(9) Esau said, “I have much, my brother; let what you have remain yours.” (10) But Jacob said, “No, I pray you; if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; for to see your face is like seeing the face of God, and you have received me favorably. (11) Please accept my present which has been brought to you, for God has blessed me and I have everything.” And when he urged him, he accepted.
And Esau said 'I have much.' Meaning much, but not everything, and Jacob said 'God has blessed me and I have everything,' because the wicked even if they have all the silver and gold in the World, they still feel missing, and they have much, but not all they need ,therefore said Esau I have much, but not everything, because still there is something missing. If one has a hundred in his hand, he desires two hundred. The righteous, on the other hand, even if they have little on their hands, they are satisfied and happy with their share, and it looks to them as if they have everything
.איזהו עשיר? השמח בחלקו, שנאמר: (תהלים קכח ב): "יגיע כפיך כי תאכל אשריך וטוב לך".אשריך, בעולם הזה .וטוב לך, לעולם הבא
[Ben Zoma says] Who is the rich one? 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.
Expressing Gratitude - Thanksgiving and Blessings
From Tanach
לח) וַתַּ֨הַר ע֜וֹד וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֗ן וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַפַּ֙עַם֙ אוֹדֶ֣ה אֶת־ יי עַל־כֵּ֛ן קָרְאָ֥ה שְׁמ֖וֹ יְהוּדָ֑ה ...
(35) And [Leah] conceived again and bore a son, and she said, "This time, I will thank Adonai! Therefore, she named him Yehudah...
(א) אודה את יי, אין לי אלא להודות ולשבחו שנתן לי יותר ממה שבקשתי ממנו.
I can only continue to thank and praise Adonai, who has granted me more than I have requested.
(17) And [lest] you say to yourselves, “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.” (18) Remember that it is Adonai your God who gives you the power to get wealth, in fulfillment of the covenant that God made on oath with your fathers, as is still the case.
From the Liturgy
(א) מודֶה [מודָה] אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ:
I am grateful to You, living, enduring Sovereign, for restoring my soul to me in compassion. You are faithful beyond measure.
Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign 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.
נשמת כל חי
ְוִאלּוּ ִֶֽפינוּ ָמֵלא ִשׁיָרה ַכָּיּם, וְּלשׁוֵֶֹֽננוִּרָמּה ַכֲּהמוֹן ַגָּלּיו, ְוִשְׂפתוֵֶֹֽתינוּ ֶֶֽשַׁבח ְכֶּמְרֲחֵביָרִֶֽקיַע, ְוֵעיֵֶֽנינוּ ְמִאירוֹת ַכֶֶּֽשֶּׁמשְׁוַכָיֵֶּֽרַח, ְוָיֵֶֽדינוּ ְפרוּשׂוֹת ְכִּנְשֵׁרי ָשֶָֽׁמִים, ְוַרְגֵֶֽלינוּ ַקלּוֹת ָכַּאָיּלוֹת, ֵאין ֲא ֶַֽנ ְחנוּ ַמ ְס ִפּי ִקים ְלהוֹדוֹת ְלךָ, יי ֱאלֵֶֹֽקינוֵּואלֵֹהי ֲאבוֵֶֹֽתינוּ
Nishmat Kol Hai (Shabbat morning liturgy, Mishkan Tefilah)
Even if our mouths were full of song as the sea,
and our tongues full of joy in countless waves;
and our lips full of praise as wide as they sky’s expanse,
and were our eyes to shine like sun and moon;
if our hands were spread out like heaven’s eagles,
and our feet swift like young deer,
We could never thank You adequately, Adonai,
our God and God of our ancestors,
to bless Your Name for a ten-thousandth
of the many myriads of times
You granted favors to our ancestors and to us.
Modim (morning liturgy, Mishkan Tefilah)
We acknowledge with thanks that You are Adonai, our God and God of our ancestors… let us thank and praise You for our lives which are in Your hand, for our souls that are in Your care, for Your miracles that we experience every day and for Your wondrous deeds and favors… For all these things, O Sovereign, let Your Name be forever praised and blessed.
Birkat Hamazon (Blessing After Meals)
We thank You, Adonai our God, for the pleasing, good and spacious land which you gave to our ancestors and for liberating us from Egyptian bondage. We thank You for the covenant sealed in our flesh, for teaching us Your Torah and Your precepts, for the gift of life and compassion graciously granted us, for the food we have eaten, for the nourishment You provide us all of our days, whatever the season, whatever the time.
From the Rabbis
Rambam (Moses ben Maimon) - Mishneh Torah 1:4 (1125-1204, Spain)
All blessings accordingly fall into three kinds; blessings recited when partaking of material enjoyments, blessings recited when fulfilling religious duties, and blessings of thanksgiving, [the latter of] which have the character of praise, thanksgiving and supplication, and the purpose of which is that we should always have the Creator in mind and show reverence.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948- , England)
Though you don’t have to be religious to be grateful, there is something about belief in God as creator of the universe, shaper of history and author of the laws of life that directs and facilitates our gratitude. It is hard to feel grateful to a universe that came into existence for no reason and is blind to us and our fate. It is precisely our faith in a personal God that gives force and focus to our thanks.
Rav Abraham Isaac Kook - For the Perplexed of the Generation (1865-1935, Latvia/Palestine)
When the existence of gratitude and recognition of the good becomes lacking from existence, the spirit of man is left without sparkle or shine. Therefore it is impossible for existence not to include this perfection, because it can only come when there is a free will involved in the benefit of creation.
The Rosh, Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel (1250 - 1327, Cologne/Castile)
Do not be oblivious to the good that others do for you. Acknowledge even those who do something as simple as opening a door for you, which you surely could have done on your own.
Rabbi Naamah Kelman (1955- , USA/Israel; Dean of the HUC Jerusalem campus)
The offering of thanksgiving in the form of sacrifice, or later in our tradition in the form of prayer, is the highest expression of gratitude. We praise and we exalt and recognize the miracles of our lives. Deeper gratitude recognizes the simple gift of our lives and the gifts of our daily lives. Our rabbis, ancient and contemporary, are telling us that perhaps this is the practice we must really cultivate: the practice of thanksgiving! But how?
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (1975- , USA)
Sometimes we offer words of gratitude because we are already feeling grateful. And sometimes we come to feel grateful because we are offering words of gratitude... One might ask: what is the relationship between thanksgiving and gratitude? It seems to me that gratitude is an attitude which may be a precursor to giving thanks, and sometimes giving thanks is a way of cultivating gratitude. When we give thanks, we place ourselves in relationship to something greater than ourselves. Our prayers of thanksgiving and mindfulness carve channels of gratitude on our hearts, and the more frequently we carve those channels, the more easily our spirits flow in those directions.