Modeh Ani (I give thanks)
[א] (halacha 306)
Question: What is the source for reciting Modeh Ani?
Answer: The Gemara in Tractate Berachos1 states: 'When one awakens, he says: אלהי, נשמה שנתת בי טהורה, אתה יצרתה בי, אתה נפחתה בי, ואתה משמרה בקרבי, ואתה עתיד ליטלה ממני ולהחזירה בי לעתיד לבא, כל זמן שהנשמה בקרבי מודה אני לפניך ה' אלהי ואלהי אבותי רבון כל העולמים אדון כל הנשמות, ברוך אתה ה' המחזיר נשמות לפגרים מתים' ("My God, the soul You placed within me is pure. You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me, and You preserve it within me, and You will one day take it from me and restore it to me in the time to come. So long as the soul is within me, I give thanks before You, Hashem my God and God of my fathers, Master of all works, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You, Hashem, who restores souls to dead bodies").
That is,2 'as soon as a person awakens from his sleep he must recite Elokai Neshama by law of the Gemara,' for3: 'the morning brochos were instituted so that each one is recited at the time one becomes obligated in it, that is, when he awakens from his sleep he should recite Elokai Neshama.' And the reason for this4: 'for just as the obligation of the bracha over benefit applies immediately when one derives benefit (and even before he derives benefit), so too the obligation of the bracha of thanksgiving over the restoration of the soul [which is the greatest benefit and encompasses all the particular benefits in the world] applies immediately when he awakens from his sleep.'
However, the Geonim wrote that because the hands are not clean, one does not recite this immediately, as Rav Natronai Gaon wrote5: The Sages said regarding one who sees a place, when he opens his eyes what does he say, when he dresses what does he say, and so on, and this implies that each and every one should be said at its proper time and place; but on account of uncleanliness this is the halacha: since a person has awakened from his sleep it is forbidden to recite even a single bracha until he washes his hands, [as it is stated] "הכון לקראת אלהיך ישראל" ("Prepare to meet your God, O Israel").'
And so too Rav Amram Gaon wrote in his name6: 'And this order of these one hundred brochos, thus did Rav Natronai b'Rabbi Hilai, head of the yeshiva of Masa Mechasya, reply to the members of the community of Alisana through Mar Rav Yosef, the light of our eyes. To recite each and every one at its time as is explained in the chapter HaRoeh is impossible, because of the uncleanliness of the busy hands, which tend to touch. Rather, when one awakens from his sleep he washes his face, his hands and his feet properly, to fulfill what is stated "Prepare to meet your God, O Israel." And every single individual is obligated in them.'
And so it is brought in the Rishonim, as the Rosh wrote7: 'And nowadays the custom is to recite these brochos in order after one has washed his hands, for as long as his hands are not clean he should not recite them .. however, from the language in which the Gemara arranged them it implies that one may recite all these brochos before washing the hands, and this is a support for my view that washing the hands was instituted only for Krias Shema and for tefillah.'
And the reason why in the time of the Gemara they recited this bracha before washing, Rabbeinu Yonah wrote8: 'And the reason they arranged them thus in the Talmud is because they were holy, and on that account they were careful and washed their hands and stood in such a state that they were able to recite the brochos in cleanliness; but we, who are not able to be so careful and to remain in such cleanliness, it is not proper to recite them until after washing'9.
And so too the Alter Rebbe wrote there10: 'Nowadays, because the hands are not clean, and also because of the unlearned who do not know them, the custom is to arrange them in the synagogue and they answer Amen after them and thereby fulfill their obligation.'
If so, because the hands are not clean one does not recite the bracha of Elokai Neshama immediately upon awakening from sleep; therefore they instituted the recitation of Modeh Ani. And in the words of the Rebbe11: 'And since the bracha of Elokai Neshama, being that it contains mention of the Divine Name, cannot be recited (nowadays) before washing the hands, one must give thanks for the restoration of the soul immediately upon awakening from his sleep by reciting Modeh Ani at least. (Yet nevertheless one must afterward also recite the bracha of "Elokai Neshama," for (in addition to the fact that in the bracha of Elokai Neshama there are several details not found in "Modeh Ani," moreover) "Modeh Ani" contains no mention of the Divine Name, and any bracha that does not contain [Divine] Name and kingship — is not a bracha).
