Praising and Thanking for Our True Eternal Blessings
Chanukah Is an Auspicious Time Due to the Praise and Thanks of the Jewish People
When Yidden Give Thanks, Heavenly Will Is Aroused
The Sefer Seder HaYom notes that Shemoneh Esrei is designed so that we recite Sim Shalom—in which we daven for peace and so many other blessings—immediately following Modim, in which we give thanks to Hashem.
He explains that this is because after we have praised and thanked Hashem during Modim, we have created an רֵצון עִת, an auspicious time of Heavenly Will, and it is thus an opportune time to supplicate Hashem for the blessings we need. Thanking Hashem, he explains, automatically creates an רֵצון עִת—and there’s much blessing that we can effect at this time.
While there are times that are auspicious and opportune in and of themselves, the Seder HaYom teaches us that we can also create auspiciousness through our actions, namely, by praising and thanking Hashem.
Zos Chanukah Contains Both Praise and Auspiciousness
The day of Zos Chanukah contains both: It is an רֵצון עִת in and of itself, as we learn in the Sefarim haKedoshim that it is an auspicious date. The holy Ruzhiner taught that on Zos Chanukah even a simple Yid can effect miracles that great tzaddikim can only accomplish on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur!
But, in addition to the greatness of the day itself, Zos Chanukah is a day on which all the והודאָה הלְלְ, the praise and the thanks, of the Jewish People from throughout Chanukah accumulates. All the ותשבחות שירֵות, the songs and the praises, are accrued—and our meditation upon the blessings and the kindness of Hashem create a tremendous רֵצון. עִת
Zos Chanukah Is All the More So a Time of Praise and Thanks
The avodah of Zos Chanukah is indeed to arouse this very רֵצון עִת by spending the day in praise—the very element that has awakened this עִת רֵצון to begin with. The more we invest in praise and thanks over Chanukah, the greater an רֵצון עִת it will be.
For this reason, we don’t spend the day of Zos Chanukah in prayer and supplication—as we do on the Yamim Noraim—because the avodah of the day is והודאָה. שבח This is our way of attaining closeness to a Hashem—even more so than tefillah! On Chanukah, we attain all the blessings through our closeness to Hashem. And how does one become close to Hashem? By recognizing the good that He does for us and by giving thanks for them!
Hashem Is Aroused to Do Good for Us Through the Praise We Express
Why, indeed, is it this way? How, indeed, does our praise create an עִת רֵצון? Because in truth, the Ribbono shel Olam wants to shower us with blessings. But at times it can happen that there’s a blockage, a concealment that creates a barrier to the shefah.
However, when Yidden recognize His Divine benevolence and they give thanks for it, great Divine Will to do good for us is aroused—for our entire relationship with the Ribbono shel Olam is based on פנים כמְים פנים: אָלְ when Yidden awaken their own love toward HaKadosh Baruch Hu through והודאָה שבח, His love toward us is in turn aroused! A great love and an רֵצון עִת come down to the world—and once there’s an עִת רֵצון, all barriers and concealments automatically fall away, and all the blessings ובגֻשמְיות ברֵוחניות that the Ribbono shel Olam has always wanted to bequeath to us are able to come down unimpeded and unabated.
Therefore, if we wish to utilize the Yom Tov of Chanukah, our avodah must be to increase our praise and gratitude to Hashem—to find yet another point, another element in our life for which we can give thanks. This will effect tremendous auspiciousness—and once the רֵצון עִת is here, we can surely take advantage of it and send up a tefillah to the Ribbono shel Olam when the Gates of Heaven are open wide.
Thanking, and Thanking Again
Thanking with Depth and Meditation
The Sefer HaChaim (authored by Rabbeinu Chaim ben Bezalel, a brother of the Maharal MiPrague) tells us that a Yid must always praise and thank even for things for which he has previously given thanks. We must always repeat and reiterate the והודאָה שבח by thinking deeper and meditating more strongly upon the good that Hashem gave to us.
It is true that you remembered the kindnesses of the Ribbono shel Olam, and you even gave thanks for them. But now, review them again and give thanks for them with more meditation and thought, because it’s impossible to properly grasp the depth of the Ribbono shel Olam’s kindness to us! We must constantly meditate upon every chessed of Hashem.
Thanking and Praising with More Quality and More Quantity
The Sefer HaChaim is telling us that aside from the avodah to thank Hashem for every minute detail of our lives, in quantity—there’s also an obligation to remember these kindnesses with the proper quality and appreciation. Although we may have already given thanks for them in the past, we must constantly meditate deeper and deeper... becoming
