Hakarat HaTov (or Hakaras HaTov; ), is the Hebrew term for gratitude. It literally means "recognizing the good".

Etymology

The Hebrew word means "to recognize" and the word ''tov'' means "good" or "goodness".

History

The word "Jew" is derived from the name given to

Judah (son of Jacob) Judah () was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fourth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah and the founder of the Tribe of Judah of the Israelites. By extension, he is indirectly the eponym of the Kingdom of Judah, the land of Judea, and the wo ...

, son of

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

and

Leah Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...

. The Hebrew for Judah is Yehudah, from the wording "I will praise" (''odeh'', Gen. 29:35). The root for this wording means "to thank". and refers to "I am grateful." Hakaras Hatov is an attitude and a required part of the Jewish way of life: * Your children are exhausting, but you have children. * You misplaced your car keys, but you do own a car. It is internal, whereas by contrast HoDaa, ''giving'' thanks, is an action. Rabbi

Yissocher Frand Rabbi Yissocher Frand is an American Orthodox rabbi and author. He is a senior lecturer at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, MD. Raised in Seattle, Washington, he attended Ner Yisrael as a student and progressed to become a '' maggid shiur'' ( ...

explains the sequence: we must first admit we needed someone before we can thank them. The difference is that HaKaras HaTov is about everyone who helps us, whether we needed it or not, and Hoda'ah is thanking someone for something we could not have done on our own. The Torah commands not to despise the Egyptian "for you were a stranger in his land" (Deut. 23:8); the Jewish people received hospitality and recognize this. Although when "A new king arose over Egypt who did not know of Yoseph" (Exod. 1:8), meaning "he did not WANT to know who he was! He lacked hakarat hatov for all that Yoseph had done for the Egyptian people," Jews are expected to do their part in giving recognition. "We owe a debt of gratitude even to our oppressors for the small kindness they may have done for us", even though the Egyptians "did not know of Yoseph".

Thanking publicly

There is a publicly said prayer for giving thanks for surviving an illness or danger, Birkhat HaGomel, which is recited before a Torah scroll. Sometimes Jews publicly give thanks with a

Seudas Hodaa A ''seudat mitzvah'' ( he, סעודת מצוה, "commanded meal"), in Judaism, is an obligatory festive meal, usually referring to the celebratory meal following the fulfillment of a ''mitzvah'' (commandment), such as a bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah ...

, a public meal of thanksgiving. At the

Passover Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...

, Jews sing the song "

Dayenu Dayenu (Hebrew:) is a song that is part of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The word "dayenu" means approximately "it would have been enough", "it would have been sufficient", or "it would have sufficed" (''day'' in Hebrew is "enough", and ''-en ...

", the theme of which is that even if the Jewish people had not received all the blessings they did, they would still have been thankful for what they did receive.

References

{{reflist Hebrew words and phrases Orthodox Judaism Torah study Gratitude

Etymology

History

Thanking publicly

See also

References