And by this it is understood why in the time of the Talmud they did not recite Modeh Ani and would recite only "Elokai Neshama," for "Modeh Ani" contains no addition or novelty beyond the bracha of Elokai Neshama (and on the contrary, as above). For the reason they required reciting Modeh Ani nowadays as well is only so that the thanksgiving would be immediate upon awakening from one's sleep; and in their days, when they would recite Elokai Neshama immediately upon awakening from their sleep — they had no need to recite Modeh Ani.'
And the source for the text of Modeh Ani is the sefer Seder HaYom12: 'And upon rising he should immediately say מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתך ("I give thanks before You, living and eternal King, that You have restored my soul within me with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness"). And this does not require washing the hands, for even if his hands are unclean there is no concern, since he mentions neither [Divine] Name nor appellation.'
And so too the Alter Rebbe wrote13: 'It is good to say immediately upon awakening from one's sleep מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתך ("I give thanks before You, living and eternal King, that You have restored my soul within me with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness"), and this does not require washing the hands even if his hands are unclean, because there is no holiness in the words of this text since it contains none of the [Divine] Names that may not be erased.'
And in the siddur the Alter Rebbe added14 a further advantage in reciting Modeh Ani, and wrote: 'And it is good to accustom oneself to say immediately upon awakening this text: מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתך ("I give thanks before You, living and eternal King, that You have restored my soul within me with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness"), and thereby he will remember Hashem who stands over him, and he will rise with alacrity.'
If so, in the time of the Gemara they gave thanks for sleep with the bracha of Elokai Neshama, and today, when one cannot recite a bracha because the hands are not clean, we recite an abbreviated text — "Modeh Ani."
Notes:
1 ס, ב ↩
2 שו"ע אדמו"ר הזקן או"ח סי' ו ס"ז ↩
3 שו"ע אדמו"ר הזקן שם סי' מו ס"ב ↩
4 קונטרס ענינה של תורת החסידות ס"י ↩
5 או"ח סי' ט ↩
6 סדר ברכות השחר ↩
7 ברכות פ"ט סי' כג ↩
8 ברכות מד, ב. ועד"ז כתב הלבוש או"ח סי' מו ס"ג, ועטרת צבי סי' מו ס"ק ח ↩
9 אך ראה במעדני יו"ט על הרא"ש שם אות כג שכתב: 'דבריהם כולן תמוהין הן בעיני שתולה נקיות הראשונים ברחיצה והרי בהדיא אמרו בגמרא כי משי ידיה אחר כל הברכות מלבד ברכת המעביר ועוד אי ברחיצה תליא מי לא נוכל אנן גם כן לרחוץ מקודם בענין שנהיה נקיים וצ"ע' ↩
10 סי' מו ס"ג ↩
11 קונטרס ענינה של תורת החסידות שם ↩
12 סדר היום - בהקיצו משנתו ↩
13 שו"ע מהדו"ק סי' א ס"ה ↩
14 ועד"ז גם במהדו"ב סי' א ס"ו ↩
[ב] (halacha 307)
The study of this halacha is dedicated for the merit of Peretz ben Chaya Devora Leah for a complete recovery
Precise details in reciting Modeh Ani
מוֹדָה/מוֹדֶה (Modah/Modeh) — the feminine/masculine forms of the word "Modeh"
Question: Do women recite Modeh Ani with the same vocalization as men?
Answer: The Rebbe was asked1 whether women should say מוֹדָה (Modah)2. And the Rebbe replied: 'Regarding a change in the text of the tefillah for women — according to the custom of the place in this matter'3.
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בחמלה. רבה אמונתך (b'chemla. Raba emunasecha) — "with compassion. Abundant is Your faithfulness"
Question: Why is there a period separating the word "chemla" from the words "raba emunasecha"?
Answer: The conclusion of Modeh Ani is based on the pasuk4: 'חדשים לבקרים רבה אמונתך' ("They are new every morning; abundant is Your faithfulness").
And our Sages of blessed memory said in the Midrash5: '"They are new every morning; abundant is Your faithfulness," Rabbi Alexandri said: because You renew us every single morning, we know that Your faithfulness is great for the resurrection of the dead.'
And the Rosh wrote6: '"They are new every morning; abundant is Your faithfulness," for a person trusts in the Holy One, blessed be He, and deposits his spirit in His hand weary, and He returns it to him in the morning rested and renews his strength.'
