Gratitude Affirmation Generator
Generate your very own Mekore list
Last night, I had the rare opportunity to reconnect with my old Rebbe, Rav Elie Marcus, and listen to him give his famous weekly Mussar schmooze at my alma mater, Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim in Beit Shemesh. I happen to be in Israel for a few days right now for a family simcha.
Back to Reishit - the Beit Midrash was packed, familiar, alive. Rav Elie walked in, and a hush came about. He spoke animatedly about the challenge of being mekore — rooted in truth, authentic, aligned with Hashem, not lost in performance or comparison. “Your Judaism must be authentic - cared for - passionate,” he said, “It is as fragile as holding a glass vase - any trip or wrong movement and SMASH!”
Rav Elie quoted the Mesillat Yesharim: if you want to connect to Hashem, start by making a list of what you’re grateful for. Make gratitude to Hashem regular - every day.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it for the next few hours. This advice is so close to many things I already do each day—centering myself with a breathing exercise each time I take three steps forward before Davening, a short affirmations list always on my desk that I repeat, and a huge “Be kind to myself” poster on my wall.
What if we could make that Mekore gratitude list together — you and me, and an AI that knew how to listen? So, I asked ChatGPT to think about all this, generate all the necessary pieces, and post.
Something real. Not fluffy, not preachy. Just a small daily tether to self-awareness and spiritual warmth.
Now, it exists.
Introducing: The Mekore Affirmation Generator
Built entirely with free tools — Google Forms, Google Slides, OpenAI’s API, and a few lines of Google Apps Script — this week’s artifact is a working prototype that turns your own reflections into a custom affirmation card in your voice, grounded in Torah.
Here’s what it does:
You fill out a short form with four personal reflection prompts.
AI generates five short Mekore-style affirmations based on your answers.
The app generates your personal list as a 3x5 card ready for printing.
It emails you a PDF with print instructions (and yes, it actually fits an index card).
The whole thing takes about 2 minutes. No downloads, no accounts, no gimmicks.
What’s Under the Hood
The generator was built using basic tools: Google Apps Script — Google’s automation language —Google Sheets, and Google Slides, plus a mix of oher Google tools and connected to OpenAI via API (how computers/code talk to each other). With my guidance, ChatGPT not only created all the code, but the step by step implemenation instructions, prompts, and how to connect the dots… plus the first draft of this post :)
Some of the basic guidance I gave to ChatGPT up front for how to deliver the final card results that teaches the AI to:
Speak in a voice aligned with Jewish Modern Orthodox values
Reference ‘Hashem’ instead of ‘God’
Stay under 15 words per line
Echo the emotional tone of mussar, not bumper sticker slogans
Then I designed a single-slide template in Google Slides with placeholders and formated to a vertical 3”x5” card. When you submit the form, the script:
Sends your answers to OpenAI
Writes the five affirmations back into the sheet
Generates a personalized slide
Exports it as a PDF
Emails it to you with warm, clear instructions
We broke it once. We debugged it twice. We changed directions midstream. About two hours after first sharing my idea in an audio chat with ChatGPT, it was real, including this post.
You’ll answer four questions. A few moments later, you’ll get a PDF in your inbox.
Print it. Tape it to your mirror. Put it in your siddur. Keep it folded in your pocket.
Or look at it when you feel far away, and need something to remind you: you’re not.
B’ahava from Israel,
Dave