Modai Ani
Gratitude
Modah/Modeh Ani lifanecha, ruach chai v’kayam,
she hehezarta bi, nishmati, b’chemla rabbah emuntecha.
I offer thanks before you, living and eternal King,
for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.
There are various stages to waking up in the morning. You know- the alarm goes off and you go back to bed, or you are lying in bed about to get up, but not fully conscious yet. This prayer is said in that moment of consciously being awake. In that first moment of a new day we begin by acknowledging our soul, God as its creator and reminding us that God’s grace is available to us, and that God has faith in us, even when we may doubt ourselves.
This prayer has its origins in the book of Lamentations 3:22 as it states that the kindness of God does not end but that God’s grace and faithfulness is renewed every morning. Lamentations is traditionally associated with the holiday of Tisha B’Av which commemorates the destruction of The Temple and other disasters that have befallen the Jewish people through the ages. So, no matter how difficult life was the day before, we are renewed each morning with chanting these words and asking God to grace us in the renewal of this day.
The following are various ways of thanking God and chanting the Modai Ani.
Modai Ani: Elul
This came to me on Rosh Hodesh Elul 5773 and is a good one to chant each morning of the month of Elul before Rosh Hashanah as a way to prepare for the New Year.
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Modai Ani: Soroi
This chant came from a deep place of wanting to thank God for sustaining me each day and each morning.
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Modai Ani: Thanksgiving
This came a few days before Thanksgiving and the daily thank you to God was magnified with the energy of the annual holiday.
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Modai Ani: Pure and Simple
Here are a few good ones to start with. When people ask me how they might begin to engage in a daily spiritual practice, I always recommend beginning one’s day with the Modai Ani prayer and ending it at bedtime with the Shema. These chants have simple tunes you can play with or use to begin a daily spiritual practice.
Pure and Simple #1
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Pure and Simple #2
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Pure and Simple #3
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Pure and Simple: Spirit Buddy (2018)
Sometimes you need a spirit buddy to help spark your creative juices. When I was taking a walk in the Berkshire mountains with a spirit buddy, the gratitude for the experience got expressed in a simple but lovely way that made us feel connected to our creativity.
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Modai Ani: Thank you God for my life today
Inspired by a morning at the beach…
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Modai Ani: Wakeful Consciousness all day long
I woke up on the Friday before Memorial Day disappointed that I hadn’t heard from our children. It made me sad and put me in a funk. But then another part of me awoke and said I didn’t have to be this way… there was another way to react, live, perceive. In that moment I realized this “other part” was the higher consciousness inside me, a consciousness that lives there all the time, and it is up to me to access it, shift my perspective and live with more calm, peace and love.
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Modai Ani: Great Faith
Modah/Modeh Ani lifanecha, ruach chai v’kayam, ruach chai v’kiyam,
she hehezarta bi, nishmati, chemla rabbah emuntecha.
I thank you God for my life
I thank you God for it all
You are the source of my life
You are the source of it all
You have returned it to me
You’ve placed my soul back in me
You’ve placed Your Great Faith in me
I thank you God for this Faith
Gratitude for God’s faith in me.
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Modai Ani: Thank you very much
Modai Ani, lifanecha
Modai Ani lifanecha ruach chai
Thank you very much 2x
Thank you God for all my blessings
Thank you for my life.
Thanks for the good and for the bad
Thanks for all that it teaches me
Thank you God for all my blessings
Thank you for my life.
As I recited the words of Modai Ani one morning I gained a perspective on life I had never had before. Namely, that even the tough things, the challenges, the difficulties, were also blessings because of all the opportunities they offer me to grow and learn…. opportunities to refine my soul and smooth its edges. There was a deep sense of gratitude that welled up inside with an understanding that all of it needed to be appreciated because life is a gift.
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Modai Ani: Heaven on Earth
(2019)
Woke up hearing the beginning of this prayer with deep resonant and low notes which were grounding as I offered gratitude with the words of Modai Ani. Then the 2nd part with the word lifanecha, which means “before You”, came as rising up to God. The energy and intention of this chant feels like waking up first thing in the morning here on Earth with the grounded gratitude of modai ani, but with the elevated high energy of God with the word lifanecha. In some ways this chant encapsulates the essence of spiritual practice. Namely, to bring heaven down to the earthly realm. For us to enjoy all the physical pleasures of an embodied existence, but with the heaven, Godly, elevated consciousness of Light and Love of the One.
