But Did You Remember to Thank Them? Carpools, Korbanot, and Gratitude Simchat Torah 5779 | East Hill Synagogue

In order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the LORD your God.

You are to [build Sukkot] at the time you gather in the produce of the earth and your houses are filled with all the good things it produces such a grain, grape, wine and oil (olives). This is to be done in order that you will remember” כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, in the desert for a period of 40 years when they neither owned land nor found themselves in a cultivated part of the earth. Remembering all this you will have ample reason to be grateful to the One Who has provided you with all of your present wealth and comfort. You must not fall into the trap of thinking that all this success is due to your own efforts.

(10) And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee. (11) Beware lest thou forget the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command thee this day; (12) lest when thou hast eaten and art satisfied, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein...then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage...and thou say in thy heart: ‘My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.’

כי ה' אלוקיך מביאך אל ארץ טובה, so that in the end, you will become proud and forget the source of your wealth. In order to forestall such a development I command you to remember the path that led you to these achievements and who it was who supplied all this directly from the celestial regions. Knowing this will help you realize that man’s achievements are not due to his own resources.

The generation of the flood became haughty and sinned due only to the excessive goodness that the Holy One, Blessed be He, bestowed upon them.... The members of the generation of the flood said: Do we need Him for anything, even for the drop of rain that He causes to fall? We have rivers and springs from which we take our supply of water; we do not fear Him. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: With the goodness that I bestowed upon them, with that they infuriate Me and with it I will sentence them, as it is stated: “And behold I will bring the flood of water” (Genesis 6:17).

Rabbi Chanina, the Deputy High Priest, says: Pray for the welfare of the government...

Antoninos said to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi: For what reason does the sun emerge in the east and set in the west? Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to him: The sun always sets in the west in order to greet its Creator, as it is stated: “And the hosts of heaven worship You” (Nehemiah 9:6).

The purpose for bringing the thanksgiving sacrifice upon experiencing a miracle is in order to relate the kindness of God. It is for this reason that the Torah required great amounts of bread but then reduced the amount of time with which to eat it, in comparison to the other Shelamim sacrifices. This, in order to bring many friends together at one meal on the day of the sacrifice, at which the host will relate the miracle before them.

Rabbi Pinchas, Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Menachem of the Galilee, "In future times, the observance of the sacrifices will be nullified, with the exception of the Thanksgiving offering which will never be nullified. All of the prayers will be nullified, with the exception of the prayer of gratitude, which will never be nullified...

(The rabbis thanks: We gratefully thank You, for You, O Lord our God, are our fathers' God, the God of all flesh, our Maker, the Maker of Creation. Blessings and thanksgivings to Your great and holy name for Your bringing us to life and preserving us. So [too], make us live and preserve us and gather our exiles to Your holy courtyards, to keep Your statutes and to do Your will and to serve You with a complete heart. About that which we thank You, blessed is the God of thanksgivings.)

When the Prayer Leader reaches the Modim Prayer [during the repetition of the Amidah] and bows, the congregation must also bow and say their own prayer of thanks that also begins with "Modim".

The reason being that it is not customary for a servant to give thanks to his master by way of an agent. Rather, every person must accept the yoke of Heaven with his own utterance. And, if he tries to do so by way of an agent, this is not a complete acceptance, for he could always contradict the agent, saying he never sent him.

By contrast, other prayers are requests, and one can make a claim to his needs by way of an agent, for one would not contradict someone who is doing something beneficial for him.

Moses went and spoke these things to all Israel.