תּוֹדָה

Want to know how to say 'thank you' in Hebrew? The word is todah (תּוֹדָה) — and it's one of the first words every visitor to Israel learns. But todah carries a depth that 'thank you' doesn't. Its root (י-ד-ה) means 'to throw, to cast' — thanksgiving in Hebrew is literally casting your gratitude toward God like an offering. Psalm 100:4 commands us to 'enter His gates with todah,' making gratitude the doorway to God's presence. In the Temple, the todah offering was the most common voluntary sacrifice — more frequent than sin offerings. The Hebrew Bible teaches that gratitude isn't just polite; it's the primary posture of faith.