The Value of Appreciation
BY MOSHE KATZ 
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

October 3, 2025, King David Lounge, Lod Airport, Israel

Sitting in the lounge I feel a sense of appreciation. I appreciate my good fortune that I am able to travel, during the current war there have been times when we were not able to travel. During the Coronavirus 19 lockdowns, there were long periods in during which we could not travel. One learns not to take anything for granted, even that which are accustomed to take for granted. Life reminds us. Take nothing for granted and Appreciate what you have while you have it. 

My father taught me years ago to not only appreciate your good fortune, but to show and express your appreciation towards others. Do not assume that they do not need it. Do not assume that just because they may be famous, they don't crave and require your appreciation. I have seen plenty of movie stars and musicians deeply moved by the appreciation expressed by admirars. It is never superfluous. 

My father would write letters to the editor to express that he enjoyed an article. I thought, but why? the guy is a famous writer, he writes for the newspaper! Of course he knows he is a great writer, why would he need my approval or appreciation?

My father explained, the writer put a lot of effort into this article, he did research, he may have deliberated over every word, choosing just the right one. But people only write letters to the editor to complain, only one in a hundred that truly enjoyed the article will write a letter to say that they enjoyed it.

Only I am sure it is not one in a hundred, more likely one in ten thousand. And my father did not have internet in those days, it was not just "send", he carefully wrote out the letter, folded it into an envelope, addressed the letter, bought a stamp and brought it to the post office, a little more effort than is required today. 

He taught me appreciation. 

Yom Kippur just ended, the Jewish Day of Atonement. During the afternoon service, the Mincha, we read the book of Jonah. The story of Jonah and the Whale.  We all know the story. God see the city of Ninveh, a real city that existed in ancient times, and the people were doing wrong. He sends Jonah as a messenger for them to repent. But Jonah does not want to go and tries to run away, to avoid God so to speak. He gets on a ship and the sea becomes turbulent. He tells his fellow seamen that it is his fault and they should throw him into the sea, which they eventually reluctantly do. Jonah is swallowed whole by a whale, no harm comes to him, and eventually he is spat out to shore. He goes to the city of Ninveh, delivers his message and immediately they heed the word of God and repent. 

And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes....And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which He said He would do unto them; and He did it not.


Jonah is angry, he leaves the city and God plants for him a gourd, which is meant to be some sort of plant that provides both food and shade, and we read...

And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his evil. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said: 'It is better for me to die than to live.' And God said to Jonah: 'Art thou greatly angry for the gourd?' And he said: 'I am greatly angry, even unto death.'And the LORD said: 'Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither made it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?

Now let us think about this for a minute. 

Some will see the story is Fantastic, i.e. a Fantasy, not believable. I can understand this, I mean really, a big fish of some sort swallows a man whole, he stays there for 3 days, unharmed and just walks away from it? But let us, some believe and some do not. To me that is not the issue. I really don't care if such a Big Fish really existed, what I care about is the deeply profound lesson over here, the lesson of Apprecation!

Jonah/Yonah belittle God's message, he did not consider it terribly important to save a large city, Nineveh. He shirked his responsibility and ran away. So God taught Yonah a lesson, Yonah felt weak from the sun, the heat, and the lack of food. God created for him a tree of sorts, for food and shade. And then the next day it was gone. And God said, are you said Yonah that I took this away? You did not create it, you did not labor for it, you did not invest it, you did nothing whatsoever, and yet you are angry that it is gone. But I had a great city, thousands of people, men, women, children, cattle, an entire civilization, and yet it bothered you not at all to see it destroyed. You had no appreciation for my work! You had no appreciation for the gift of life, for the beauty in the world, You needed to be taught a lesson. You mourned for a little comfort that you had no part in creating but you did not mourn for an entire city of souls that I created. 

The message of the book of Jonah is one of appreciation. There are many lessons but this one I wanted to focus on today. In our lives we lack appreciation, and we rarely express it. 

The last part of the service of the Day of Atonement was led by a member of our community; he hails from Europe and meticulously maintains the Germanic Ashkenaz Jewish liturgical traditions. I enjoy his cantorial renditions of the ancient prayers, and I make a point each and every time he leads the service to go up and thank him, shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoyed and was inspired by his prayers. The smile on his face is priceless. All the other congregants just walk out, in a hurry to get home. But this dear man, he prepared, he studied, he practiced, I saw his notes, his sheet music, he poured his hear out. But people, they just walked out the door without bothering to express appreciation. I can guarantee you that he went and told his wife that one guy, me, came up and made a point of personally thanking him with all my heart. Appreciation. We all need it!!! We all deserve it. 

It is not about ego; it is a human need to be acknowledged and motivated. This man prepared for months, trained himself for years, and people....let's get home so we can eat. So what was the Day of Atonement worth? Not much I think. 

My father was a public speaker and I know how much he crave and needed appreciation. The people in the audience, they just don't realize it. I am sure even Paul McCartney, with all his fame and glory, need to hear "Hey Paul, Great show! I love it! you still got  it."

I would bet my bottom dollar on it. I know.

MosheKatz2024

Moshe Katz, 7th dan Black Belt, Israeli Krav Maga. Certified by Wingate Institute. Member Black Belt hall of fame, USA and Europe.

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