Oh, that’s already a different story. He’s telling us that we have our job open for us for our whole lifetime. מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם! A big job!
And so let’s say you’re saying Hallel now and you came to this possuk. Catch yourself! I’ll start right now with this Hallel—instead of just rattling off the words, I’ll think about what I’m saying.
And I’ll continue with that program all day long too. That's what you’re saying here and that’s how it should be. You go to the beis hakisei and come out and it’s יְהִי שֵׁם ה’ מְבֹרָךְ. That’s what it means to say asher yatzar. “Ah! What an operation He just made on me! A tremendous accomplishment!” It’s a miracle how the waste was taken out of you.
And when you drink some water, it’s shehakol nehiyeh bedvaro. But not quietly like a thief in the night; out loud you say the bracha. הוֹדוּ לַה' קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ – Proclaim His Name. You have to speak aloud about Hashem – that’s יְהִי שֵׁם ה’ מְבֹרָךְ. You eat an apple? Borei pri ha'eitz. When you sit down to eat, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz. And when you finish, birkas hamazon. All day long you're thanking Hashem. מֵאָה בְּרָכוֹת בְּכָל יוֹם – At least a hundred times a day you're thanking Hashem.
Until the Night
And then after a busy and successful day fulfilling יְהִי שֵׁם ה’ מְבֹרָךְ so now the evening comes and before you go to sleep you’ll thank Him for the gift of sleep. Ah, sweet sleep! Sleep is one of the biggest benefits that we enjoy in our lives. It’s more important than medicines because at nighttime your worn-out nerves become mended. Everything in the body is restored by sleep.
And it’s a miracle every night. Why do you fall asleep? All of a sudden, you lie on the pillow and you fall asleep; you’re falling away into dreamland. It’s a nes. And while you’re asleep, all good things are happening. And therefore, when you make that blessing you should appreciate that gift because some people unfortunately cannot sleep. It’s a tragedy.
Another Day of Life
Now, at the end of that blessing we thank Hashem “Who illuminates the world with light.” Which means: We are going to sleep with one hope – that Hakadosh Baruch Hu should once more give us a chance tomorrow. “Hashem, we’re going to sleep and we look like we are dead. We beg You, revive us tomorrow morning and once more let us see the light of day.”
Now, suppose it happens! Suppose you open your eyes and you see the light of day! “I made it to the second day of the new month! Baruch Hashem!” Oh, is that a simcha! You should be excited! How great should be our happiness every morning! Another day! You mean to say I get to wake up again! I remember once there was a member in my synagogue who went to sleep. In the morning, his wife came and said, “Mordechai! Wake up!” Mordechai didn’t move. “Mordechai, wake up!” He didn’t move. It was all over. Don’t take it for granted! This happened to a young man, by the way. Mordechai was a young man. Don’t take it for granted!
Born Again Jews
So at night pray for tomorrow and when the tomorrow comes, be enthusiastic in expressing your gratitude. מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ – I thank You, מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם – O’ King Who lives forever and endures, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה – You returned my life to me with compassion, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ – how great is Your steadfastness!
That’s how the Jew gets up in the morning! He spends time expressing his gratitude to the One Who woke him up in the morning. Every Jew in the morning, his first duty before he goes to work or eats breakfast is to speak at length to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and to express thanks for giving back to him his life after having slept without any awareness, as if he were a dead body. הַמַּחֲזִיר נְשָׁמוֹת לִפְגָרִים – He restores the soul to the dead bodies! How happy we are in the morning! Once more we have a chance to look at the sunlight and say, בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ יוֹצֵר הַמְּאוֹרוֹת – We thank You, Hashem, for the sunlight.
