Awakening from the Dead-Remez
Waking Up One Last Time
There is, however, another more remote connotation to our expression of gratitude when we say Modeh Ani. While it cannot be debated that Modeh Ani is first and foremost an expression of gratitude for simply waking up alive, there is a hint of another awakening for which we are grateful – the Resurrection or Revival of the Dead that will occur in the future Messianic Age.
At the end of the Modeh Ani prayer, reference is made “Your faithfulness.” According to P’shat this means that G-d is reliable and can be counted upon to restore my life not only today, but tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, as well.
On the level of Remez, however, the reference to G-d’s faithfulness is a reference to the fact that in the future; we can count on G-d to restore our souls to our bodies in a much more dramatic way. Even those who have died will be restored to life in the Messianic Age. This process known as Techiyat Hameitim-Resurrection or Revival of the Dead represents one of Judaism’s fundamental beliefs. Maimonides considers it to be thee thirteenth principle of faith.
Our daily prayers refer to this process explicitly no less than six times; five in the Amidah prayer and one in the preliminary prayers. (In the course of a year, thus, a Jew will make explicit reference to the Resurrection of the Dead over 5,800 times!)
Thus, from the perspective of Remez, our expression of gratitude for being alive in the morning after sleep alludes to an even greater awakening from the dead in the future.
Every Second Resurrection of the Dead
Now, on the surface, this seems like a stretch that cannot even be justified by the term Remez. It’s like saying that thanking someone for a penny alludes to expressing gratitude for a million dollars!
In truth, however, the hint is not that remote. While it seems that waking up in the morning is not in any way similar to a dead person being revived, there is much more of a similarity than what meets the eye.
We are told that G-d creates the world every second. If G-d were to have stopped creating the world, for one instant (actually the most infinitesimal period of time) the world would revert to absolute nothingness. To create a world out of nothingness, G-d must constantly create the universe.
Accordingly, every component of time, we are experiencing a Revival of the Dead! Every instant, G-d is taking us from a state of utter nothingness – a state much more negating than just death – into a state of existence.
We are, thus, dependent on G-d’s creative powers and kindness every second. When do we show our gratitude for this total revival? Obviously, we cannot do it every instant. It would even be difficult to do it at certain arbitrary intervals, because our eyes of flesh do not see the changes that occur every instant. When is there an opportune time to recognize the extent of G-d’s kindness that He literally brings us back to life?
It is in the morning, when we can see the process of a sleeping almost lifeless person (according to the Talmud and Zohar, sleep is one sixtieth of death) miraculously coming back to life. In the morning when our limited vision sees the rejuvenating process, we can appreciate the real extent of our revival, from utter nothingness to “something-ness” and vibrant life.
Thus, the allusion of our thanks for awakening in the morning to the future revival of the Dead, is not as farfetched and remote as it may appear at first.
From the book Safe Kabbalah, Part Two: The Fourth Dimension by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
