O.C. 1:1 - The Great "Modeh Ani" Debate #2

Yesterday, we presented two ways to understand the focus of Modeh Ani that we say in the morning. According to the Shelah Hakadosh it is our way of saying thank you to Hashem for returning our neshama in the morning. According to the Ba’al Hatanya however, it is in order to instill an awareness of Hashem’s presence in our hearts and behave accordingly.

This provided us with a nice understanding as to "what" Modeh Ani is, but we still need to answer the question of "Why" -  Why do we thank Hashem for the return of the neshama in the morning (according to the She'lah) and why do we immediately recognize Hashem's presence when first open our eyes (according to the Ba'al HaTanya)?? 

I've heard many times from Rav Soloveitchick's students (and also read myself) that the Rav believed very strongly that all legitimate minhagim have their roots in a documented halachic precedent. There is no such thing as a minhag that comes out of thin air. It must be rooted in a "kiyum" - a fulfillment of an existing halacha. So what is the halachic precedent for saying Modeh Ani?

This was actually bothering me since the last post and after a little more research, I would like to propose the following.

The Gemara and Poskim discuss other Halachot that are relevant first thing in the morning. In fact, the Rama opens his comments in Shulchan Aruch by presenting passuk "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid" - I always place Hashem before me. From the moment a person wakes up a person should feel and recognize Hashem's presence. 

The Rama himself in his opening words to Darkei Moshe (his commentary to the Tur) explains further that this is based on the Rambam in Moreh Nevichim (3:52) who writes that the fulfillment of "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid" begins immediately when one wakes up in the morning by reminding one's self that Hashem's presence permeates the whole world. This will help the person get up quickly and keep this perspective the whole day. 

This clearly appears to be the halachic precedent for Modeh Ani according to the Ba'al HaTanya. The minhag to say Modeh Ani was started as a way to effectively facilitate the fulfillment of "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid".

The She'lah HaKadosh on the other hand, might be pointing to something else entirely. 

There is another bracha that we say in the morning that sounds very similar to Modeh Ani - namely the bracha of "Elokai Neshama". In Elokai Neshama we also acknowledge that Hashem is in control of the neshama and manages its whereabouts.

The interesting thing about Elokai Neshama is that it is a bracha that ends with a "Baruch" but does not start with one. The rishonim pick up on this and debate the reason why this is so.

Some rishonim (like Tosafot in Brachot) understand that Elokai Neshama is a "Birkat Hoda'ah" - a bracha to thank Hashem for something, and we find other instances where brachot such as these do not require a "baruch" at the beginning. Other rishonim  (like the Tur, the Rosh) hold that this bracha doesn't begin with Baruch because it is a bracha ha'smucha l'chaverta - it is meant to be combined with the recitation of Asher Yatzar, thus making the first Baruch of Elokai Neshama unnecesarry.

Finally (and most relevant to our discussion), there is the opinion of the Ra'avad an the Meiri who agree that Elokai Neshama is a bracha ha'smucha l'chaverta, but they feel that is is actually to be combined with the bracha of Hamapil - the last bracha one should recite before falling asleep! Even though one has slept several hours in between, the bracha of Elokai Neshama is actually a direct continuation of Hamapil and therefore does not require its own Baruch at the beginning.

We see from the Ra'avad that ideally, Elokai Neshama should be said immediately upon waking up in the morning. The only problem is that it is very difficult to maintain so much time in between the two brachot without a hefsek (interruption). Therefore, the bracha of Elokai Neshama was moved to be connected to the bracha of Asher Yatzar instead.

I saw quoted in the name of Sefer "Mas'at Kapi" (by R' Dovid Kahn) that this opinion of the Ra'avad may be the basis for the minhag to recite Modeh Ani. Since we no longer say the actual bracha of Elokai Neshama in the ideal time (i.e. immediately upon awakening), a custom started to recite Modeh Ani which closely resembles the theme of Elokai Neshama without actually being a bracha.

I believe that this explanation explains the opinion of the Shelah Hakadosh very well. The Shelah Hakadosh explicitly says that the focus of modeh ani is acknowledging Hashem's kindness in returning our neshama. It would make sense then, that this is being done in place of the Elokai Neshama that should have been recited but was moved to later in the day for the reasons cited above.

In summary - perhaps we have found the halachic precedent we were searching for and the root of the disagreement between the Shelah and the Ba'al Hatanya. The Ba'al Hatanya holds that by reciting Modeh Ani we are fulfilling our requirement of  "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid"  as outlined by the Rama and the Rambam.

The Shelah HaKadosh on the other hand understands that Modeh Ani is meant as a non-bracha replacement for the bracha of Elokai Neshama that should have been recited immediately upon awakening (according to the Ra'avad), but cannot be recited for technical reasons of hefsek.

O.C. 1:1 - The Great "Modeh Ani" Debate #1

To most people, the name R’ Moshe ben Machir probably doesn't ring a bell. He was a great Rav and kabbalist who lived in Tzfat in the 16th Century and was a contemporary and student of the Ariza"l and R' Yosef Karo. He is slightly better-known for his work entitled “Seder Hayom”.

The cover page of Seder Hayom describes the sefer as a “very pleasant commentary to the tefillot”. Perhaps this line was written out of modesty, because in truth, the sefer appears to be much more than that. I would say that it is one of the first time-management-for-dummies books ever written.

As the author himself writes in his introduction, time is a very precious gift from Hashem. Just as a person is meticulous with the way that he spends his money with constant budgeting and calculating, so should a person handle his time. Every moment is precious and every waking moment in one’s day should be filled with productive behavior. It is for this reason that R’ Moshe ben Machir wrote the Seder Hayom - to serve as a guide for how to productively spend time each day from the moment one wakes up until the moment one goes to bed at night.

I don’t know how many people have a “seder” in learning “Seder Hayom” (pun intended), but he is quoted from time to time in more contemporary poskim and therefore you might actually be more familiar with his teachings than you think.

In fact, in all likelihood you recall one of his teachings each and every day, because his sefer appears to be the source for saying Modeh Ani when you wake up in the morning. Many people mistakenly think that the “Modeh Ani” nussach that we recite in the morning is a din in the gemara or the poskim. The truth is that it does not appear in this form anywhere in Chaza”l, the Tur or Shulchan Aruch. It appears that the origin is the second paragraph of the Seder Hayom:

The Seder Hayom does not appear to give any explanation as to why we are saying Modeh Ani in the morning, but rather just provides us with instruction to recite it.

There are (at least) two approaches in the later poskim as to what the purpose of this recitation is.

According to the She'lah Hakadosh in his siddur, the reason we say Modeh Ani is in order to thank Hashem for giving us back our neshama. After returning our neshama to Him full of sin the night before, Hashem in His infinite kindness returns it to us in the morning:

The first Lubavitcher Rebbe (R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi) however, has a seemingly different approach to Modeh Ani. He writes in his siddur (named "Torah Or") that by saying Modeh Ani, one is recognizing that Hashem is before him and this helps the person immediately get out of bed:

We'll leave it at that for now. There is much more to say on the topic - bli neder in the next post.