(א) בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר, ... אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר, הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קכח) יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ כִּי תֹאכֵל אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ. אַשְׁרֶיךָ, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. וְטוֹב לָךְ, לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. ...
(1) Ben Zoma says: .... Who is the rich? He who is happy with his lot, as it says, "When you eat [from] the work of your hands, you will be happy, and it will be well with you" (Psalms 128:2). "You will be happy" in this world, and "it will be well with you" in the world to come.
“Is Gratitude Queen of the Virtues?”
Robert Emmons, Professor of Psychology at UC Davis
Modern research has shown: …gratitude …contributes positively to friendship and civility … mitigates toxic emotions … curbs antisocial impulses and … inhibits destructive interpersonal behavior… people who practice gratitude are viewed as more helpful, more outgoing, more optimistic, and more trustworthy.
(א) מודֶה [מודָה] אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ:
I am thankful before You, living and enduring transcendent One, for You have restored my soul to me in mercy; great is Your faithfulness.
(א) מודִים אֲנַחְנוּ לָךְ. שָׁאַתָּה הוּא ה' אֱלקֵינוּ וֵאלקֵי אֲבותֵינוּ לְעולָם וָעֶד. צוּר חַיֵּינוּ. מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵנוּ אַתָּה הוּא לְדור וָדור: נודֶה לְּךָ וּנְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶךָ עַל חַיֵּינוּ הַמְּסוּרִים בְּיָדֶךָ. וְעַל נִשְׁמותֵינוּ הַפְּקוּדות לָךְ. וְעַל נִסֶּיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל יום עִמָּנוּ. וְעַל נִפְלְאותֶיךָ וְטובותֶיךָ שֶׁבְּכָל עֵת. עֶרֶב וָבקֶר וְצָהֳרָיִם: הַטּוב כִּי לא כָלוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ. וְהַמְרַחֵם כִּי לא תַמּוּ חֲסָדֶיךָ. מֵעולָם קִוִּינוּ לָךְ:
וְעַל כֻּלָּם יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִתְרומַם שִׁמְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ תָּמִיד לְעולָם וָעֶד:
וִיהַלְלוּ אֶת שִׁמְךָ בֶּאֱמֶת. הָאֵל יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ וְעֶזְרָתֵנוּ סֶלָה. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', הַטּוב שִׁמְךָ וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהודות:
We gratefully thank You. For You, Adonai, are our God, God of our ancestors, God for all eternity. Rock of our lives, Shield of our salvation are You generation to generation. We thank You and recount Your praise for our lives entrusted into Your loving hand. For our souls, safely in Your custody and for Your miracles, with us every day and Your wonders and goodness, with us at all times: evening, morning and noon. You are good, for Your mercies never fail us, and the Compassionate One, for Your loving kindness never ceases; forever we have placed our hope in You.
And for all these, may Your name be blessed and exalted, our King, always and forever and ever.
All the living shall gratefully acknowledge You, Selah; and praise Your name in truth, the God of our salvation and our help, Selah. Blessed are You, O Lord, Whose name is good and to Whom it is fitting to give thanks.
(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה וּבָרָא בו נְקָבִים נְקָבִים חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים. גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבודֶךָ שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם או יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אִי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם וְלַעֲמוד לְפָנֶיךָ אֲפִילוּ שָׁעָה אֶחָת: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' רופֵא כָל בָּשר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשות:
Praised are You, Adonai our God Sovreign of the universe, who with wisdom fashioned the human body, creating openings, arteries, glands and organs, marvelous in structure, intricate in design. Should but one of them, by being blocked or opened, fail to function, it would be impossible to exist. Praised are you, Adonai, healer of all flesh who sustains our bodies in wondrous ways.
Marcia Falk The Days in Between
Gratitude: the gift one gives oneself… Many traditional blessings are prayers of gratitude to God. But one can also feel gratitude without directing it to a particular source...
From Everyday Spirituality by Rabbi David Teutsch – author unknown
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is crucial for Americans, who are conditioned to believe that we never have enough, no matter how much we have. Choosing to acknowledge just one blessing each morning is a good way to begin to train the heart and spirit to notice personal blessings and to move from a perspective of a glass half-empty to a glass half-full.
Minyan by Rabbi Rami Shapiro
Spirituality is living with attention.
Living with attention leads me to thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is the response I have
To the great debt I accrue with each breath I take.
Attending to the everyday miracles of ordinary living
I am aware of the interconnectedness of all things.
I cannot be without you.
This cannot be without that.
All cannot be without each.
And each cannot be without every.
Thanksgiving is not for anything,
It is from everything.
May I cultivate the attention
to allow the thanks that is life
to inform the dance that is living.
The Sun by Mary Oliver
Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful
than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon
and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone--
and how it slides again
out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower
streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance--
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love--
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure
that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you
as you stand there,
empty-handed--
or have you too
turned from this world--
or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?
QUESTIONS:
How can a person cultivate gratitude that does not depend on positive external circumstances?
What are the benefits of gratitude and gratitude practice in your experience?
Have you ever struggled with gratitude? Where is your growing edge with gratitude?
PRACTICES:
Add a new gratitude prayer practice daily in the coming week. Check out Rabbi Shefa Gold's website or app for her "flavors of gratefulness."
Watch one of the videos I will post soon on gratitude. (see OS website adult ed tab)
Count the Omer after sundown.
Write for 10-20 minutes at the end of each day reflecting on gratitude.