The first words that a Jew says upon waking are: “Modeh ani lefanecha – I give thanks before You, living and eternal King, that You have returned my soul within me with compassion – great is Your faithfulness.”
Our first word in the morning is “thanks,” because gratitude is a fundamental element in our obligation to obey God and in our ethical behaviour toward other human beings. In fact, the Hebrew word for thanks, modeh, is the same as the word for “admit” and has the same root as the word for Jew, Yehudi. The essence of being Jewish is to proclaim the existence of God, and to recognize that He is our Creator and we are His creatures. Saying these words as we wake up helps us to appreciate the gift of life that God gives us every morning. With our first thoughts of the day, “Modeh Ani” reminds us that our purpose in the world is to be representatives of God and to reveal His presence in every facet of existence.
