Thanks Giving
Thanksgiving is really interesting. It's the only holiday that is celebrated as a holiday by most Americans that has no specific religious tie. It's not specifically Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or pagan. It's just American.
Giving thanks is a universal human value. Best-selling author Anne Lamott in a sweet little tome Help Thanks Wow points out that which we all know: giving thanks on a regular basis is a form of prayer - of connection. In her book she talks a lot about not being a jerk.
“Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides. It means that you are willing to stop being such a jerk. When you are aware of all that has been given to you, in your lifetime and the past few days, it is hard not to be humbled, and pleased to give back.”
While Thanksgiving is American, and gratitude universal, we must parse and discover what is Jewish. In the Torah, when our matriarch Leah gave birth to her fourth son, she called him Judah (Yehudah) from the Hebrew root l'hodot - to recognize. This verb is built upon to mean various things: making an admission, thanking, confessing. All boil down to recognition of truth.
When we are ungrateful, we are closing our eyes to the truth of what we have been given. When we fail to admit something or confess, we are not in full recognition of the truth of where we have erred. It's a basic human tendency - to fail to recognize.
Leah knew, as did all our matriarchs, that there were to be 12 tribes. And there were four of them, which means (do the math) 3 for each. That was foreseen. That means Leah's birth of Judah surpassed her expectations. And when expectations are low, recognition of bounty is high. She realized God had gone beyond for her and thus she named him for that gratitude. She saw it. Recognized it. Acknowledged it. And the entire Jewish people came to be known by this term - Judah, Judaism, Jews, Judea. We are called to a higher calling; a higher degree of recognition is expected of us.
The book of Jewish prayer known as the siddur is a full-on decathlon of Jewish gratitude. In it we are advised to thank G-d for life, health, Judaism, peace, love, a functioning body, clothing, sleep, family, faith, community - and the list doesn't stop there.
Celebrate Thanksgiving. Give gratitude. Read Help Thanks Wow. And don't forget to be Jewish and to remember the lesson of Judah.
Shabbat shalom!
Ruchi Koval
