Hakaras Hatov, A New Gift from Hashem

Each everyday is a new day entirely new creation, it has and will never exist again ever. So everyday is a new start and an opportunity to start all over again. Rosh HaShanah is a time to resolve to be better in the coming year. Rosh Chodesh is as well a time to start a fresh the coming month each of these are imbued with special energy to regenerate life. However, it is important to remember that not everything happens at once. "One who grabs a little at a time will be successful' (Sukkah 5b).

With this said I now want to focus on the most fundamental truth in living a the Emunah life style, and the most difficult challenge we face. That being to to focus only on today. today is the time of Avodas Hashem, we can not serve Hashem yesterday as it is spent. We can not serve Hashem tomarrow, for it is not as yet here. So the only time to serve Hashem is today 'the now'. This is one of the reasons that the mishnah in Avos (1:10) teaches us "To love work." refering to avodas Hashem. "To love your work'' means to get absorbed in what you do, with the proper focus and attention. in short to give it your full and complete attention.

Everyday is a new opportunity to grow and develop in many ways. We can develop our intitiative and enthusiasm to enjoy every new day that Hashem sends our way. The challenge we have is to realize that every single morning Hashem bestows upon us a new day. If we internalize this reality, we can developed more energy, zest, and ongoing joy that can keep us going throughout the entire day. When we say the words ,"He renews, with His goodness, everyday, the work of His creation," we should be very thankful and grateful for the new day, a new gift from Hashem.

One of the great benefits of focusing on a new day is the feeling that you have a choice. You can strive to make it a great day, and Hashem will help you to succeed,for "on the path one is determined to go, he will be led" (Makkos 10b). It is all up to you, it is in your hands!


Hashem gives us many chances to start over, to improve and do better. Each and every morning we get a fresh start, a chance to begin again. This is why we Breslever's are always happy this is is fundamental in the teachings Rebbe Nachman to be 'B'Simcha tamid'. we are not carrying the heavy wagon of yesterday and the loaded pack of tomarrow. Hashem keeps sending opportunities knocking at the our door. we must not ignore them!

We can always utilize our lives to serve Hashem. Act now! Prayer is always considered 'timely'.

Our attiude is most important aspect of our life. Even if the blessings are flowing all around us if we dont have the right attitude, we can lose the opportunity to benefit from these. think on this "A good heart is always at a banquet" (Mishlei 15:15) i.e. one with a good heart is always happy. Hashem loves us and desires to help us. Act as if Hashem will help you and He will. Look for the posetive results and Hashem will help you. like we say in Yiddish "Tracht gut, vet zein gut, Think good and it will be good". As we get up in the morning and get our wits about us, we should run to pray, in order to ask Hashem to please help us see the blessings and to have a successful day serving Him.

In Hebrew, the phrase for giving thanks is 'Hakaras Hatov', recognizing the good. Hashem is the only creator and controller of the entire universe. Everything else is His creation. One of the basic fundamental teachings of the Torah is that we are obligated to "repay" our benefactor for every benefit we receive, by recognizing and thanking Him. Thus, every morning we must remember to be grateful for the sun, example of a daily benefit that we take for granted, as we just assume that it will be there, and express our gratitude for it to the creator. In the morning praises we say "With Your great mercy, have mercy on us." Why? We are pleading with Hashem specifically to open our eyes to see His creation, so we do not waste our lives , living in spiritual darkness. In this light we have to understand that thankfulness is not limited to just Hashem for allowing us to view His creation and to experience His amazing world. The Mishanh (Avos 1:6) teaches that friends are so valuable that we should 'buy' them. If you have a friend who lights up your day then take time to thank Hashem for him. just an example of all that we can be thankful for the list is endless, you can fill in the blanks.

Hakaras hatov is very important. While a person may truly be humble and tell you there is no need to thank him for all the favor he has shown you it is nevertheless, a fundamental Torah obligation to express our thanks. In this way, we begin to train ourselves to remember also to thank the ultimate Giver Hashem. With this we can change the very nature of the world!

Thank you Hashem for being able to pray and to write what was on my heart today as an expression of my thankfulness to You.