For as long as I can remember, I thought that "Modeh ani l'fanecha, melech chai v'kayam..." meant "Thank you, HaShem, for restoring my soul." Well, it doesn't.
First a little Holy Tongue grammar. The verb "modeh" can mean either "thanks" or "admission", you can tell from the preposition that follows. You can see this in "modim" of shmone esrei. "al" means "thank you", "sh" means "admission". So the first phrase in the morning means, "I admit that it is you, HaShem, who has restored my soul to me..." This is even a step before "thank you", which would be "thank you for taking such good care of my soul and for returning my soul to me". Instead, we are saying, "I admit that my soul is not mine; it is Yours. Moreover, it is only because of Your compassion and overwhelming faith in me that I get this day of life."
Quite an eye opener.
[Pun related by permission of its originator, Eliezer Broder, who is a frequent source of chizuk to me.]
First a little Holy Tongue grammar. The verb "modeh" can mean either "thanks" or "admission", you can tell from the preposition that follows. You can see this in "modim" of shmone esrei. "al" means "thank you", "sh" means "admission". So the first phrase in the morning means, "I admit that it is you, HaShem, who has restored my soul to me..." This is even a step before "thank you", which would be "thank you for taking such good care of my soul and for returning my soul to me". Instead, we are saying, "I admit that my soul is not mine; it is Yours. Moreover, it is only because of Your compassion and overwhelming faith in me that I get this day of life."
Quite an eye opener.
[Pun related by permission of its originator, Eliezer Broder, who is a frequent source of chizuk to me.]
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