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Daily Chizuk #1211
Holidays / Yamim Tovim
Choosing Life: Never Losing from Doing His Will
Hashem in His infinite kindness gives us the help that we need to fulfill our purpose in this world. In general, there are two types of motivation that would get a person to want to follow Torah and mitzvot more. One is called יראת העונש-fear of punishment, where the person is afraid of the consequences of not following. The second is called אהבה-love, where the person feels so indebted to Hashem for all the kindness that He bestows upon him, that he naturally wants to feel like he’s reciprocating. If I owe my life to someone, of course I can’t wait to do his will. That’s how we should feel towards Hashem and that is the more pleasurable way to serve Him. If Hashem sees that gratitude is the catalyst for us to do our jobs better, then He’ll give us more to be thankful for. The key is that we have to honestly feel that we owe Hashem. Our performance of mitzvot is not a payback to Him. We are the ones who benefit from it.
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aurbach said, to be properly prepared to crown Hashem King on Rosh Hashanah, we first have to appreciate everything He gives us and we should start by working on having real feelings of hakarat hatov every time we say our one hundred berachot a day. That would be one hundred heartfelt statements of gratitude every single day. Someone might say, “But I had such a hard year. How could I feel hakarat hatov to Hashem when I feel like I have so little?” The Gemara in Berachot (19) brings down a conversation that the angels had with Hashem. The malachei hasharet asked Hashem, “Why do You show favoritism to the Jewish People? Doesn’t it say in the Torah that You don’t show favoritism?”
Hashem answered them, “It also says in the Torah ואכלת ושבעת וברכת – that a person only has to say Birkat Hamazon and thank Me when he is full, but the Jewish People say it even if they only eat just a kezayit of bread. So how could I not show them favoritism?” The sefer Bayam Derech points out from here, look how much Hashem appreciates when we thank Him, even though we’re not feeling satiated. Even though we might have wanted to make more money, or even though we may have wanted a bigger house or we wanted to live in a different location and we didn’t get it yet. If we can thank Hashem even when we don’t feel full, that causes Hashem to give us favoritism.
In truth, every person has countless blessings. If someone would win millions of dollars in the lottery, he wouldn’t stop thanking Hashem. Yet all the money in the world doesn’t equal the blessing of being able to see with our two eyes. How do we thank Hashem every morning when we say the beracha of פוקח עורים. Let us appreciate all the little details of what Hashem blessed us with. Let us feel a true sense of hakarat hatov that will naturally cause us to want to do His will. And when Hashem sees that receiving His blessings is what gets us closer to Him, He’ll keep giving more and more.
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aurbach said, to be properly prepared to crown Hashem King on Rosh Hashanah, we first have to appreciate everything He gives us and we should start by working on having real feelings of hakarat hatov every time we say our one hundred berachot a day. That would be one hundred heartfelt statements of gratitude every single day. Someone might say, “But I had such a hard year. How could I feel hakarat hatov to Hashem when I feel like I have so little?” The Gemara in Berachot (19) brings down a conversation that the angels had with Hashem. The malachei hasharet asked Hashem, “Why do You show favoritism to the Jewish People? Doesn’t it say in the Torah that You don’t show favoritism?”
Hashem answered them, “It also says in the Torah ואכלת ושבעת וברכת – that a person only has to say Birkat Hamazon and thank Me when he is full, but the Jewish People say it even if they only eat just a kezayit of bread. So how could I not show them favoritism?” The sefer Bayam Derech points out from here, look how much Hashem appreciates when we thank Him, even though we’re not feeling satiated. Even though we might have wanted to make more money, or even though we may have wanted a bigger house or we wanted to live in a different location and we didn’t get it yet. If we can thank Hashem even when we don’t feel full, that causes Hashem to give us favoritism.
In truth, every person has countless blessings. If someone would win millions of dollars in the lottery, he wouldn’t stop thanking Hashem. Yet all the money in the world doesn’t equal the blessing of being able to see with our two eyes. How do we thank Hashem every morning when we say the beracha of פוקח עורים. Let us appreciate all the little details of what Hashem blessed us with. Let us feel a true sense of hakarat hatov that will naturally cause us to want to do His will. And when Hashem sees that receiving His blessings is what gets us closer to Him, He’ll keep giving more and more.
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