This is the essence of the "Modim DeRabbanan" prayer, which the congregation says while the prayer leader (shaliach tzibbur) recites the "Modim" prayer, concluding with: "For we thank You, blessed God of thanks." This signifies that we thank God for the very fact that we have been granted the privilege to thank Him. As previously mentioned, for this very reason—that we have become beings who give thanks, which is the purpose of creation and the foundation of human greatness—we must thank the Holy One, blessed be He. Otherwise, we would be akin to beasts.

It seems that this is also the intention of the verse (1 Chronicles 16:35) that we recite daily in the "Pesukei Dezimra": "And say, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name and to glory in Your praise." It would appear more precise if it said "and to praise Your praise," but according to our explanation, it is intentional. The request is that through our thanks to His holy name, we may "glory" in His praise, meaning, we become "praisers," beings who recognize their Creator and thank Him.

I found a beautiful support for our fundamental idea in Baal HaTurim on the verse (Deuteronomy 26:19), "and to make you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in glory." He writes: "In praise, in name, and in glory"—meaning, what Israel praises and extols in His name is their glory. This is what we say (Megillah 15b), "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will be a crown on the head of each righteous person," that the crown which they crown the Holy One, blessed be He, in their prayer (Shocher Tov, Psalms 19: "Day to day utters speech," Shemot Rabbah 1:4) returns to them, etc. These words are close to our idea: the Holy One, blessed be He, does not need our praises, but they are our glory—that we become "praisers," which is a great virtue.

Now, the question we posed above is resolved: why the commandment to remember the Exodus from Egypt includes the aspect of thanksgiving. It is now explained that since thanksgiving is one of the fundamentals of religion and faith, it is fitting to combine the remembrance of the Exodus with the thanksgiving for it.

From this, we should take a moral lesson to be grateful and not ungrateful, God forbid. One who is ungrateful to his fellow will eventually be ungrateful to God. Recognizing God's favors is one of the foundations, as we have shown.