And the Yad Efraim wrote7: 'B'chemla raba. The word "b'chemla" should be said with an esnachta [pause], for "raba emunasecha" should not be separated between them, and it is from the verse "They are new every morning" etc., that the Holy One, blessed be He, maintains His faithfulness to restore the souls that are deposited every morning. And it is an error on the part of those who say it in one breath, and separate between the word "raba" and "emunasecha."' And so it is in the siddur of the Alter Rebbe.
The Rebbe8 in the sicha of Yud Shevat 5723 explained what the Rebbe Rayatz related9: 'And in this matter there is a story from the baal ha-hilula that "illuminates" the entire matter: the baal ha-hilula related concerning his father, the Rebbe (Maharashab) may his memory be a blessing, when he was approximately nine and a half years old, and his older brother, the Raza, who was then eleven years old, and being expert in grammar he was more precise in his tefillah than my father who was then only nine and a half years old, and he would needle him regarding matters connected with tefillah. Once, as they were walking to cheder, the Raza asked my father: why in "Modeh Ani" is there a period after the word "b'chemla," before "raba emunasecha"? And my father replied: the entire matter of "raba emunasecha" is the point, "the pintele," and the whole matter is that the point should spread out ("the pintele should spread forth").
After some time they spoke again about the matter of tefillah, and the Raza asked my father: what is the matter of praying every day? And my father replied: all of this is the matter of the "point" ("the pintele") mentioned above at the beginning of the day, for the matter of tefillah is the spreading out of the point. And he added: the word "b'chemla" appears in the tefillah twice, once in "Modeh Ani," and a second time in the bracha of "Ahavas Olam," and the second time there is no period, for the action of tefillah is that the point should spread out. And my honored father, my master and teacher, the Rebbe concluded that years later my father explained to him that the matter of the point refers to the point of the heart.
And in the continuation of the sicha10 the Rebbe added: 'And this is a general instruction that a Nasi in Israel conveys concerning an event that occurred with his father (who was a Nasi in his day) in his childhood, as a result of the education with which his father educated him, who was also a Nasi, and it later became an instruction for the generations:
Every Jew must know that there is over him a "living and eternal King," who is the King in this physical and material world, and out of His "compassion," He implanted the point of Jewishness within each and every one of Israel, deep inside him, and commanded him (and indeed the command of a "living and eternal King" is also a granting of power) to stand and pray — "know before Whom you stand"; you are not in a void, in an empty world, but rather "there is an owner to this palace," a "living and eternal King" — in a manner that through tefillah the point of Jewishness spreads out into his entire being, and afterward is drawn down into his portion in the world, and even to the point that the world around him too becomes illuminated. And this instruction — like all the instructions of our Nesiim throughout their generations up to this generation of ours — is in the manner of "his seed is alive" .. and in a manner that it is drawn down to below ten handbreadths — to fulfill there the mission of making the world into a living thing ("a living world"), through studying in it "the Torah of life," and fulfilling in it mitzvos of which it is said "and he shall live by them," so that then "the living God" is drawn down into this physical and material world, and effects that materiality be nullified, and that within the physicality the matter of life be drawn down in a manner of eternal life, through the connection with "the living God."
Notes:
1 לקו"ש חכ"ד ע' 410 ↩
2 ראה הליכות שלמה פ"ב הע' 17 בשם הגרש"ז אויערבאך שלנשים יאמרו מוֹדָה, ובשו"ת שבט הלוי ח"י סי' ח כתב: 'בענין מודה אני שהיא הודאה בעלמא תגיד כפי שרגיל לה בפה יותר' ↩
3 יש שכתבו (ראה התקשרות גליון תקצ) שכיום המנהג באנ"ש לומר מוֹדֶה ↩
4 איכה ג כג ↩
5 איכ"ר פ"ג ↩
6 בתוספותיו על ברכות יב, א ↩
7 סי' ד על מג"א סקכ"ח ↩
8 תו"מ תשכ"ג ח"ב ע' 116 סט"ז ↩
9 סה"ש תרצ"ז ע' 239 - ובמהדו"ח ע' 255 ואילך ↩
10 אות יט ↩
[ג] (halacha 308)
Question: It is written in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe¹ that a person should rise from his bed with alacrity; if so, when is the stage of reciting Modeh Ani?
Answer: The Alter Rebbe wrote in the siddur1: 'And it is good to accustom oneself to say immediately upon awakening this text מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה. רבה אמונתך ("I give thanks before You, living and eternal King, that You have restored my soul within me with compassion. Abundant is Your faithfulness"), and thereby he will remember Hashem who stands over him and will rise with alacrity.'
