"We can complain that rose bushes have thorns or we can rejoice that thorn bushes have roses."
Abraham Lincoln
"Thankfulness has an inner connection with humility. It recognizes that what we are and what we have is due to others and above all, to God".
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks"
"For me every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart every time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile."
Elie Wiesel
"Begin your day thanking G-d, if not from your faith in him, then at least from his faith in you".
The Rebbe
Did you know that in the Jewish tradition, the very first word that we utter each morning is "Thank you". That's right, before we do anything else and even before we get out of bed, we say a one line meditation of Thanksgiving to the Almighty, for giving us another day to live and be his partner in creation and in making a better world.
The prayer is called Modeh Ani and it is a simple yet powerful idea that we start our day with each and every day. Doing so gets us out of bed on the right side, inspires us with a healthy perspective right from the get go, and enables us be grateful for what we have and then in turn have more empathy for others.
This is just one of the daily and consistent ways that Judaism has us engaged in giving thanks to G-d and to others. The theme of gratitude continues to express itself throughout our day both in how we interact with people and how we interact with the Divine. Whenever we eat we say a blessing before and make a thanksgiving blessing when we finish. Likewise the concept of Hakarat Hatov, expressing and acknowledging thanks to others, is a fundamental principal of Jewish morality.
It goes without saying that the reason we should be giving thanks is simply because it is the right and important thing to do. Yet as an aside being grateful comes with many tangible benefits, including having better mental and emotional wellbeing, having empathy for others, better relationships with friends and family, becoming a stronger person and so many more benefits.
In addition, the name for a Jew in Hebrew is Yehudi, which comes from the word Yehudah (Judah), whose very name means Thanksgiving. In fact the biblical Matriarch Leah, named her son Yehudah as she stated, “today I will give thanks to G-d”. This in turn has become the Hebrew word for defining a Jew and indicative of this trait which must be engrained in how we act to others and to G-d.
Yes there are plenty challenges out there and this year has been particularly challenging for so many, yet at the same time there is also so much to be thankful for and plenty blessings that we can all point to in our lives. Identifying those things and acknowledging them to others and to G-d is a key part of our job in making the world a better place, and will help our world and our surroundings to be more positive and uplifting for all.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Yisroel
P.S A huge thank you to all of our volunteers and sponsors of the Thanksgiving Dinner Project, with your help we were able to deliver dozens of catered Kosher Thanksgiving Dinners and brighten the day of so many this Thanksgiving. You can see a few photos here.