Modeh Ani - Part 2

We began with the first three words of “Modeh Ani,” acknowledging our awareness that we are always in the presence of Hashem and that everything that comes our way during the course of the day ahead is from Hashem and for our benefit.

We also discussed expressing our profound and deep gratitude to Hashem and committing to a new day of doing Hashem’s will with mind, heart, and enthusiasm.

The next three words – מלך חי וקים (melech chai v’kayam – O living and eternal King) – expand upon our acknowledgment that we are “l’fanecha,” before You. Our task in life, while we are awake, is to make Hashem “alive” in our lives. Since Hashem cannot be seen with our eyes and is not tangible, this is not easy to achieve. One way that is suggested is to envision that the person we have the highest regard for in the world (alive or from past history) is entering the room and we are “before him.” Imagine if the Chafetz Chaim entered our room. Our speech and behavior would certainly be on the highest levels we are capable of. That represents the first acknowledgment of a greater awareness of Hashem.

Next, imagine that your father is the wisest, wealthiest, most powerful man in the world. He is also the most skilled physician in the world. His love for you is immense and all he does for you is always for your benefit. This represents the second acknowledgment of bitachon in a more tangible way.

The word v’kayam adds the point that Hashem is always “on the job.” While we sleep, He is running the world and orchestrating everything, including every detail of our lives.

The next four words – שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה (she’hechezarta bi nishmasi b’chemlah – for You have returned my soul within me with compassion) – relate to our heartfelt and immense gratitude for waking up once again. With these words, we expand on the huge gift of being alive and having the opportunity to serve Hashem, come closer to Him, help others, make an impact on the Jewish people and the world, and earn priceless blissful eternity. We now add that Hashem has returned MY neshamah with compassion. Each of us has a unique role to fulfill in Hashem’s world. If we woke up, then Hashem is telling us that the world needs us and could not exist without us. I, with my unique strengths, gifts, talents, life settings, and challenges, have been given another day to serve Hashem by performing His mitzvos, converting my challenges into opportunities, and helping others in my unique way. Our Torah learning, tefilos, chesed, and mitzvos will have a profound impact on B’nei Yisrael and the world, which only we could accomplish.

Hashem has returned our neshamah with compassion. Based on our previous actions, we may not yet truly deserve to live and be granted all the gifts Hashem bestows upon us. However, if we woke up, Hashem has, in His compassion, granted us more time to correct whatever we need to, and to contribute to am Yisrael and the world.

Given that we are just waking up, we are likely not to be at our peak mental and emotional capacity (to say the least!). In the next segment, we will discuss how we can prepare ourselves before we go to sleep, so that we can have a meaningful and energizing wake-up, thinking about the acknowledgments, gratitude, and commitments that we have discussed.