L’chaim to our blessings

Rabbi Fishel Zaklos

When was the last time you asked someone how their day was going and they responded by using adjectives such as “amazing, incredible, unreal or awesome…?”

It’s becoming increasingly rare to hear people describe life this way — at least not without a good amount of L’Chaims.

Being positive is not in vogue. Being cynical and despondent about the present and future seems to be the more popular approach adopted by too many.

Will you join me in disagreeing with this trend?

Not just because it’s a great time to be alive — which it is. So many statistics show that we are living in incredible times compared to almost all of history.

The reason we need to disagree with being despondent is because it sucks the marrow out of life. Life is too precious to waste on negativity and ingratitude, while missing out on incredible blessings. Yes, we all have blessings in our lives.

Each morning when we wake up, we traditionally say the words of the Modeh Ani prayer, in which we thank the Creator for restoring our lives to us: "I thank you, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. So great is Your faithfulness."

Thanks for what?

For so much!

For example, for waking up. Unfortunately, some people didn’t wake up this morning. I woke up. Thank you.

For sitting up in bed. So many people cannot sit up. Thank you, my Creator.

For opening my eyes. For moving my limbs. For the gift of touch, smell, hearing, taste. There are many people who don’t have those specific blessings. Every living being has so much to be thankful for.

Thank you, G-d for the phone I am about to check, the friends and family whose social media posts I’ll be scrolling through today and the memes I’ll give a chuckle to.

For fresh air. For electricity. For a universe bigger and greater than I can imagine. For my heart. For my brain. For knowledge. For relationships. For the kindnesses I will do, and the kindnesses I will receive.

In Judaism, we take the value of gratitude — Hakarat Hatov — very seriously. In one of the first stories in the Torah, we witness the dysfunction of ingratitude. It’s a famous tale. G-d tells Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge.

Adam and Eve took a bite. G-d shows up and demands an explanation. Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. Let's zoom in on Adam’s words, “The woman you gave me is the one who convinced me to eat the fruit.”

How ungrateful. Without Eve, Adam was the loneliest human being ever. Now, he has a wife, a companion, a friend, another human to share his life with. Say thank you, Adam!

The reason we need to disagree with being despondent is because it sucks the marrow out of life.

Not only does he blame his wife. He even blames his G-d. “Hey, you gave me her. Your problem. What do you want from me?”

Friends, that is what ingratitude looks like. What a miserable and immoral way to live.

We all have the choice to adopt a lifestyle of gratitude, where we notice every blessing in our lives and say thank you.

Yes, there are huge challenges in this physical world we inhabit — it’s messy, complicated, tragic and intense, but it is also full of so much beauty, grace, love, awe and goodness. It’s all around you. Get off Facebook, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), and look in the eyes of almost every person you see on the street. You will see so much goodness.

This world is stunning. It’s Sukkot season. Get out into the Sukkah with your loved ones. Chill. Breathe. Take in the magic of being alive.

Don’t you agree?

Rabbi Zaklos Fishel serves at Chabad Jewish Center of Naples