B"H

Monday, Mar-Cheshvan 13, 5776 / October 25, 2015

In last week’s Parsha, Lech Lecha, G-d tells Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you.” Our sages instituted that we recite at least one hundred blessings each day. Blessing G-d for everything we have, brings us more blessings. Blessings bring more blessings.

The following, from the Torah Fax archives, is worth reprinting. It reminds us to acknowledge the good things we are blessed with daily, which we too often take for granted.

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large room filled with angels.

My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to G-d said in prayer are received."  I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.  The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section.  Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth. 

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section," my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed.

"How is it that there is no work going on here?" I asked.  “It’s sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.

"How does one acknowledge G-d's blessings?" I asked.

"Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, "Thank you, G-d."

"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.  If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.  And if you get this on your own computer or mobile phone, you are part of a small percentage in the world who have that opportunity.”

"Also, if you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than many. If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.  If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm - you are unique to all those in doubt and despair."

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.  So, enjoy your blessings and remember to say, Thank you G-d!

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY