Or: Modim, part III

In the last installment, I noted how in Modim we thank Hashem “al …”, for, four things. And how this is an example of something we saw before: the ways in which we receive from Hashem tends to be described as having four parts. Now, on to how they fit in the paragraph as a whole.

According to the Iyun haTefillah, this is the correct parsing of the berakhah into phrases:

צוּר חַיֵּֽינוּ מָגֵן יִשְׁעֵֽנוּ אַתָּה הוּא לְדוֹר וָדוֹר
נֽוֹדֶה לְּךָ וּנְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ
עַל… וְעַל… וְעַל …
וְעַל נִפְלְ֒אוֹתֶֽיךָ וְטוֹבוֹתֶֽיךָ שֶׁבְּ֒כָל עֵת עֶֽרֶב וָבֹֽקֶר וְצָהֳרָֽיִם

You are the ‘Rock’ (Template? – as in צורה / form?) of our lives, the Sheild of our deliverance in every generation.
We will thank / admit we need You —
for … for … for… and for Your wonders and good things which are at all times
— evening, morning and afternoon.

You might have thought that the fourth “ve’al” was “for Your wonders and good things which are at all times, [meaning:] evening, morning and afternoon.” But that would be very problematic, as we would be overlooking all the miracles that happen at night.

This then shifts the beginning of the of the berakhah as well. Since we are first saying now, at the end of the sentence, when we are praising Hashem, it cannot be “לְדוֹר וָדוֹר נֽוֹדֶה לְּךָ וּנְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ – in every generation we will thank You.” Rather, as above, we are thanking Hashem for being the “Sheild of our deliverance” in every generation. The result is the parsing I gave above. (ArtScroll also has em-dashes before and after the list of gifts, perhaps they are intended as a pair to translate as per the Iyun haTefilah.)

We are giving the times when we praise Hashem: Shacharis, Minchah and Maariv. This then makes Modim a bit self-referential. In Modim, we are describing why we are saying Modim morning, evening and night. Then there is Mussar and Ne’ilah. And with every berakhah on food, drink, or pleasant smells. As well as when we thank Hashem less formally. Still, it’s logical not to include our usual sleep time. Even though the miracles are still with us, constantly.