Modé ani,
Thankful am I.
Instead of starting our day thinking about ourselves,
This is often part of human nature,
We make certain that our first word is not I.
Instead of I am thankful,
Thankful am I.
Removing ourselves from being the center of attention for just our first moment and in place putting the attention on gratitude,
Thankfulness.
The first word to come from our mouths is modé,
To be thankful.
Modé ani lefanecha,
I am thankful before you.
Melech chay de kayam,
The King who is alive and eternal.
Here we're talking about Hashem.
Hashem who created the world,
God,
And he didn't leave the world to nature.
He continues to run and sustain the world,
To give life,
Chayin.
Melech chay de kayam.
He gives life and he sustains.
Sheh chazarta bi nishmatí,
You have given me back my nishama,
My soul.
When we awake we're going from a lower level of awareness to a greater level of awareness.
This transition is us receiving back our souls.
But it can't be taken for granted.
We've been given another day,
Another chance,
A fresh start.
No matter how yesterday ended,
We've been giving back our souls.
Bechem la raba,
With great compassion,
With great mercy.
Even if we yesterday did not go exactly as we wished,
Today we have a fresh start and that's real compassion.
To be given another chance and a new start despite previous attempts that didn't go perhaps as we wished.
Raba emunatecha,
How great is your faith?
It may sound interesting to say that God has faith.
Why does he need faith?
Raba emunatecha,
Your faith in me.
If you're giving me another chance despite previous attempts,
Some successful,
Some less so,
Falls,
A new chance,
A fresh start out of your compassion and your mercy,
That means that you have faith in me.
God has faith in us and therefore he gives us another chance.
A new day,
A fresh start.
Imagine starting in a new job,
A dream job in the field you've always wanted to work in,
But you know that you really don't have the experience,
Perhaps not even the know-how necessary.
After your first day with some successes and some mistakes,
Your boss calls.
You're sweating,
Perhaps even your voice trembles,
And he says to you,
Well done today.
I know you made some mistakes.
We'll work through those.
You'll make mistakes again tomorrow.
That's okay because I see your potential and I believe in you.
Raba emunatecha,
The boss has given us another chance,
A new day.
Hashem has given us a new day and a fresh start because he has faith in us.
Hashem has faith in us,
Then we must have faith in ourselves as well.
If he believes in us,
Then we can do it.
So we must believe in ourselves as well.
A new day,
A fresh start,
And we can do it.
This is the greatest gift in the world,
A fresh start and someone that believes in us.
When we recognize this,
We can pay it forward.
Hashem believes in us,
So we believe in ourselves,
And as such we must believe in others.
Real belief in our spouse and their abilities to succeed today.
Real belief in each of our children and their abilities to succeed today.
Real belief in the people we meet throughout the day and the light that they have inside of them.
Even if it doesn't always show immediately,
They too can succeed.
They too deserve a fresh start and someone who believes in them.
Belief in ourselves,
Belief in our loved ones,
Belief in humanity,
Belief in Hashem.
