Modeh Ani Mekorot

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: From the day the Holy One, Blessed be He, created the world, no one thanked the Holy One, Blessed be He, until Leah came and thanked Him, as it is stated: “And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and she said, ‘This time I will give thanks to God,’ and thus he was called Judah” (Genesis 29:35).

(1) (1) IN ORDER TO SERVE HIS CREATOR - because for this was man created. As the text says "Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory... " And even if his Evil Inclination advises him in the winter and says 'How will you arise in the morning, because it is very cold?' or in the summer advises and says 'How will you arise from your bed, when you still have not slept to your satisfaction?' Overcome him and do not listen to him, and think to yourself: If I had needed to arise to appear before a king of flesh and blood, how carefully and zealously would I arise and awaken in order to prepare myself for this service? All the more so and obviously, before the King of kings the Holy One blessed is He.

(2) (2) THE DAWN - A secret in written in the Two Tablets of the Covenant, to connect the day and night with Torah and prayer, whether its morning or whether its evening. Immediately upon waking up from sleep if he doesn't plan to sleep more, he should wash his hands, even if he does so while still lying down. All the more so, he shouldn't walk four cubits without having washed his hands. He must be very careful in this regard. And the holy Zohar emphasizes the great punishment for this, for leaving the spirit of impurity on himself. In any case, he should not God forbid violate any other prohibition in order to not have a gap before washing his hands; like for instance, to stop himself from urinating for this purpose, or to take water which his friend had prepared for himself, if its not obvious to him that he will immediately be able to give him other [water] in exchange. And there are those who fail in this. And if he sees that the water is far and he doesn't have someone to bring it close to him, it is the custom of some of the observant ones (ba'alei ha'nefesh) to walk little by little in increments shorter than four cubits. The Sha'arei Teshuvah write about this that its better if hes able to run and not allow the spirit of evil to linger on his hands. There are those who say in regards to this idea that the entire house is like his four cubits, but we shouldn't rely on this unless in a time of pressure. If when he arises at night he sees that he does not have enough water to wash his hands three times as it appropriate to rid the spirit of impurity, nevertheless he should not God forbid forgo his Torah study because of this until daylight, but rather he should wash his hands a little or clean his hands on whatever he has to wash, make a blessing, and learn, as per the law of the Talmud and the Poskim[commonly referring to Rabbinic discussions post-Talmud, particularly contemporary halachic discussions].

(3) (3) WHEN THE GROUP IS PRAYING - Even [if] (though) the time for prayer has not passed, in any case he is commanded to pray with a group. This is elaborated below at the end of Seif Katan 9.

(4) THE RIGHTEOUS - He should envision in his soul/mind always how to stand before Hashem blessed be his name, because The Holy One's glory fills all the land. And it is written in the name of the Arizal, that he should always paint the name YHV'H next to his eyes in the essence of Fear of Heaven, for this is Y-H-V-H (with the vowelization of the word Fear [YIR'AH]), for this is the secret of "I shall set the Lord before me always" and this greatly benefits one's Fear of Heaven. There are those who were accustomed because of this, to have parchments of a Menorah drawn inside their Siddurim, on which it is written "I shall set the Lord..." Etc..., with the Four Letters and other Names, and this Menorah is called "I have set" ["Shiviti"]. And the purpose [of this] is so that it should be remembered not to speak in idle chatter during prayer -out of Fear of God. And it is written in the Gates of Repentance [Sha'arei Teshuvah] in the name of the Tevuas Shor, "It is proper to set out with force to abolish this custom[of writing this parchment of Divine Names] because in general they[people] don't protect this parchment properly, "and it falls in most of the streets"(it becomes disgusting and embarrassing), and as well many times it[the parchment]comes to erasure of The [Divine] Name. As well, it appears that: the big Menorahs which are depicted on the parchments which are affixed in the Shul in front of the podium[of the Chazzan/Prayer Leader] under a surface of glass- this is not subject to the reasoning which was mentioned previously" - end quote. However, the [parchments] which are affixed in[front of] the podium without a surface, there is[grounds] to protests against them, because through the candles which are [customarily] affixed on the podium[hence being under the parchment melting the ink with the heat of the candle] , after many times[of lighting these candles] , it will lead to erasure of The [Divine] Name, Heaven Forbid.

(5) (5) BEFORE MEN - Never the less, he should never fight with them, because the quality of brazenness is very despicable, and its not appropriate to use it at all, even in the service of the Lord blessed be his name, because he the will acquire the attribute in his personality even in matters which are not in the service of Hashem.

(6) THAT ARE MOCKING YOU - If he's an average person who in the company of great men, he shouldn't be embarrassed to learn or to do the mitzvah. If its possible for him to perform it not directly in their presence, its even better. However, if you're in the presence of other average folk who would learn from him, then on could say, that it would be better to do it in their presence, so that they should learn from him how do as he has done. However, he should direct his heart [intention] to the Name of the Heaven, but not boastfully God forbid.

(7) AND WHEN HE IS ALONE - It means to say, even when he is in the privacy of his home, also he should be walking with the Lord his God, as [the Re'ma] concludes...

(8) WITH ALACRITY - Not exactly, but rather he should wait a bit and not get up immediately, because it is damaging for the body. It is good to say immediately upon rising "I am gratefully to you my eternal king who has returned my soul in kindness; great is your faith." It should be said with a pause after "kindness", and "great of your faith" without pause. And this is from as its written "renewal of mornings" etc..., that the Holy One Blessed be He upholds his faithfulness to returns the souls to its depositor in the morning. And there is no need to wash hands, even if they are filthy, because in this wording there is no remembrance of the name of ADNOOT or any other name. And anyhow, it is forbidden to learn Torah before washing hands, and also forbidden before the blessing of the Torah.

(8) I am ever mindful of the LORD’s presence; He is at my right hand; I shall never be shaken.

(13) Your kingship is an eternal kingship; Your dominion is for all generations.

§ The Gemara relates that Rabbi Ḥiyya once saw the waning moon standing in the sky on the morning of the twenty-ninth of the month. He took a clump of earth and threw it at the moon, saying: This evening we need to sanctify you, i.e., the new moon must be visible tonight so that we may declare the thirtieth of the month as the New Moon, and you are still standing here? Go and cover yourself for now, so that the new moon will be seen only after nightfall. The Gemara further relates that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi once said to Rabbi Ḥiyya: Go to a place called Ein Tav and sanctify the New Moon there, and send me a sign that you have sanctified it. The sign is: David, king of Israel, lives and endures.

(31) Bathsheba bowed low in homage to the king with her face to the ground, and she said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

(21) But this do I call to mind, Therefore I have hope: (22) The kindness of the LORD has not ended, His mercies are not spent. (23) They are renewed every morning— Ample is Your grace! (24) “The LORD is my portion,” I say with full heart; Therefore will I hope in Him.