There is a cartoon which depicts a turkey meeting a chicken.

They converse. 

The turkey says:

I am so anxious every year until Thanksgiving is over.

Replies the chicken:

Now you know how I feel every Shabbat!

Today is a day to be grateful and focus on our blessings. But for the Jewish people it’s Thanksgiving every week and every day. We are called Yehudim a word whose root word is Hodaa or thankfulness, and our mission is to be rooted in gratitude always, focusing on the people and the blessings in our lives who are truly a gift. Sometimes we have to pay very close attention to see the impact of the very special people in our lives. 

I want to gift you one of my most favorite stories. It is a true one that happened to Rabbi Aryeh Rodin of Dallas, Texas. 

In the 90s Rabbi Rodin was facing a huge financial deficit at his synagogue, when he received a call out of the blue. A Texan by the name of Lenny asked to come see him. The Rabbi was overwhelmed by his fundraising woes but he agreed to see Lenny. He was pleasantly surprised when Lenny arrived and made a handsome donation. The Rabbi was puzzled as they were strangers. Lenny shared he had just returned from a tour of Israel and had visited the Western Wall for the very first time. He watched a man deep in prayer. Lenny said he was very inspired by the intensity of the prayer of this man who was dressed in a long black coat with ringlets by his ears. Lenny watched as the Chassid prayed with deep fervor at the Wall. He wanted to connect with this person but was embarrassed to approach him. So instead he decided that upon his return to Dallas he would make a contribution to a Temple where this man might pray. 

That meeting began a true and lasting relationship between the Rabbi and Lenny. They taught each other much wisdom and became fast friends. A number of years later tragedy struck and Lenny passed away from a massive heart attack. Lenny’s mother came to the synagogue when they made a memorial service in Lenny’s honor. She was very moved as she began to truly understand the depth of Lenny’s commitment to the synagogue and its community and they to him, so she dedicated herself to support the synagogue in Lenny’s memory. 

Rabbi Rodin poignantly posits: imagine the day after 120 years when that Chasid who was praying devotedly at the Wall comes to meet his Maker. He will be bewildered and shocked to learn that he is credited with building a synagogue in Dallas Texas!  He might well respond with 

“Dallas? Vos iz Dallas?” (Yiddish for what on earth is Dallas, never heard of it)!

This week’s Torah portion is Vayeshev and it contains a highly detailed account of the conflicted relationship between Joseph and his brothers. Their relationship has deteriorated to the degree they cannot speak respectfully to one another. The brothers have left home to tend to their flocks and Jacob sends Joseph to see how they are faring.  This will be the start of the story when the brothers will attack Joseph and sell him into slavery. 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks shares a beautiful insight. 

The denouement of the story almost didn’t happen. When Joseph arrives at the city of Shechem his brothers were not to be found. He simply could not find them. He might have wandered around a bit and then given up and give home. And then the rest of the story would not have come to pass. And while the story was painful for Joseph it was to be the story of the Jewish people resulting in the Exodus. 

Instead Joseph meets someone and gets directions. 

The Torah tells us in Genesis chapter 37:15-17 that Joseph bumped into a random anonymous man and asked after his brothers, the man then gave him directions as to where they could be found. 

Rabbi Sacks remarks that this has to be the most trivial conversation ever recorded! And if every detail written in the Torah is meant to be a lesson for the future generations, what could the message be here?

Nachmanides, 13 th century scholar, says Gd sent Joseph a guide without his knowledge. 

As Rabbi Sacks puts it Gd sent “an angel who didn’t know he was an angel, he had a vital role in the story, without him it would not have happened. But he had no way of knowing at the time, the significance of his intervention.”

Rabbi Sacks teaches us that the lesson to be learned from

this seemingly insignificant interaction is that at junctures of our lives we seem to be lost, spiritually, emotionally or even physically “and then someone says or does something that points the way to a new direction. Years later we see how important that intervention was, even though it seemed slight at the time. That is when we know we too encountered an angel who didn’t know he or she was an angel.”

That is the story of Joseph’s stranger and it’s the story of Lenny and the Chasid, and it is also the story of you! 

We can be that angel for someone who needs some help along the way. 

We too have those angels in our lives and today, and every day we must take note of them and be grateful for their love and guidance. 

I am blessed with all of you angels in my life, your wisdom love and caring are my inspiration and I am beyond grateful to have you in my life. 

Enjoy the turkey, or the Shabbat chicken or however you celebrate and perhaps add a touch of angel dust!

Shabbat Shalom and lots of love.