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Gratitude

Ben Zoma said: How hard the first man, Adam, must have labored before he could eat a piece of bread. He had to plow and sow and weed and hoe and reap and thresh, winnow and sift, grind, sift again, knead, moisten and bake. Only after all of this did he eat his bread.  I get in the morning and find the bread ready for me.
What toil Adam had to do until he could be clothed with the simplest raiment. He had to shear, bleach, beat the wool, dye it, spin it, weave it, wash it, and sew it together, and only after all this was he clothed; whereas I get up and find all my clothes prepared for me.  How many workmen get up early and go late to rest! Whereas I get up in the morning and find all the things I need before me. -Talmud

That is why we pray each morning for the gifts of clothes, limbs, eyes, relief and so much more.  These are the Morning Blessings, Birkot HaShachar.

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