13 May LAG B’OMER & GRATITUDE

Years ago, someone
gave me a Tony Robbins
cd to listen to. I was
excited to hear what one
of the most inspirational
people of modern times
would have to say and how it could change my
life for the better. He started his talk by saying
that he has the secret to both happiness and
success. If you follow his advice and begin each
and every day of your life exactly as he
prescribes, he can all but guarantee you will
find yourself both happier, and achieving your
goals and dreams.
I was very eager to hear what his secret is.
What Tony Robbins said is correct, but for me,
and for you, and for Jewish 3-year-olds around
the world, it was nothing new. The secret to
happiness and to achieving success, he said, is
to start every day of your life by expressing
gratitude. As soon as you wake up, before doing
anything else, say thank you. Be grateful and
appreciative for being alive, having a roof over
your head, having your health if you are lucky,
your family, etc.
He continued that it isn’t enough to think
appreciatively, but you need to start your day by
verbalizing and actually saying thank you out
loud. If you wake up with an attitude of
gratitude, the rest of your day is guaranteed to
be successful and happy.
What Tony Robbins is teaching in the 21st
century, Judaism has taught since its inception
thousands of years ago. From an early age, we
teach our children to wake up saying Modeh ani
lefanecha, I am grateful to you God for the fact
that I woke up, that I am alive to see another
day, for the wonderful blessings in my life and
for my relationship with You. It has been
inculcated within us from our youth that we
don’t wake up feeling entitled, deserving and
demanding. Rather, we wake up with a deep and
profound sense of gratitude, appreciation and
thanks.
In my experience, Tony Robbins is right. How
we start our day has an incredible impact on
how the rest of it will go. This week we will
celebrate Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the
Omer. Each day of the Omer is characterized by
another kabbalistic attribute. Lag B’Omer is
Hod sh’b’hod, the glory of glory, reflecting our
appreciation of God’s greatness and glory. The
Hebrew word hod can be understood as coming
from the same word as hodu, or modeh, meaning
thanks. Lag B’Omer is a day characterized as
“thankfulness within thankfulness,” or a day to
celebrate gratitude.
Lag B’Omer is a day characterized as
“thankfulness within thankfulness,” or a day to
celebrate gratitude.
The Chassam Sofer, Rav Moshe Sofer says
that the miraculous manna that fell from Heaven
began to descend on Lag B’Omer. On the first
day, the manna was undoubtedly greeted with
great enthusiasm and appreciation, but as time
went on and there was an increasing expectation
the heavenly bread would descend, it became
much easier to take it for granted and to forget
to be appreciative for it at all. Therefore Lag
B’Omer is a time that we identify and say thank
you for all of the blessings that regularly

descend into our lives, but unfortunately, like
the manna, that we take for granted.
It is so easy to fall into a sense of entitlement
and to forget to be grateful. Why should I thank
my children’s teachers? They’re just doing their
job. Why should I be so appreciative to the
waiter, or the custodian, or the stewardess? Isn’t
that what they are supposed to do? When was

the last time we said thank you to whomever
cleans our dirty laundry? Do we express
gratitude regularly to our spouse who shops,
cooks dinner, or who worked all day to pay for
dinner, or in some cases did both?
As we celebrate Lag B’Omer, let’s not just say
modeh ani in the morning and then quickly
transition to feelings of entitlement. Let’s

remember to say thank you to the people who
do extraordinary things in our lives. But even
more importantly, let’s especially express
gratitude to the people who do the ordinary
things that make our lives so filled with blessing.