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A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBI
My dear reader, sing with me:
Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home!
If you’d rather hear the song, click here:
https://youtu.be/NT8pIpzDX0g?
si=Pno3XOOoWuK0yW0g
This song is perfect because the melody and lyrics are simple, catchy, easily hummable, and, I believe, mostly relatable. If you are lucky, at some point between now and Hanukkah, I will sing Adon Olam to this tune. (I’m wondering if this will entice you to come to services, or to stay away.)
The lyrics of the song beg the question: “What does Thanksgiving actually mean to us?” As a youngster, for me, it meant watching the Macy’s parade on television, throwing around a football, and watching “The March of the Wooden Soldiers” (with Laurel and Hardy) and the original King Kong. There were family and guests, a fire in the fireplace, and the delicious smell of way too much food. There was laughing, loving, arguing, eating, running, sitting, singing, and dozing. There were my parents, my brothers, my grandparents, an array of friends, and the occasional “stray” who had no place else to go. I am not sure that we ever got around to actually asking (or answering) the question, “What are we thankful for?” Notwithstanding the non-verbalization, “thanks” were in the air.
After the crowd dispersed, there was the inevitable quiet. We cleaned the house and invariably sat at the kitchen table, snacking on leftovers, and reflected on the day. I miss this quiet time with my mom, dad, brothers, and our dogs. Today, I am thankful for those moments.
In the secular/Christian world, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Holiday season. But, for us Jews it, sort of, comes on the heals of our holiday season. Beginnings and endings are not always clear.
Mostly, Thanksgiving evokes warm and wonderful memories. However, at a time when family gathers, it can also be a bittersweet time; it is hard not to think of those who are no longer sitting with us at the Thanksgiving table. And yet, the very name of the holiday reminds us to be thankful for the time that we had with the special people in our lives.
And this leads me back to the question that I posed above. What is the meaning of Thanksgiving to us? What should the meaning be? In our liturgy we express thanks often. Among other things, we are thankful for our bodies, our souls, our Torah, and our God. It’s not a bad list. But, if we are thankful for these things every day, what is it that we need to be thankful for on a day set aside specifically for giving thanks?
Is it thanks for our country which, despite its dysfunction, is still the greatest and most wondrous nation to ever have been established by human thought and hands? Is it thanks for our communities? Is it thanks for our families? Is it thanks for our friends? Is it thanks for the food on our tables? Is it thanks for the roofs over our heads? Is it thanks for the return of the hostages to Israel? Is it thanks for love, happiness, laughter, health, hugs, meaningful prayer, words, cars, grandchildren, the beach, the sun, the moon, the stars, pets, Wi-Fi, cell phones, anesthesia, my Ember electric mug that keeps my coffee at exactly the right temperature, an omelet, EZ Pass, a good cup of coffee, chicken soup, or latkes?
It is these and more. You can make your own list, and I would suggest that you do so.
I think true thankfulness takes the small and makes it big. Several years ago, I was struck by this piece of prose posted on Facebook:
Each Day I am thankful for nights that turned into mornings,
Friends that turned into family,
Dreams that turned into reality,
and likes that turned into loves.
Most importantly though, I am thankful for you today and everyday.
Anonymous
The message is simple and it contains a beautiful answer to our question. It is not necessary to yell “Thank You!” to the universe. Yes, it is good to take time to acknowledge the good that exists in our lives, and we should do this daily and, yes, on Thanksgiving. But what is really important is that we make it a habit every day to sweetly reach out to the people in our lives and, with sincerity and love, say: “Thank you”.
The Prophets, the Psalmist, and the Rabbis, could not have said it any better.
Hillel famously said that “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor”. It seems to me that there is a close corollary to this. We could also say: “When your neighbor is good to you, let your neighbor know that you are thankful”. (This is especially important today when there appear to be some “neighbors” who don’t particularly like us.)
At some point this Thanksgiving holiday please make sure to say “Thank you” to the people in your life. If we each do this there will truly be, as we sang at the beginning of this little essay, “no place like home for the holidays”.
A Thanksgiving Prayer
Rabbi Naomi Levy
For the laughter of the children,
For my own life breath,
For the abundance of food on this table,
For the ones who prepared this sumptuous feast,
For the roof over our heads,
The clothes on our backs,
For our health,
And our wealth of blessings,
For this opportunity to celebrate with family and friends,
For the freedom to pray these words Without fear,
In any language,
In any faith,
In this great country,
Whose landscape is as vast and beautiful as her inhabitants.
Thank You, God, for giving us all these. Amen.
May we continue to go M’Chayil L’Chayil, from strength to strength. May we express our thanks to each other. May we express our thanks to God.
Hodu L’Adonai Ki Tov, Ki L’olam khasdo – Give thanks to God, for God is Good, God’s love endures forever.
Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom - Rabbi Michael S. Jay
PS: For those traveling, did you know that there is a prayer that we say before embarking on a journey? Click here to learn about the Tefillat Haderekh (The Traveler’s Prayer): https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/tefilat-haderekh-the-travelers-prayer/
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