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Modai Ani: Pulling Down the Upper Reaches
The beginning of this Modai Ani is reaching up into the heavens to pull that delicious, nurturing, nutritious energy down into our bodies so we might begin our day with a soul connection to our Maker.
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Modai Ani: Sunrise
Hebrew of Modai Ani
Thank you God
There is no one quite like You
I bow to You
To Your glory in this world
Modai Ani
Thank you God
For your beauty in nature
May it enter every cell of our being
Modai Ani
Thank you God
For your inspiring creativity
and the gift of this new day- today
Modai Ani
Thank you God
for the starred studded gift of night and day
for gracing us with you pure light.
Modai Ani
Hebrew of Modai Ani
At a chant retreat of Rabbi Shefa Gold’s chant leaders, one of my colleagues, Malkah Binah and I (who I didn’t even know very well!) decided to watch the sunrise, and of course we began to chant. It was one of the most profound experiences of God I have ever had along with another human being. This was because she and I were co-creating as God was creating a new day. The depth of stillness and darkness was comforting and cradling, and then every so slowly the light began to appear. We felt reverence, awe and took in the beauty. We played off one another’s energy chanting in and out of the Hebrew and English. This final version is my interpretation of our experience. I know it would not have been as rich if not shared with her. I am most grateful for her spirit, creativity, and flow.
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Modai Ani: Raise My Soul to You
I raise my soul to You, God 3x and 5x
By reciting the words of Modai Ani each morning we are elevating our souls to the heavenly realms of God. By doing this we raise our consciousness to the God consciousness and take our earth walk each day with a deep connection in our souls.
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Modai Ani: Energetic
Sometimes we wake up slowly and want a contemplative start to the day. Other times we might feel energetic or want the energy to help us get going. Here are some chants that might animate you.
Energetic #1
(created in 2015)
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Energetic #2
(created in 2017)
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Modai Ani: Smooth and Silky
(2017)
Each Modai Ani has a different quality and it depends on what your soul needs. If you want simple and smooth as butter, I recommend this one.
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Modai Ani: Graced
Gratitude to You
Creator of the World, my maker too, gratitude to you.
(2017)
The practice is about reaching deep down inside into the well and filling it with so much gratitude to our Maker for our lives, and for the world. From this very deep place might we extend blessing out to those who are in need of blessings and don’t even know it. Carolyn Myss speaks of collecting all the radical free goodness in the world and sending it to the places where evil exist. If we can do this, perhaps we can combat the weak vulnerable energies of the world and of people, as this is the entry point of evil and where it can penetrate.
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Modai Ani: Deep Gratitude
Giving thanks, we dig deep, to give thanks
Giving thanks, digging deep, giving thanks
This chant came one morning during the Coronavirus quarantine. It became clear to me that “normal” gratitude was not enough. At a time when life as I (we) have known it has been shut down, I (we) had to dig deep into the well of gratitude. To be grateful for shelter, food, health and to practice this gratitude so that it lays at the foundation of every moment.
This chant also reminds of a game we played in my Positive Psychology education. One takes a ping-pong ball and throws it back and forth between two people each time the person with the ball saying something they are grateful for. At the beginning, the gratitude is obvious for good health and family and love and then the longer you throw the ball back and forth, the gratitude deepens to the point that you are just grateful for the breathe of life. Chanting this chant brought me to this place. A place of such deep gratitude that I was present to the very moment of chanting the chant, saying the words and being able to drum. That’s how refined and deep the gratitude was.
May this version of Modai Ani serve you when you are feeling blue, ungrounded or lacking hope… to help you re-orient towards gratitude and uplift your spirits and energy.
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Modai Ani Lifanecha: One More Day of Life
God I give my thanks to You 2x
One more day of life; one more day of living
This came to me during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020: to have deep gratitude for each day. We are not guaranteed anything except each day, each breath, each step. When things are so deeply uncertain, it can help to acknowledge the gift that is presented to us right on a platter right in front of us, and to appreciate it, deeply.
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Modai Ani: Great Faith
Modai Ani Lifanecha Ruach Chai v’kayam
You return my soul to this day 2x
It’s a great act of faith each morning 2x
I had been asking to “get closer to the process of creation” and one day I woke up at 5:30 am and there it was: the dawning and creation of a new day. This Modai Ani chant came and then the English words convey the meaning of the 2nd part of the chant, which is about God having great faith in us each morning… and returning our souls to us is in fact the great act of faith. This sunrise, the process of creation, is what inspired this chant.
