Happy Thanksgiving!
According to the primary source for everything, you might think I mean the Torah which is the primary source for everything, but in this instance I was referring to Google,
Thanksgiving, which occurs o the fourth Thursday in November, is based on the colonial Pilgrims harvest meal which took place in 1621. It is celebrated to appreciate the blessings of the past year.
Rabbi Kalman Rosenbaum, former principal of Torah Day School in Atlanta, often intoned that every day is Thanksgiving Day.
Did he not know Google’s definition?
Rabbi Rosenbaum was familiar with the primary source mentioned above, the Torah, which inextricably intertwines the Jewish people and gratitude.
The Jewish people are called Yehudim in Hebrew.
The source for this name is found in this week’s Torah portion, VaYetze.
In this portion, our matriarch Leah, who is married to Jacob, gives birth to her fourth son.
She names him Yehuda.
The root of the name Yehuda, means gratitude.
Leah was expressing her thanks to Gd for the birth of her fourth son.
The Talmud states that since the time of creation, no one ever expressed gratitude to Gd as Leah did.
This is actually curious, because the Torah shares others who expressed thanks to Gd.
How is Leah’s thanks on a different level?
Rashi, the super commentator, explains that Leah knew that her husband was supposed to have 12 sons. As Jacob was married to 4 wives (it was Biblical times, and it wasn’t easy then either) Leah did a calculation and deduced that it was likely she would bear 3 sons.
When she delivered a fourth and unexpected son, Leah felt that this gift, which went beyond what she expected, deserved a special level of thanks.
Leah realized that even though her life was part of a Divinely ordained plan, everything that happened is a gift from Gd and should not be taken for granted.
We need to say thank you for everything that happens to us!
Rabbi Kirzner points out that all the good things that happen to us, even those things that are very small and are perhaps in the “natural” order of things require our attention and appreciation.
Mrs Shira Smiles teaches that every time Leah would call Yehuda, and we know a Mom has to call her child’s names multiple times a day, she would be reminded of her deep gratitude for the gift of his existence.
Can we imagine experiencing such a gift?
Would it be such a paradigm shift that every time we call a child’s name it would evoke in us such deep feelings of appreciation for their existence?
Even when we have to call that name over and over?
Instead of frustration, we could focus on appreciation.
I can’t begin to imagine how deeply grateful every mother of a soldier who returns home from our battlefield nowadays feels when she has the opportunity to call his name, and he can answer.
On the never ending scrolling that I seem to partake in, I try to focus on the uplifting messages.
I recently saw something breathtaking.
A soldier is returning from war for a brief respite and is coming home.
This soldier seemed to be of Ethiopian descent.
When his mother catches sight of him for the first time as he surprises her, her instinctive reaction is to first fall to the ground and bow.
This is not a mother bowing to her child, rather it was a form of prayer, an instinctive prostration of thankfulness.
(There are many Jews who arrive in the Land of Israel and similarly prostrate themselves in appreciation for having merited to arrive in this most holy place).
This is a form of prayer and gratitude.
This is the posture of a Jew, who starts the day with Modeh Ani, a prayer of gratitude.
Modeh comes from the same root of gratitude and the same root as Yehudi.
These days are often unimaginable in their suffering.
I catch myself weeping multiple times daily as I read and hear of the tragedies that are befalling our people.
But often my tears are filled with hope and inspiration as I read of the incredible amounts of kindness, charity, unity and thoughtful actions that our people are taking.
I am deeply grateful.
Because when I hear of the “regular” person who sits quietly and prays, or gives charity, or organizes support for displaced families, or provides programs to educate our community (check out our upcoming You Plus 2 event which is geared to updating our nonJewish friends about the situation in Israel) I am so thankful.
When I see the creativity of a person who has contrived portable laundromats and spas to refresh and support our soldiers, I am amazed and so thankful.
I am proud to be part of a nation that lives in the light and shares it so freely.
We are so fortunate to be part of this nation!
Who is like you, the People of Israel.
For Yehudim, every day is Thanksgiving Day.
We live in gratitude, and that lifts us up!
Gobble Tov!
(Thank You Christine)
Shabbat Shalom and so much love!