Some of you would have heard the blessing of HaGomel, perhaps after surgery, a long flight, or a frightening experience. It is a blessing of thanks, recited publicly, acknowledging that we have safely emerged from danger.

Its roots lie in this week’s parashah, and its message resonates powerfully at our Seder table.

In the Torah we read (Vayikra 7:12): “If one brings it as a thanksgiving offering.” The offering included three types of Matzot, unleavened bread.

Rashi explains that this refers to four categories of people who offer thanks for a miracle that happened to them: 1. those who travel by sea, 2. those who journey through deserts, 3. those who were imprisoned and then freed, and 4. those who were ill and recovered.

These four categories are not random; they describe classic situations of vulnerability and salvation. In Temple times, such a person would bring a korban todah, a thanksgiving offering, to show gratitude not only in words but through action, acknowledging that their deliverance was not taken for granted.

Rabbeinu Yitzchak Abarbanel offers a beautiful insight: When the Israelites left Egypt, they experienced all four of these salvations: they crossed the sea, they entered the wilderness, they were freed from slavery, and they were healed from the suffering of Egypt. In a sense, the entire nation was obligated to give a collective thanksgiving offering.

This idea found its way into the Seder night. We eat three matzot, corresponding to the three types of unleavened loaves brought as the thanksgiving offering.

This helps us understand the child’s question in the Haggadah: on all other nights, we eat both leavened and unleavened bread, but on this night, only matzah. Because the Seder is not just a commemoration of the past, but an act of gratitude, we re-experience the Exodus as the beneficiaries of divine kindness.

Perhaps this is why HaGomel is recited publicly. Gratitude grows when it is shared. On Seder night, we do the same: we gather, we tell the story, and we give thanks, not only for the miracles of the past, but for the many journeys, seen and unseen, from which we too have emerged safely. And we show thanks to Hashem, and pray for the safety and delivery of all those who are still in danger, that they too may soon experience redemption, healing, and peace.