GEN1304 When Leah, wife of the patriarch Jacob, had her fourth child, she named him “Yehuda,” which means “I am grateful.”   The name Jew derives from “Yehudi,” the people of “Yehuda,” revealing that gratitude is intrinsic to being Jewish.   This idea is confirmed in the prayer book, where so many of the prayers express gratitude to God for all we have.   … In our lives, the Torah asks us to recite blessings for everything, from the most mundane activities, like eating, to the most extraordinary, like seeking a rainbow or the ocean, all of which help us focus on and appreciate that which we might otherwise take for granted. … we need to be ready to give thanks to a fellow human being, even if he or she has not done anything special for us.   Why? Because the soul-trait of gratitude holds the key to opening the heart.   It is an elevated soul-trait, and a fine orientation to the inanimate, human divine dimensions of the world. The refined soul is a grateful soul.   MORINIS 66