Parashat Tzav
It is natural to move through life focused on what is missing.
What still needs to be fixed.
What fell short.
What did not go the way we hoped.
What we are still striving for.
For thoughtful, ambitious people, that pull can be especially strong. Wanting more, expecting more, and caring deeply are not flaws. But they can make it harder to notice what is already here.
That is part of what makes the opening words of the day so striking.
The first words we are taught to say upon waking are Modeh Ani — “thankful am I.”
Not Ani modeh — “I am thankful.”
In these words, the thanks comes before the “I.”
Before the plans.
Let thanks come before the “I.”
First, gratitude.
Before the worries.
Before the mental list of everything that needs attention.
Before the self takes centre stage.
First, gratitude.
That is a quiet but radical idea.
This week’s parsha, Tzav, includes the thanksgiving offering — a reminder that gratitude is not meant to be occasional or reactive. It is something we make space for intentionally. Something we practice, not just feel when life happens to go well.
Because gratitude does not always come naturally. What often comes naturally is dissatisfaction, urgency, or the sense that we will pause and appreciate life later, once things are more complete.
But life is not lived later.
And if gratitude is always postponed until everything is exactly as it should be, it may never fully arrive.
Torah does not ask us to stop caring, stop striving, or pretend that everything is perfect. It asks something more grounded: to place gratitude at the front of our awareness, not at the end of it.
To let thanks come before the “I.”
As Shabbat approaches, may we make space to notice what is already good, already present, already worthy of thanks — and allow that awareness to bring more depth, calm, and perspective into the way we live.
