Q&A: Therefore We Are Obligated to Give Thanks, etc.
Therefore We Are Obligated to Give Thanks, etc.
Question
The Holy One, blessed be He, decreed upon us the Egyptian exile, and He decreed to bring us out from there. Am I supposed to thank someone who put me in prison for taking me out of it? True, you could ask this about any salvation from distress, but with every distress one can say that the distress came because of my sins and the salvation came through God's mercy [I assume you won’t accept that either]. But the Egyptian exile was decreed several generations in advance, and although the Sages say it was decreed because of the statement, “How shall I know,” still, the decree was bounded in time from the outset. I realize the question isn’t phrased very well, but the principle is clear. I’d be happy if you could elaborate on the topic more generally.
Answer
See my article on philosophical gratitude: https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=f18e4f052adde49eb&q=https://mikyab.net/%25D7%259B%25D7%25AA%25D7%2591%25D7%2599%25D7%259D/%25D7%259E%25D7%2590%25D7%259E%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%259D/%25D7%2594%25D7%259B%25D7%25A8%25D7%25AA-%25D7%2598%25D7%2595%25D7%2591%25D7%2594-%25D7%2591%25D7%2599%25D7%259F-%25D7%259E%25D7%2595%25D7%25A1%25D7%25A8-%25D7%259C%25D7%2590%25D7%2595%25D7%25A0%25D7%2598%25D7%2595%25D7%259C%25D7%2595%25D7%2592%25D7%2599%25D7%2594/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjm9JWnq7KMAxXOVaQEHZAmKvoQFnoECAoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2emav1GLJdU-CyPEXSiN6x
Discussion on Answer
I explained (maybe not there?) that this is a psychological opportunity to be reminded of the obligation to give thanks for the world and its laws. In truth, there is nothing to thank for regarding the rescue itself, but human nature is to feel gratitude at such moments, so we make use of them.
Would you agree with me that this is a somewhat apologetic answer?
That’s apologetics if you claim that this was the original intention of the Sages. They certainly believed in divine involvement. But from my perspective this is really not apologetics, since one truly should thank the Holy One, blessed be He, for that, and these really are good opportunities to do so.
The article is enlightening. Still, it seems to me that it doesn’t answer the question about gratitude for being saved from distress. Granted, I owe gratitude to the Creator simply for the fact that He created me, but why does an additional obligation of gratitude arise because He took me out of the distress that He Himself put me into? After all, in the Haggadah we say, “Therefore we are obligated to give thanks” — meaning, therefore, because He took us out of Egypt, etc.