After Leah had her fourth son (Yehudah), she said “...This time I will thank (o’deh)Hashem, therefore she called his name Yehudah. And she stopped having children.” (Bereshis 29:35) The Perush haTur ha’Aruch al haTorah (not to be confused the shorter commentary by the same author known as the Baal HaTurim) says an amazing thing: Leah recognized that she received her fair allotment of shvatim (tribes) and asked for nothing more, therefore she stopped giving birth. If a person does not ask for more, they will not get more.
I would have thought, on the contrary, someone receives, and then thanks, and should not be greedy by always asking for more. And yet, the Tur says that when a person thanks and does not include asking for more, then he does not deserve more.
The truth is that we see the same idea from the language used by the Rambam (Hilchos Brochos 10:26). The Rambam beautifully writes: “The general principle is that a person should always cry out for the future, asking for mercy, and giving thanks for the past.” The Rambam is saying that when you express gratitude to Hashem, you not only need to give thanks for what you have already received, but you should simultaneously pray intensely for what will be coming your way in the future.
We see several examples of this in our siddur: In “Modim d’Rabanan” we say... “We gratefully thank You... who have given us life and sustained us. So may You continue to give us life and sustain us...” In the middle of Hallel, we say... “Please Hashem, save us! Please Hashem bring us success!” What is the essence of Hallel? Thanksgiving! Why are we inserting a request for salvation and future success in the middle? We include in our thanksgiving a request for the future.
Likewise, when we recite the “Hadran” that we say when concluding a tractate of Talmud, we first say “Modim anachnu lach...” (We express gratitude before You...”) and then we say “...k’shem she’azartani l’sayem Maseches X, ken te’azreinee...” (May it be Your will... that just as You have helped me complete Tractate X, so may You help me to begin and complete other tractates and books...)
We see a principle: When we thank Hashem, it is not sufficient to merely thank Him for what we have received, but we must ask for the future as well. What is the reason for this? At first glance, it seems counterintuitive. Our first thought might be that we should be thankful for what we received and not be greedy by asking for more.
I saw an interesting explanation in the sefer Abir Yakov. Let’s say a person wins $25,000,000 in a lottery. What is his reaction? “Wow! I am set for life! No more job. No more boss. No more anything. I have my 25 million bucks. I can do whatever I want!” A Jew must know that he is never “set for life.” Every single day and every single moment our lives are dependent on the Almighty with whom our souls are deposited. Every single minute of life is a gift. There is no such thing in Judaism as “I have arrived. I am set for life.”
Therefore, when a person gives thanks for the past, he needs to bear in mind “Thank you Hashem for giving me this, but I recognize and am aware that I am not set, and unless You continuously shower me with Your Blessings, I could be gone in a minute!”
As we have said many times, the Hebrew word “Ho’da’ah” has two meanings. It means to thank and it means to admit. When we thank we also admit, confessing that we are totally dependent on the ongoing assistance and support of “Yotzreinu, Yotzer Bereshis” (our Molder, the Molder of the Universe). That is what we learn from Leah, and that is what the Tur ha’Aruch says.
