The Thanksgiving holiday which we will celebrate in the coming week is a time for family gatherings and festive meals and for giving voice to our feelings of gratitude – whether by attending special services at our house of worship or by reciting grace as we sit around the dining table. For sports enthusiasts, there are both college and professional football games to be viewed on TV. Thanksgiving weekend is also a busy time for travel, with families taking advantage of time off from work and children’s recess from school. Thanksgiving marks the commencement of the season which Americans refer to as “the holidays,” which includes Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa and culminates with New Year’s Day.
Thanksgiving’s roots go back to the Hebrew Bible and to the holiday of Sukkot (the feast of Booths or Tabernacles) when farmers in ancient Israel gave thanks for the blessings of the harvest and celebrated the ingathering of the crops in anticipation of the winter rainy season.
The concept of giving thanks is fundamental to the Jewish tradition not only in the holiday calendar but also within the framework of Jewish worship, which consists of prayers of praise, of petition and of gratitude. A key section of the statutory prayer recited three times daily by observant Jews is referred to as hoda’ah – giving thanks. The word hoda’ah is related to todah, which in ancient times referred to the sacrificial offering brought by a worshipper who wished to express thanks to God. In modern Hebrew todah is simply how one says “thank you.”
The root meaning of hoda’ah is “acknowledgment.” When we give thanks, we are acknowledging that we as individuals are not the sole authors of our good fortune and of the blessings that we enjoy. Whether we are believers who attribute those blessings to God, who has endowed us with intelligence, strength, ambition and opportunity or whether we are simply recognizing that we would not have achieved what we have without the guidance and assistance of parents, teachers and mentors and without the support of a community and its institutions, giving thanks is an acknowledgment of dependence and of a connection that transcends the self. We could not have done it by ourselves on our own. English translations of the prayer book blend both shades of meaning by rendering the opening words of the hoda’ah as “we gratefully acknowledge.” My teachers at seminary taught me that the essence of idolatry was for a person to say, “my might and the power of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:17)
This is not to denigrate the achievement of individuals, to take away the recognition of their talents and efforts, or to suggest that they should not be proud of what they have accomplished. I emphasize the importance of acknowledging our dependence on and our connection with others, because it keeps us from focusing solely on ourselves and motivates us to express our gratitude by sharing our blessings with those who have not had the good fortune that we have.
I am always impressed with the “holiday spirit” and with the manner in which people and institutions respond during this season to the needs within the community. The Thanksgiving basket distribution begun by Temple B’rith Sholom and First Congregational Church and in which Temple Israel now participates is one such example. At the same time, I am aware that the needs of which I’ve spoken go far beyond what government and private philanthropy have been able to provide for. I am aware too that what for many is a season of joy and celebration is for others a time of profound loneliness. Let us make each day a time for being thankful – for life itself, for knowledge and wisdom, for family and friendship, and for having been provided with our basic needs, and let that gratitude be expressed throughout the year by affirming our connections with others and reaching out to them.
This article appears in Low attendance holds back school performance.
