Learning Modei Ani
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ShareRabbi Catriel N. Zer-Garland expresses the importance of gratitude found in divine service.
(א) סדר השכמת הבוקר
(ב) מודה אני
(ג) כשיעור משנתו יאמר
(ד) מוֹדֶה אֲנִי האשה אומרת: מוֹדָה לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם שֶהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ:
(1) Prayers upon Awakening
(2) Modeh Ani
(3) When waking up from sleep, before washing hands, one should say:
(4) I am thankful before You, living and enduring King, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.
(א) דין השכמת הבוקר ובו ט סעיפים:יתגבר כארי לעמוד בבוקר לעבודת בוראו שיהא הוא מעורר השחר: הגה ועכ"פ לא יאחר זמן התפלה שהצבור מתפללין. (טור) הגה שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד הוא כלל גדול בתורה ובמעלות הצדיקים אשר הולכים לפני האלהים כי אין ישיבת האדם ותנועותיו ועסקיו והוא לבדו בביתו כישיבתו ותנועותיו ועסקיו והוא לפני מלך גדול ולא דבורו והרחבת פיו כרצונו והוא עם אנשי ביתו וקרוביו כדבורו במושב המלך כ"ש כשישים האדם אל לבו שהמלך הגדול הקב"ה אשר מלא כל הארץ כבודו עומד עליו ורואה במעשיו כמו שנאמר אם יסתר איש במסתרים ואני לא אראנו נאום ה' מיד יגיע אליו הירא' וההכנעה בפחד הש"י ובושתו ממנו תמיד (מורה נבוכים ח"ג פ' כ"ב) ולא יתבייש מפני בני אדם המלעיגים עליו בעבודת הש"י גם בהצנע לכת ובשכבו על משכבו ידע לפני מי הוא שוכב ומיד כשיעור משנתו יקום בזריזות לעבודת בוראו יתברך ויתעלה (טור):
(1) One should strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to serve his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Rem"a: At least, one should not delay beyond the time when the congregation prays (Tur). Rem"a: "I have set the Lord before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. For a person's way of sitting, his movements and his dealings while he is alone in his house are not like his way of sitting, his movements and his dealings when he is before a great king; nor are his speech and free expression as much as he wants when he is with his household members and his relatives like his speech when in a royal audience. All the more so when one takes to heart that the Great King, the Holy One, Blessed Is He, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing over him and watching his actions, as it is stated: "'Will a man hide in concealment and I will not see him?' - the word of God" (Jeremiah 23:24), he immediately acquires fear and submission in dread of God, May He Be Blessed, and is ashamed of Him constantly (Guide for the Perplexed III 52). And one should not be ashamed because of people who mock him in his service of God, and should also go modestly. And when he lies on his bed he should know before Whom he lies, and as soon as he wakes up from sleep he should rise eagerly to the service of his Creator, May He Be Blessed and Exalted (Tur).
Truth is that most humans are not social-science robots, calculating every act with an eye to algorithmic improvement of personal well-being.
Spend a long enough day at work, have enough of your gears grinded, or simply have it up to here for the umpteenth time, and gratefulness is not necessarily the foremost emotion you'll feel.
Luckily for us, gratitude isn't just an emotion: It's also a value. In most countries, especially in the U.S of America between October through Mid-January, people are generally nicer, warmer and closer to one another.
It seems at this time of the year a wave of fairy dust is blasted through the air and HVAC systems of every home;Once people are exposed to this "dust" BAM! being grateful is now seen as a virtue; the entire country in a way stops “working” on an individual level and gathers together in unity giving off a wonderful attitude because being thankful is something they should do.
In our Jewish realms Modei Ani is usually one of the first prayers Jewish children learn. Many newbies and oldies are surprised to learn that Modei Ani is one of the most recent additions to the traditional siddurim. This particular prayer which is comprised of only twelve words- which has been publicized amongst neurologist- and can be translated with just a few more than that into English: “I am grateful to you, living and eternal Sovereign, for restoring this/my soul in me with compassion; great is your faithfulness.
These words, which most individuals have at some time or another recited are beautiful, however one cannot help but notice that the grammatical style of Modei Ani. Any native Hebrew speaker will notice that the words are presented in the reverse form of naturally spoken Hebrew. In natural Hebrew the verb usually follows subject of the sentence. In this case however this rule is not followed.
In my opinion the reason for side stepping the grammatical rule highlights the style and suggests an elevated level of linguistic usage. The suggestiveness of the wording this is exactly the kind of language you would expect one to use in the privacy of their bedroom.
The word Ani yields to the fully awake individual who is able to stand before and refer to God in the second person, similar to the manner and style when one recites: Baruch atah (Blessed are You).
In other words, in order to address God and enter into divine service one must first awaken from the inner self.
Modeh Ani is a call to the individual; a call to know the soul that comes and goes night after night and returns morning after morning. Then and only then may one engage in meaningful dialogue with the Almighty.
Perhaps this is what our sages had in mind when they stated, "One should strengthen oneself... to get up in the morning and enter the divine service." In this way we transform these twelve words into twelve powerful statements.
Boker Tov Lekha
& Shavua Tov
