Note
Gratitude (1969)
There are two interpretations of gratitude: one pagan-philosophic, and the other Jewish-moral. Aristotle in the Greek world, and Cicero and Seneca in the Roman world, had little use for gratitude. According to Aristotle, to be in a predicament of gratitude meant to be indebted and inferior. It placed you under obligation, and therefore marked you as subordinate. The "high-minded” man, therefore, would immediately pay back a favor, and even in greater measure, thus tipping the balance in his favor and becoming superior, the creditor instead of the debtor.Gratitude is thus a prudential quality, it is a question of cleverness in establishing the social relation to your own advantage instead of to that of the other. Gratitude is therefore an element in social mechanics, and is an obligation that should be gotten rid of as soon as possible in order to retain your own social position. This is the normal attitude of most people. It is probably why ingratitude is so common, while those whom fate has destined to be in a position to help others, learn by experience not only not to expect any thanks but to be very happy if they are not repaid with enmity and resentment. If gratitude is a debt, then just as the borrowerusually resents the lender because he feels obligated to him,so is the person who feels called upon to express gratitude . Judaism, however, never saw it in this light. That gratitude is important, goes without saying. The very word ,Jew״ comes from ״Judah" which in turn, according to the Torah, means thankfulness, for Leah named her son Judah, saying:הפעם אודה את ה', ״. This time I will thank God.״ Furthermore, Saadia Gaon saw gratitude as the first principle in attempting to construct Judaism on a rational philosophical basis. The fact that we are the creatures of God automatically implies gratitude to Him, which in turn accounts for a large number of the Commandments.Gratitude, in Judaism, is not prudential but moral; it is not primarily social but personal. …
