Atah Adonai, hatov shimcha ul’cha na-eh l’hodot.

Thanks from us to You,
for You are Adonai our God and the God of our ancestors forever and
ever;
the Rock of our lives, the Shield of our salvation through every
generation.
We will give thanks to You and declare Your praise --
for our lives which are committed into Your hand,
and for our souls which are in Your charge,
and for Your miracles, which are every day with us,
and for Your wonders and Your goodnesses, which are with us at all
times,
evening and morning and noon.
O all-Good, whose mercies do not fail;
O Merciful One, whose lovingkindnesses never cease, we have ever hoped
in You.
For all these acts Your Name, O our King, shall be continually blessed
and exalted forever and ever.
And everything that lives shall give thanks to You forever,
and shall praise Your Name in truth, O God, our salvation and our
help. (Selah.)
Praised Are You, Adonai, whose Name is All-good, and unto whom it is
fitting to give thanks.

This passage is generally referred to as our daily thanksgiving
prayer. Note that, although the English translation is usually
rendered “we give thanks to you,” the text actually says “Thanks
[from] us to you” -- so the emphasis is on thanks -- not on us. And
the sense of thankfulness expressed by the text runs deep and wide
through our consciousness. The opening section is reminiscent of the
opening b’rachah of the Amidah (discussed in Pray and Mean It #3) --
“God of our ancestors,” “Shield of our salvation” -- and indeed this
portion in the Amidah supplies us with the second set of bows: we
bowed twice in the opening b’rachah, at its opening and closing. And
we bow again now on the words Modim Anachnu Lach and on the Baruch
Atah Adonai at this b’rachah’s closing. Far more important than the
choreography, though, is the ecstatic expression of thankfulness --
for our lives, for our souls, for Your miracles, for Your wonders and
Your goodnesses (and here’s the real kicker:) which are with us at all
times, evening and morning and noon.

At this moment, we can connect to the unfathomable blessing of our
existence -- and of our ability to be aware of that existence. Every
breath that we take is a gift received greater than any gift we can
ever bestow. The mere fact of our existence defies mathematical
probability in ways that we can barely calculate. Every step we take,
every word we utter, every thought we have -- these are miracles from
which we benefit and in which we participate!

The prayer continues “O all-good, whose mercies do not fail; O
Merciful One, whose lovingkindnesses never cease, we have ever hoped
in You.” This makes me reflect on wanting to acquire qualities of
mercy and lovingkindness in imitation and appreciation of God. “We
have ever hoped in you: meiolam kivinu lach.” That sense of hope is
hugely important to us as individuals -- and as a people. Kivinu is
the same root as tikvah -- hence the word “hope.” And that word
tikvah is such a crucial word to the Zionist part of our souls.

V’chol hachayim yoducha selah -- all that lives gives thanks to You.
Every living thing that we look at is a praise to God -- the humans,
animals, plant life. These things may most often declare their
thankfulness through our praises.

The blessing concludes with the words baruch atah adonai hatov shimcha
ul’cha na-eh l’hodot. Praised are You Adonai -- Your name is good and
to You it is becoming to thank. The truth of the matter, of course,
is that we are the ones who benefit most from this sense of
thankfulness. Our tradition certainly holds that God benefits from
our praises. But I am convinced (as I hope you are) that the benefits
of deep thankfulness accrue to us much more greatly than to God!

So this thanksgiving prayer is primarily about giving thanks and
recognizing miracles.

One more word about this seems particularly in order: This text, so
cognizant of miracles, is the portion of the Amidah which also
accommodates occasional remarkable miracles: we add to this
thanksgiving prayer the three al hanisims that occur over the course
of the year: For the miracles of Chanukah, of Purim, and of Yom Ha-
atzmaut (Israel Independence Day). These miracle holidays make sense
to us spiritually when we can add the special miracles to a miracle
text that we recite each and every day each time we recite the Amidah!

I find that when I am reciting this text, it is hard not to smile --
and to feel a sense of goodness and completeness that I might carry
with me after I have finished my prayers. I don’t recommend saying
only the Modim prayer in the course of daily prayer -- but I do
believe that connecting with this prayer alone can probably set our
hearts and minds on the right track to a happier life, and to a life
enabling us to share our happiness and thankfulness with others.

If you wish to respond, you may e-mail me at Cant...@aol.com.