Rabbi Michael Strassfeld says that one should be grateful ______. [br] [origina

Host: Every language has a phrase for "thank you" It’s a sentiment children everywhere are encouraged by their parents to express easily and often.
    Every religion has a special way to say "thank you" to God. In the Jewish faith, these "thank you" often take the form of formal blessings, or "brachot."
    In addition to "thank you blessings" for food and health, there are also brachot to be recited upon seeing a rainbow, a wise person, a beautiful woman, a long-lost friend or a king. There is even a long blessing one says after using the toilet, which gives thanks for the smooth functioning of the human body.
    Michael Strassfeld is the rabbi of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in New York and the author of recently a book of Life: Embracing Judaism as A Spiritual Practice.
    Voice: Being Grateful I think makes us aware or reminds us of the blessings of our lives. It reflects a sense of how important it is to go through life and go through every day really appreciating the miracles of every day. And I don’t think it’s about making the sun stand still as it were or dividing the Red Sea; but really just the everyday aspects of life, for nature and beauty and relationships. All those things we enjoy every day, but often we forget about.
    Hest: Rabbi Strassfeld says that traditional Jews also thank God at painful moments. When one hears of a death, for example, one blesses God as "the true Judge".
    Voice: And it’s a way of expressing an acknowledgment that death is also part of life. It doesn’t mean that death is a blessing or that that person is better off, but it just really understands that everything in life is part of life, and that everything from a traditional viewpoint is created by God. So all of life is part of that. Blessing and gratitude allows you to emphasize or to focus more on the good things and to put the difficult things in the broader perspective.