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Spontaneous Modai Ani
April, 2020
During the Cornona virus pandemic of 2020, gratitude became part of survival, not just a luxurious indulgence. I woke up one morning with this chant in my head and it sounded so familiar I thought it was the same as others. Yet not. This felt like the gratitude was pouring out of me. Feeling deeply grateful for food, shelter and protection from the virus.
Any time you want to connect to deep gratitude this is for you.
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Modai Ani for Grounding
December, 2020
During the 2020 Pandemic I often found myself in need of grounding given the swirling of some much uncertainty. It seems it was always a perfect storm with COVID underlying all as a foundation and then the 2020 Election and many extreme weather patterns with fires and floods. Sometimes the only thing I could rely upon was the steady beat of the drum married with the sacred words of thank you from our tradition.
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So Grateful
Modai, Modai ani, Modai ani Lifanecha 2x
This spontaneous expression of gratitude came from this inspired sunrise. Even during the pandemic I realized life is a tremendous gift, and it can be taken away in a split second. With so many deaths recorded daily from COVID-19, this practice helps us to break through ennui, depression, dis-engagement and routine to realize what a gift each day is for us. With this awareness may we be fully engaged with our Maker and ourselves to enjoy all that life has to offer us and may we also use our gifts to serve life.
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Feminine Flowing Spirit of Gratitude
Modani Ani, Modai Ani, Modai Ani Lifanecham Rucha Chai, Ruacha Chai V’kayam.
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Shechinah, ruach chai, Shechinah v’kayam.
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Pachamama, ruach chai, Pachamama v’kayam.
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Quan Yin, ruach chai, Quan Yin v’yakam.
Modani Ani, Modai Ani Modai Ani Lifanecha
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Mother Mary, ruach chai, Mother Mary v’kayam.
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Fatima, ruach chai, Fatima v’kayam.
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Miriam, ruach chai, Miriam v’kayam.
Ruach chai, ruach chai, Esther, ruach chai, Esther v’kayam.
Ruach chai, Ruach chai, Shechinah, ruach chai, Shechinah v’kayam.
Talmud Megillah 14A: “The Gemara asks with regard to the prophetesses recorded in the baraita: Who were the seven prophetesses? The Gemara answers: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther.”
I was studying this text before the Jewish holiday of Purim and was reminded of the excitement and power of female ancestors being named and then being lauded for their prophetic stature.
The following day I began to chant Modai Ani. I was aware of the ruach chai part of the Modai Ani and began to feel the power of the feminine energy pouring through. Then the image of the good luck charm of an upside down hand or hamasa came to me. I remembered learning that it is not just the hand of Miriam but also of Fatima and Mother Mary. Using a drum from Peru I recalled the Peruvian male shaman calling to Pachamama the energy of the earth mama during a ritual ceremony. May this modai ani help bring forth the feminine flowing spirit of all the sacred mothers of all traditions for balance, compassion, connection and prophecy.
- Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes. She is also known as the earth/time mother in Inca mythology, Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes. She is also an ever-present and independent deity who has her own creative power to sustain life on this earth
- Quan Yin is a shortened form of a name that means One Who Sees and Hears the Cry from the Human World. Her Chinese title signifies, “She who always observes or pays attention to sounds,” i.e., she who hears prayers. She is associated with generous and abundant compassion.
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Spontaneous Modai Ani #2
March, 2021
On March 1, 2021 a friend of mine went on the Publix supermarket website and was able to get me an appointment to receive the vaccine. When you read this months or years from now it may not seem like such a momentous moment, but it was. I was just shy of 65 the age limit in Florida and this friend found a way to honor my near 65 years and get me a vaccination appointment. At 7:30am when he texted me the news of a secure 1st and 2nd appointment, my appreciation was spilling out into the universe with such heartfelt gratitude. This spontaneous modai ani reaches the heaven to say thank you and then the vakaym comes down to a low note to remind me of the everlasting sustenance and grounding presence that is with me always to sustain me.
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Gratitude with the Stamp of Your Love
Modai Ani lifanecha, Modai Ani Lifanecha
I awaken today to the Presence of You
I awaken this day to Your Presence.
I pray that my words, actions, thoughts and deeds
all be sourced from You, and go forward.
May they travel today with the stamp of Your Love
May they enter the world, with Your Blessing.
The perspective of this Modai Ani emphasizes the lifanecha: “in front of You God” part of this prayer. It offers a chance to source our gratitude and all that flows from this gratitude, with the consciousness that all we do has the Stamp of God’s love and blessing on it. As we chant these words we send our intentions out into the world with the good Godly seal of approval. Hopefully with this consciousness we go about our day with a higher level of awareness of what we do, say and believe.
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