BH
Parshat Nitzavim comes immediately after the ninety-eight curses of Parshat Ki Tavo. Rashi, quoting the Midrash Tanchuma, describes the reaction of Am Yisrael after hearing them. Their faces changed with fear, and they asked Moshe Rabbeinu how they could possibly withstand such punishments.
Moshe comforted them.
Look at how many times you have already angered Hashem, he told them, and yet you are still standing here. You committed serious sins, including the Golden Calf, and although the Torah describes the punishments such sins deserve, Hashem did not destroy you.
Moreover, Moshe explained, the suffering that does come upon the Jewish people ultimately helps them remain standing.
The continuation of the Midrash Tanchuma, which Rashi does not quote, develops this idea further and reveals an essential principle for daily life.
Why Are the Jewish People Still Here?
The Midrash asks why Am Yisrael has survived while other nations that acted wickedly disappeared from history.
Over the centuries, nations such as the Babylonians and others that oppressed the Jewish people rose and eventually fell. Why did judgment destroy them while Am Yisrael endured despite our own sins?
The Midrash identifies a fundamental difference in how suffering is received.
This is speaking about the general character of the nations rather than every individual; there are, of course, righteous people among the nations and Noahides.
When suffering strikes the nations, the Midrash says, they rebel against it and do not mention Hashem. God does not become the address to which they turn.
Instead, a person searches everywhere else for relief—drugs, alcohol, vacations, psychiatrists, coaches or whatever solution he can find—without turning to Hashem.
The Midrash connects this with the verse calling upon Hashem to pour His wrath upon “the nations that do not know You.” Their suffering does not lead them to recognize Him.
Am Yisrael responds differently.
When suffering comes upon the Jewish people, it brings hachna’ah, submission. A Jew understands that the ultimate address is Hashem and turns to Him in tefillah.
The Midrash connects this response to Tehillim 116, from Hallel: whether what comes upon us is good or difficult, we call to Hashem.
But the commentaries on the Midrash explain that these two responses are directly connected.
Thanksgiving Comes Before Prayer
Why does a Jew know to turn to Hashem when life becomes difficult?
Because when life is good, he thanks Hashem.
When something good happens, he does not simply say, “I deserve this.” He recognizes where it came from and says, “Thank You, Hashem.”
That habit of hoda’ah changes how he reacts when circumstances reverse.
Because Hashem was the address during the good times, Hashem remains the address during the difficult times. Thanksgiving naturally leads to prayer.
The opposite is also true. If someone experiences success without recognizing Hashem—seeing everything as his own achievement or something he simply deserves—then when suffering arrives, he will not instinctively turn to Hashem either.
The Midrash expresses this by saying that the nations rebel against their suffering and “do not mention the Name of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.”
The commentaries explain why: there was no thanksgiving beforehand.
This is a fundamental way of approaching life. A person who accustoms himself to thanking Hashem when things are going well prepares himself to know where to turn when they are not.
Hoda’ah in Likutey Moharan Lesson 2, Part 2
Rebbe Nachman develops the importance of hoda’ah extensively in Likutey Moharan Lesson 2, Part 2.
Thanksgiving is a key that opens doors.
This includes the regular practice of thanking Hashem and saying Mizmor L’Todah, the Psalm of thanksgiving recited in the daily davening.
But hoda’ah becomes especially important when a person later encounters distress.
Rebbe Nachman teaches that when someone is in danger, suffering or serious difficulty, his connection to truth can become damaged. Under pressure, a person becomes particularly vulnerable to making mistakes.
He is frightened and confused precisely when he most needs to make the right decisions.
What can protect him then?
The thanksgiving he practiced during the good times.
That hoda’ah comes to his assistance. It enables his prayer and his turning toward Hashem to guide him toward emet, so that he can find the truthful path through the difficulty confronting him.
This is the connection reflected in the Midrash’s reading of Tehillim 116. Calling to Hashem when life is good means giving thanks. That prepares a person to call to Hashem in prayer when suffering arrives.
Hoda’ah leads to tefillah.
A person who recognizes Hashem when life is pleasant and thanks Him for what he receives will instinctively know where to turn when the situation becomes painful or confusing
Why Hashem Sends Difficulties
This also explains Rashi’s consolation to Am Yisrael.
The curses should not be understood simply as a message that Hashem wants to punish and destroy. Rashi and the Midrash describe suffering as something that brings a person to submission and causes him to turn to Hashem.
This theme appears throughout the Talmud, the Midrash and the Zohar: Hashem sends difficulties so that a person will call out to Him.
A person may respond, “But I already am turning to Hashem.”
Yet in Heaven they know that he is capable of turning to Hashem more deeply. The pressure brings another level of tefillah out of him, and that deeper connection can bring him toward his potential.
Hashem is waiting for the person to turn sincerely to Him.
That becomes the opening for salvation.
If instead the person keeps running from one solution to the next without stopping to recognize the message—“I have to do this, I have to do that”—then the purpose of the difficulty has not yet been achieved. The pressure may continue until he finally lowers his head and speaks to Hashem.
The wise response is to recognize the process earlier.
And the preparation for doing so begins when life is good.
Halachah and Thanksgiving
Rebbe Nachman adds another important connection: learning Halachah also gives a person the capacity for hoda’ah.
Halachah clarifies the Da’at of Torah—the knowledge of what Hashem wants from us and how He wants us to serve Him.
This clarity itself generates joy and thanksgiving.
A person is not left without direction. Through Halachah, he can know what to do and how to live according to Hashem’s will. That knowledge helps awaken a feeling of gratitude toward Hashem.
Hoda’ah, Halachah, truth and prayer are therefore bound together in Rebbe Nachman’s teaching.
More Than Fear of Punishment
This perspective is particularly important when communicating Judaism to the next generation.
Many people who grew up in religious homes became alienated because the message they absorbed was almost entirely negative: “You will be punished. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. You will suffer.”
If Judaism is presented primarily as threats and punishment, it is understandable that when enough pressure comes, some people eventually fall away.
There must also be hoda’ah.
Children should hear their parents saying, “Thank You, Hashem.” They should grow up hearing gratitude repeated in the home and seeing how their parents turn to Hashem when difficulties arise.
Then they can see a very different way of living as a Jew.
Suffering is no longer understood merely as punishment, Gehinnom and fear. The difficulty itself can become what pushes a person closer to Hashem.
Its purpose is to bring hachna’ah—to help a person lower his head, open his mouth and speak to Him.
The Preparation for the New Year
This is the consolation of Nitzavim.
Am Yisrael heard the curses and wondered how they could possibly survive them. Moshe answered by pointing to the fact that they were still standing.
Why?
Because Jewish suffering can lead back to Hashem.
But the ability to turn to Hashem during difficulty is built during the good times. A person who recognizes Hashem when life is pleasant and thanks Him for what he receives will instinctively know where to turn when the situation becomes painful or confusing.
That is the daily practice: hoda’ah when things are good and tefillah when they become difficult.
May this be our gateway into the coming year: to accustom ourselves to thanking Hashem, to recognize Him in the good and, through that hoda’ah, to know how to turn to Him with truth whenever we need His help.
Shabbat Shalom u’Mevorach and Ketivah VeChatimah Tovah
Meir Elkabas
This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/thanksgiving-and-prayer/.
For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/1GSLtWj_7rk
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