Daily Chizuk #0468

The Shulchan Aruch states: “מצוה להרבות בסעודת ראש חודש.” Simply, this means we have a mitzvah to add food to our Rosh Chodesh meals to honor it. The Rebbe from Amshinov, however, explains, “להרבות” here means to add people – that we should gather together at a meal on Rosh Chodesh for the purpose of thanking and praising Hashem. Rosh Chodesh is a day of Hallel. Rav Chaim Palagi writes in his sefer Nefesh Chaim, on Rosh Chodesh, when the moon is renewed, it’s a time of judgment. The thanks and praise we give to Hashem on this day wards off those judgments. We speak a lot about the idea of saying thank you and being appreciative of Hashem. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in speaking about it that we forget to actually do it. We have a lot of needs, and we are constantly praying for our needs to be fulfilled and rightfully so, but we can not forget about the all-important part of tefila called hoda’ah – thanking.
It’s very simple. We know the value of thanking. We know the need to thank. All we have to do is open our mouths and actually do it.
Rosh Chodesh Tov!