November 2025 - Modim, Many Thanks

In the middle of this month of November we read the Torah portion Vayera, in which Abraham and Sarah welcome 3 “beings” (we are not sure exactly what/who they are) and go out of their way to extend gracious hospitality to them. This is our earliest example of what we all do to this day, to welcome the stranger.

In Hebrew the phrase for this is hachnasat orchim, as you may know. It is particularly appropriate to speak of it at this point in the calendar, with Thanksgiving coming up. We reach out to our wider community and share our fall bounty, glad to do yet another mitzvah for our neighbors. Our cooking and serving at The Ladle is a perfect example.

The Hebrew word Modim is usually translated as “thank you,” and we remember it from a personal paragraph in the Amidah when we bow and say (to ourselves) "modim anachnu lach" (we give thanks to you). It implies both gratitude and acknowledgement. A closer translation might be “we gratefully acknowledge.”

There are a few other places in our service where we say these three Hebrew words, and traditionally we do not have to bow, but you may notice that I do. One such instance is in the blessings after the Haftarah. I feel that any time I can “gratefully acknowledge” God and how special this blessing is, I will do so. I once saw another Cantor bow at that phrase and I decided it was a meaningful thing to do, so I adopted the practice.

The first Thanksgiving grew out of a desire to express a profound gratitude to God. Many of our prayers are expressions of thanking God for our blessings. The depth of our thanks can be magnified by a deep bow, acknowledging our profound gratitude.

May we all find moments to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and to give thanks, this month and every month of the year.

B’shalom,
Cantor Rena