The Power of Gratitude 

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parshas Ha’azinu, Hashem commanded Moshe (Devarim 32:48–50) to climb to the top of Har Nevo, where he would be able to see the entire Land of Cana’an. He also informed Moshe that he would die up there. The Torah records that Hashem gave Moshe this command “b’etzem hayom hazeh—in the very midst of this day.” Rashi notes that this phrase appears three times in the Torah: When Noach entered the ark, b’etzem hayom hazeh meant in broad daylight, watched by all of the wicked people who had vowed to kill him if he tried to enter. It also appears by the Exodus—though the Egyptians wanted to stop the Jews from leaving, Hashem protected them and they were able to leave unharmed in broad daylight. Rashi (ibid., verse 48) notes that the term appears here in the same context: despite the protests of the Jewish people, who did not want to lose Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem’s will was performed in broad daylight.

There is something troubling about this, though. The episode in Ha’azinu is vastly different from the preceding two. The wicked people in the times of Noach and the Egyptians at the time of the Exodus posed a real, physical threat against Noach and the Jewish nation, respectively. This threat was so strong that Hashem had to stop it through miraculous means. What threat could the Jewish people have posed to Hashem’s determination that it was time for Moshe Rabbeinu to die?

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz answers that the Jews could indeed have stopped Hashem from taking Moshe Rabbeinu away from them. They possessed a secret that could have kept Moshe alive. There is a midrash (Shemos Rabbah 4:2) that highlights the incredible power of gratitude in the episode where Elisha HaNavi revived a dead boy (see Melachim II, 4:18–37). When this boy tragically died, Elisha rhetorically cried out to Hashem, “The widow who gave me a place to live (see verses 8–11) is the one you will punish?” Through Elisha’s prayer, stemming from the indebtedness that he felt to this woman, Hashem gave Elisha the key to life and death itself. Rav Chaim says that the same principle applies in this instance. The gratitude that the Jewish people felt toward Moshe after his service for over forty years endowed them with a strength that could have stopped Moshe Rabbeinu from dying, through the normal laws of Divine justice. They could have claimed that Moshe deserved to enter Eretz Yisrael by virtue of what they owed him, and Hashem would have been “forced” to agree! This was such a real possibility that Hashem had to perform a miracle to ensure that the Jewish people would not prevent Moshe from dying.

It is clear that gratitude has tremendous power. If we nurture this trait, we can soar to incredible spiritual heights. Moreover, if gratitude towards other people can help us so much, imagine where gratitude to Hashem can take us! When a person has gratitude to someone who had helped him, the natural response to this gratitude is for the giver to do whatever he can to offer even more services. The midrash (cited above) even goes so far as to say that we owe our souls to one who takes us in as a guest. Imagine, then, how much gratitude we must have for Hashem! If we were truly conscious of this obligation, our service to Hashem would be uplifted and inspired.

Why did Hashem grant gratitude such an amazing influence over creation? Perhaps the reason is because it is already an essential building block for life itself. The Chovos HaLevavos says that our service of Hashem should stem from a sense of gratitude for all that He does for us. If the essence of serving Hashem is gratitude, it is no wonder that it is so powerful!

Sadly, though, most of us don’t feel a sense of gratitude. In fact, we often think that we’re doing Hashem a favor by doing the mitzvos. We may complain that Hashem isn’t showering us with enough blessings, G-d forbid. Such an attitude causes us to relate to mitzvos as burdensome and inconvenient. However, if we would be eager to reciprocate for a few of Hashem’s innumerable kindnesses to us, we would perform mitzvos with love and alacrity.

This explains the Ramban’s interpretation (Devarim 32:6) of why Moshe Rabbeinu referred to the Jewish nation as a despicable people (am naval). The Ramban points out that the Hebrew term “naval” refers to a one who can no longer be considered human. In the context of our verse, we are being told that one who lacks gratitude is missing a most basic human trait, and the Torah views him as lacking in humanity! This is something to think about the next time we are tempted to sin. We must remember that rebelling against Hashem destroys a part of our humanity!

In his introduction to the Pnei Yehoshua, the author tells how the monumental work came to be. When he was a young, budding Torah scholar beginning to build his family, tragedy struck. As he was sitting at home with his friends and family, his house collapsed and the entire area burst into flames. His entire family perished. As he was lying crushed beneath the rubble and suffocating, he begged Hashem to save him, vowing that if he was saved, he would write a work that would defend Rashi from Tosfos and deal with other difficulties in the Talmud and the Rishonim. He miraculously survived, and, as we know, he kept his promise to author what is considered a basic text for Talmudic study to this very day.

While compiling his work, the Pnei Yehoshua worked day and night. It is said that he slept little. In the cold winter nights, some even witnessed icicles hanging from his beard as he learned throughout the night, never sleeping. Even though he lost his entire family, the Pnei Yehoshua’s sense of obligation to Hashem in gratitude for his survival gave him superhuman strength to carry on, and eventually to illuminate all of Torah Jewry with his Torah. He is a prime example of how far gratitude to Hashem can take a person, even someone who has lost everything.

May we be zocheh to grow from appreciating Hashem’s kindness!

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