Thanksgiving is very Jewish. A festive meal where we proclaim thanks for the blessings we have? That’s called Shabbat. Jews know Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday we essentially celebrate every week.
The sage Ben Zoma would teach about the difference between being a grateful and ungrateful guest. An ungrateful guest looks at what the host provides and declares, “He only gave this and that.” A grateful guest looks at what the host provides and declares, “Wow. He gave this and that. How blessed am I.”
Jewish thanks is transitioning from mindsets of mental scarcity to mindsets of appreciation and wonder.
Each week, not only on Thanksgiving, we can remind ourselves what it means to be a guest, both at the dinner table but also in this world. We can look at God’s gifts and declare that we only experience this and that. Or we can look at God’s gifts and declare, “How blessed am I.”
May it be a Jewish Thanksgiving… this week and beyond.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Nicole Guzik is senior rabbi at Sinai Temple. She can be reached at her Facebook page at Rabbi Nicole Guzik or on Instagram @rabbiguzik. For more writings, visit Rabbi Guzik’s blog section from Sinai Temple’s website.
