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Hodu Lashem ki tov

Hodu Lashem ki tov

Ki l'olam chasdo.

Yomru na Yisrael

Yomru na Yisrael

Ki l'olam chasdo.

Yomru na Veit Aharon

Ki l'olam chasdo

Hodu lashem ki tov

Ki l'olam chasdo.

Yomru na yirei Hashem

Yomru na yirei Hashem

Ki l'olam chasdo.

Translation:

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good*, His loving-kindness endures forever.

Say it now, O Israel, that His loving-kindness endures forever.

Say it now, O House of Aaron, that His loving-kindness endures forever.

Say it now, O those who fear** the Lord, that His loving-kindness endures forever.

* from www.Isralight.com: "If God is absolutely good, why did He create a world that has so much evil? Ultimate goodness, which is the goodness achieved through choice, requires the possibility for evil. Once you understand this, you will appreciate how central a role evil plays in this world. What’s so good about this world is the evil in it. This world offers the opportunity to beat evil and choose good.

In other words, Kabbalah is teaching that the main feature and advantage of this world is the evil in it. This world was not created for what is already good in it. This world was created to be a forum for a new and higher kind of goodness—the goodness born out of overcoming evil and choosing to do good.

Imagine you walk into a factory and you see them trucking in tons and tons of garbage. You then find out that they actually buy this garbage and that it is their most valued raw material. This all sounds crazy to you until you find out that this factory is actually a recycling plant. They take garbage and turn it into usable products. Welcome to World, Inc.!

Yes, this world is really a recycling plant. This is why it is filled with so much garbage. All the trash around us and within us is here for us to recycle into usable products—lessons and realizations, growth and accomplishments. Before I learned this lesson from Kabbalah, I always wondered why there was so much evil in the world. However, after this secret was revealed to me, I asked: Why isn’t there more evil in this world? The answer, of course, is that there is less evil because we are working so hard and succeeding in our mission on earth to choose good.

Rabbi David Aaron
Author of Endless Light, Seeing G-d, The Secret Life of G-d, Inviting G-d In and Living A Joyous Life

** "Fear of God, too, is an elevated emotion that at its root draws from awe and wonder at the world and the Divine spirit that animates it. Judaism knows two kinds of fear - one is termed "fear of punishment," and the other is best translated as "awe of greatness." The second type of fear arises out of love. Maimonides explains how this is so:

"How can one attain love and fear of God? When a person contemplates His great and wondrous deeds and creations, and sees in them wisdom unlike any other, he immediately loves, praises and exalts Him... And when he considers these matters, he immediately draws back and is frightened and recognizes that he is but a puny created being, an inferior, lowly creature who, with his limited and inferior understanding, stands before He Who is perfect..."

The kabbalists compare love and fear to two wings of a bird. Only with two wings can a bird fly upward. Similarly, only with love and fear together can man draw close to Heaven." 

- Excerpted from "With All Your Heart" - the Shema in Jewish worship, practice and life. Published by: Targum Press, Inc. 

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