That is, the very recitation assists in rising with alacrity.
Additionally it is explained in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe2: 'But he should not arise and stand up suddenly; rather he should tarry a little until he completes this text while still lying down or sitting, as will be explained in the laws of Derech Eretz.' And there3 the Alter Rebbe writes: 'One who ate or drank or slept or engaged in marital relations or let blood — after doing one of these he should not stand immediately, but rather tarry a little before he stands.'
If so, we find that there are three points in the recitation of Modeh Ani: a) the recitation of Modeh Ani serves as an abbreviated substitute until one recites the bracha of Elokai Neshama (as we learned yesterday). b) the recitation also assists in rising with alacrity. c) reciting Modeh Ani while still in one's bed is also the tarrying time required until actually rising from the bed after sleep.
Question: What is the posture of the body and the hands at the time of reciting Modeh Ani?
The Rebbe Rayatz related4: '...when they educated me to say "Modeh Ani," they instructed me to place one hand upon the other, and to bow the head, and thus to say "Modeh Ani." When I grew a little older, but still in the days of childhood, I asked his honor, my father, my master and teacher, the holy Rebbe: why, when one says "Modeh Ani," must one place one hand upon the other, and bow the head? And he answered me: in truth one should do it without asking why, but I have already told you that you should ask everything of me.
His honor, my father, my master and teacher, the holy Rebbe called inside for Reb Yosef Mordechai the attendant, a Jew of eighty, and asked him: how do you say "Modeh Ani" in the morning? Reb Yosef Mordechai answered: I place one hand upon the other and bow the head. His honor, my father, my master and teacher, the holy Rebbe asks him again: why do you do so? Reb Yosef Mordechai answers: I do not know. When I was a small child they taught me thus. You see — his honor, my father, my master and teacher, the holy Rebbe says to me — he does so because his father taught him thus. And so before that, back to Moshe Rabbeinu and Avraham Avinu, for Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, was the first Jew. One must do it without asking why..'
And thus it was written as a practical instruction in the Sefer HaMinhagim5: 'When one says Modeh Ani one must place hand to hand (tzu leigen ein hand tzu di tzveite) and bow the head.'
However, regarding the manner of holding the hands at the time of reciting Modeh Ani, among Anash there are numerous ways of exactly how this should be done6, and each one should do as he was taught, and this river follows its course and that river follows its course.
Question: From what age is it fitting to educate a child in reciting Modeh Ani?
Answer: In a sicha from the year 57497 the Rebbe said: 'And as we see in practice, that the minhag of Israel is to educate the child in reciting "Modeh Ani" from when he begins to speak.'
However, afterward in a sicha from the year 57428 the Rebbe added: 'And to note that this matter applies to each and every one of Israel, from the greatest to the smallest, even one who does not know the Holy Tongue, and says this content in the language of each and every people, and even a small child who does not know how to speak, as is the custom of righteous women to say "Modeh Ani" for (and with) the child — for by each and every one of them there exists the matter of "You have restored my soul within me," both in the simple sense, that he becomes "a new creation," and from the aspect of the level of the yechida of the soul, the point of faith, "abundant is Your faithfulness," which is bound and unified with His very Essence and Being, may He be blessed ..'
Question: What happens when a child rises from bed before reciting Modeh Ani in the morning?
Answer: The Rebbe Rayatz related9: that in his childhood it once happened that he rose from his bed and food was presented to him to eat, and all this before he recited Modeh Ani; his father the Rebbe Rashab wondered whether he had recited a bracha over the cookie before reciting Modeh Ani. The Rebbe Rashab took him to his room and said Modeh Ani together with him. The manner of the recitation was standing erect with the feet together, straightening the tzitzis, bowing, and then reciting Modeh Ani word by word.
Notes:
1 או"ח מהדו"ק סי' א ס"א ↩
2 וכ"ה במהדו"ב סי' א ס"ו ↩
3 במהדו"ב שם ↩
4 הל' שמירת גוף ונפש ה"ה, ראה גם בהלכה מס' 27 ↩
5 סה"מ התש"י ע' 244 ↩
6 ע' 1 ↩
7 ראה באריכות בגליון התקשרות תרכג ↩
8 תו"מ תשמ"ב ח"ב ע' 708 ↩
9 תו"מ תשמ"ט ח"ב ע' 37 ↩
10 סה"ש התש"י ע' 359 ↩
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