Please realize that I am not a competent halachic authority. Contact one for a practical ruling on any halachic matters mentioned.
This is a speech I gave December 3, 2006, at a סעודת הודאה (mine).
נודה לך ונספר תהלתך על חיינו המסורים בידיך ועל נשמותינו הפקודות לך ועל נסיך שבכל יום עמנו ועל נפלאותיך וטובותיך שבכל עת ערב ובקר וצהרים.
The authors of our prayers said it better than I can: We thank You and speak Your praise for our lives which are in Your hands, for our souls which are entrusted to You, for your miracles that are with us daily, and for your amazing and beneficial feats that are constant — morning, noon, and night.
In this case, His miracles and feats were truly apparent. — There are two major reasons I'm thanking God: Firstly, I survived a bad car crash with little damage. Amazingly, none of my vital organs was seriously affected. We in this community know how severe an accident can be from recent events, and continue to pray for the Grunbergers. This סעודה, this meal, should serve as a merit for them, that they should recover soon.
Secondly, what little damage I did have is mostly healed. Considering the shape I was in last summer, I am truly thankful to be standing here before you.
The holiday of Chanuka begins next week. It is said that all Jewish holidays can be summarized the same way: "Someone tried to get rid of us; we won; let's eat." In fact, though, Chanuka is different, as we'll see. It is one of two holidays established by later rabbis and not mentioned in Mosaic law; Purim is the other. That is one of several features shared by Chanuka and Purim. Both commemorate victory over those who would wipe out the Jewish people, victory achieved through miraculous means. Both are celebrated as joyous occasions. But whereas Purim was established as ימי משתה ושמחה, days of feasting and joy [Esther 9:22], Chanuka was established as ימי שמחה והלל, days of joy and praise [Yad Chanuka 3:3]. Feasting on Purim, praise on Chanuka. So whereas Purim entails an actual requirement to eat a meal — with wine — Chanuka has no requirement for wine and no requirement for a meal. It does have a requirement to say Hallel. Hallel — literally "praise" — colloquially refers to Psalms 113-118, full of praises of God.
Yet people do make meals for Chanuka, and the halacha states that making a meal for Chanuka is a מצוה, a meritorious act, if one includes praises of God at that meal [RMA OC 670:2].
In fact, Rabbi Sh'lomo Luria, my ancestor, writes in his Yam Shel Sh'lomo [Bava Kama 7:37] that any meal that is centered around praises of God is a מצוה. He explains not only Chanuka meals this way but also the meal one makes in honor of a newborn and any other similar meal, including this one. So there is a well-established precedent for making a meal like this.
One must distinguish, though, between הלל and הודאה. הלל, praise, also called שבח, is what Rabbi Luria was referring to in his ruling on making meals, and what Maimonides says Chanuka was established for. הודאה, thanks and acknowledgement and submission [Munk], is a specific subcategory of praise. For example, of the six psalms called Hallel, only a few verses are called הודאה. And of the daily prayer of praise — פסוקי דזמרה — only one paragraph — מזמור לתודה — is considered הודאה [RJBS].
This meal is not merely one of praise: it is one of thanks and acknowledgement to God. The difference, according to Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik, is as follows. Praise can be said from afar. I can speak to a third party and praise God. But thanks can only be given to the one being thanked. Hence, all of Hallel — Psalms 113-118 — is said with a nice נוסח, a nice cantillation; only by הודו, the verses of thanks, is there a specific custom cited to sing them. Likewise, although all of פסוקי דזמרה — the daily prayer of praise — must be said slowly and carefully, only מזמור לתודה — the paragraph of thanks — should, according to halacha [SA OC 51:9], be sung [RJBS].
But although this is a meal of thanks and gratitude to God, I would be sorely remiss in not mentioning and thanking everyone to whom I owe so much. Foremost in this regard is my wife, [name omitted from Web version], who had to live through what I hope never to experience: worrying for her spouse's life. More: She had to raise our kids as, effectively, a single mother for a while, while attending [omitted from Web version] full-time, and she, even today, still has to do a lot more than a typical working mother.
My parents and my wife's family have been extremely supportive from the start, and remain so. I cannot list, and I probably don't know, all that they've done.
The witness at the scene of the accident, who called an ambulance, the ambulance crew, and the staff at Barnes-Jewish Hospital certainly saved my life. Especially, the staff of the 84ICU were caring and professional, and my various doctors are knowledgeable and skillful. The good people at the The Rehab Institute of Saint Louis, too, got me back on my feet.
Many people came to visit, brought food, arranged hospitality for my visiting family members, lent me durable medical supplies, and called with concern and good wishes. And now that I'm getting around — but not driving — many people offer me rides, including some regulars. Among those who visited me in the hospital were professionals — doctors, but not my doctors — who took time from their busy schedules to check up on me and make sure the staff on my floor was treating me right. Specifically, Drs. Rebecca Aft, Walter Lemann, Craig Reiss, and Alan Weiss were outstanding in this regard.
My workplace, the Math Department at Wash. U., and my thesis advisor, Rachel Roberts, were very understanding of my situation.
But more important than all of these people are those who prayed and continue to pray for my health. Thank you all, beyond words.