A Different Kind of Thanksgiving
Last week the entire country gathered together to eat copious amounts of food and watch a number of football games. Er, I mean the country gathered together to give thanks to a Creator for blessing us with this land we call home.
This week the Jewish people will gather together in synagogues throughout the world and read about another Thanksgiving, namely the thanks that Leah, our matriarch, gave to G-d upon being blessed with her fourth child, Yehuda. “And Leah said ‘this time I will give thanks to G-d' and she therefore called his name Yehuda.”
The Talmud remarks that until Leah gave thanks to G-d, no one else had done so. This is a puzzling statement as we would be hard pressed to think that all of the great people who lived prior to Leah, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and so on would not have thanked G-d! How do we understand this?
One of the explanations of this enigmatic statement is as follows. Why, in fact, did Leah wait until Yehuda was born to give thanks? After all, she already had three sons prior to having Yehuda!
The answer is that Leah knew through a prophecy that Yaakov was destined to have twelve sons. Being that he had four wives, it stood to reason that each wife would have three sons. When Leah bore a fourth child she had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude towards G-d.
You see, the first three sons were almost what she “rightfully expected," so it was upon the birth of this fourth child that she realized she was given “more than her allotted share" and gave her a deeper feeling of gratitude.
In fact, upon the birth of her fourth son, Leah came to the stark realization that EVERYTHING we are blessed with in life is truly “more than our allotted share" and demands our thankfulness to G-d for ALL that He gives us.
When the Talmud states that Leah was the first to thank G-d it means she was the first to verbally acknowledge her immense gratitude to G-d for EVERYTHING in her life – from the largest blessing to the smallest. It was a gratitude borne of a recognition that nothing in life is “coming to us," nor are we entitled to it. Leah sparked a revolutionary approach in gratitude to G-d, a weltanschauung that she passed along to her children. Expect nothing and be grateful for everything.
It is no coincidence that the Jewish people have always been known colloquially as “Yehudim," literally translated as those descended from Yehuda. For it is not the biological link to Yehuda that defines us as a people, rather it is the approach to life and to serving G-d that is manifested in the name Yehuda from the moment he was born that defines us as such.
Every year before Yom Kippur, I try to accept upon myself a small area to improve upon during the upcoming year. Typically these resolutions are my private thoughts which I don't share with others. Some years I do a good job of sticking to those resolutions, other years not as good.
A week or so before this past Yom Kippur I had the thought to choose a resolution to try and have more focus and concentration during the blessing of Modim in the Shmoneh Esrai prayer. This blessing thanks G-d for everything He gives us and, while it seems a small resolution to make, I thought it would be something beneficial for me to do.
The day before Yom Kippur arrived and I began having second thoughts as to whether I was choosing an appropriate resolution with which to enter the Day of Judgement. Before I continue this narrative, let me share with you a related backstory.
This past Pesach my two teenage daughters took my “afikoman" matzah and as a request for a present (bless their angelic hearts) they asked not for iPads or jewelry but rather a weekly study session with the three of us! Of course I agreed to this beautiful request and we made up to study a book called “Living Emunah" (“emunah” means faith in G-d). Some weeks we study and others we don't get around to it but when we do we read through three chapters at a time. Since there are three of us in the group, a typical session has me reading the first chapter and then my daughters each reading the next two chapters.
Now, back to the day before Yom Kippur. It had been several weeks since we had studied and I told my girls, “Let's do a quick study session as a merit before going into this holy day.” They both agreed and we opened the book to where we had last left off over a month before.
For some reason, this time my one daughter read the first chapter, my second daughter read the next chapter and I began to read the third chapter. As I read I could hardly believe my eyes. To paraphrase, this particular chapter began extolling the virtues of the daily “Modim" prayer and how important and awesome it is to say it with concentration and feelings of gratitude! Here I was, wondering if I was choosing an appropriate resolution and G-d was literally talking to me and affirming my decision!
Out of the blue I had requested to study that day, and we just so happened to be at that spot in the book due to the fact that we had missed several sessions. In addition to this, I want to add that contrary to the other times. I read my chapter last, and out of all of the volumes in this particular book it was THIS chapter that I "happened to" read – simply put, my mind was blown. Suffice it to say, I no longer doubted my resolution!
The chapter I read concluded with a story of how the saintly Chofetz Chaim would, every night before he went to sleep, verbally thank G-d for all of the blessings he received that day, from the large things to the small things that we take for granted such as having a healthy and functioning body, a loving family and a place to call home.
So if you've recovered from the turkey and stuffing hangover and you want to celebrate Thanksgiving in true Jewish fashion, follow the leads of our mother Leah and the Chofetz Chaim and practice thanking G-d daily for everything with the recognition that we aren't “entitled" to anything and that everything is a gift. Practicing this philosophy will lead to a much more enriching life and a fullness that doesn’t come along with a stomachache and falling asleep on the couch!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Koval
