What should we think when we shake lulav by Hodu in Hallel?

QUESTION

What should we think when we shake lulav by Hodu in Hallel?

ANSWER

So when you do the na'anuim tomorrow by Hallel and you say, "'הודו לה' כִּי טוֹב – We thank You Hashem for all of the good You've done to us,” you have to be prepared to thank for something. You'll go into Hodu with a blank head, with nothing?

So you'll think, let's say, like this: “Didn't I marry off my daughters well?" Did you ever think about that when you say Hodu? It wouldn't be a bad idea to make one na'anuim for each son-in-law. “Ay-yah-yay! I'm thanking You, Hashem, for this son-in-law." And by the next na'anuim, הוֹדוּ לַה' כִּי טוֹב “I'm thanking You, Hashem, for the next son-in-law." That's how to work it. It's such a very big thing to have married off your children well that you can never thank enough for a good son-in-law or for a good daughter-in-law. And that's how you should think when you make the na'anuim. It shouldn't just be a mechanical thing.

You think it's silly! It's not silly at all. I do it. Many times I think like this: One na'anuim is for my oldest son-in-law. “Baruch Hashem, I have a good eidim! Baruch Hashem!” And then, “Baruch Hashem, I have a good second son-in-law. And baruch Hashem for the next eidim. Baruch Hashem, there's no trouble there. I never hear any machlokes. My daughters live in shalom with my eidim. Baruch Hashem, I'm happy. Such good eidims."

That's why we make na'anuim. That's what it means Hodu: “I'm thanking You for what You've given to me." September 1989