About THANKSGIVING

Hebrew Name

הוֹדָאָה

English Name

THANKSGIVING

Phonetic Spelling

HO-DA-AH

Man,With,Arms,Raised,With,Sunset,In,The,Mountains,In

What does THANKSGIVING mean?

Hodaah, the Hebrew word for “thanks,” is also the root of the Hebrew word Yehudi, which means “Jew.”

וַתַּ֨הַר ע֜וֹד וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֗ן וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַפַּ֙עַם֙ אוֹדֶ֣ה אֶת־יְהֹוָ֔ה עַל־כֵּ֛ן קָרְאָ֥ה שְׁמ֖וֹ יְהוּדָ֑ה וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖ד מִלֶּֽדֶת׃
She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This time I will praise Hashem.” Therefore she named him Yehuda. Then she stopped bearing.
va-ta-HAR od va-TE-led ben va-TO-mer ha-PA-am o-DEH et a-do-NAI al-KEN ka-RE-a SHE-mo ye-HU-da va-ta-a-MOD mi-LE-det
Genesis 29:35

סַבּ֥וּנִי גַם־סְבָב֑וּנִי בְּשֵׁ֥ם יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה כִּ֣י אֲמִילַֽם׃
They beset me, they surround me; by the name of Hashem I will surely cut them down.
sa-BU-nee gam-s'-va-BOO-nee b'-SHEM a-do-NAI kee a-mee-LAM
Psalms 118:11

Description about THANKSGIVING

Hodaah, the Hebrew word for “thanks,” is also the root of the Hebrew word Yehudi, which means “Jew.” In turn, Yehudi comes from the name of the tribe of Yehudah, “Judah”, who was given this name by his mother Leah after she gave birth to more sons than she expected to have. She immediately expressed her deep gratitude for this gift, saying “This time I will praise God.” In fact, the Rabbis teach that Leah was the first one to truly give hodaah to God. She instilled this trait in Judah, who then passed on this trait to the Jewish people who, today, mostly descend from his tribe. As Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach taught, to be a Jew literally means to give thanks and express gratitude for all the blessings that fill our lives. In fact, one of the most important Jewish values is hakarat hatov, recognizing the good that others, including God, do for us. This is why King David writes over and over again through the Book of Psalms, “Give thanks to God, for He is good, His steadfast love is eternal” (Psalms 118:11). Hodaah also means to be modeh, to “admit the truth,” which Judah so humbly did in the story of his relationship with Tamar (Genesis 38:26). What is the connection between giving thanks and admitting the truth? The Sages teach that both giving thanks and admitting the truth require authentic humility before God. When we understand that everything comes from God, we will thank Him for all that we’ve been blessed with and will not allow our egos to stand in the way of admitting the truth.

Attribute of THANKSGIVING

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