One of the topics in this week's Torah portion is the Korban Todah, the Thanksgiving sacrifice. The rabbis of the Talmud taught that this sacrifice was brought by an individual who survived any one of four possibly life-threatening situations - an ocean voyage, a trip through a wilderness, a prison sentence, and a serious illness. To express thanks for escaping danger, the person brought the Todah sacrifice and invited many friends to the meal where the meat of the sacrifice, and the accompanying 40 loaves of bread, were eaten. In the current day, our equivalent to this practice is for a person to recite the Birchas HaGomel prayer after blessing the Torah, during prayer services.
Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, in a commentary posted online 10 years ago, quotes Rav Yitzchok Huttner who explained that the word 'Todah' has two distinct means - either 'thanks' (most common) or 'an admission.' Both meanings convey the fact that we are indebted to others, and to God, for our many joys and accomplishments - none of us is truly a self-made man (or woman). We can see both meanings of the word expressed in the Modim paragraph of the Shemoneh Esrei (the Silent Amidah prayer).
Rabbi Ciner suggests that, in our era we should utilize our own faces and our dispositions to express public thanks to God for His many expansive kindnesses to us. If we respond to others' inquiries about our lives with a 'Thank God,' if we can reflect an appreciation of God's gifts in our daily outlook, if we can smile much more readily than we frown, then we have offered a personal 'Korban Todah' than can help foster a greater awareness of and appreciation of God in the world.
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