Dear Friends,
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and an early Shabbat Shalom! Did you know there is a connection between Thanksgiving and this week’s parasha: Vayeitzei (Genesis 28:10-32:3)? Isn’t it always amazing how Torah and our lives intersect?
In Parashat Vayetzei, Jacob departs Canaan, dreams of a ladder to heaven, arrives at his Uncle Laban’s home in Haran and ends up marrying both Leah and later Rachel. The portion covers the birth of Jacob’s 11 sons and 1 daughter, and his eventual return to Canaan. It’s a packed portion for sure!
If you read the portion, you can see a theme of gratitude that is woven in the text. One of the first times we see gratitude expressed in the Torah is found after Jacob, on his way to Haran, stops for the night and dreams of God’s angels going up and down a ladder from heaven. God blesses Jacob with the same words of Abraham’s covenant with God. When Jacob wakes up, he says “God was in this place, and I did not know it…How awesome is this place!” Jacob is expressing gratitude for the gift he receives from God and is deeply moved. His gratitude leads to vowing that if God provides for him on his journey, Jacob will accept God as his own and give a tenth of everything he has to God.”
Next, Leah, Jacob’s first wife, names her son יְהוּדָה (Yehudah: Judah), which has the same Hebrew root as the word לְהוֹדוֹת (L’hodot) meaning “to thank.”
We see Jacob taking stock of his life, thankful for God’s blessings. Around our Thanksgiving tables we give thanks for the blessings in our lives, recognizing life’s gifts, even in challenging moments. Jacob and Leah both face challenges: fear, loneliness, lack of love, but through it all recognize and express thanks to God. Like many of us who sit at the Thanksgiving table at the intersection of struggle and gratitude, we are reminded that our journey, like our ancestors, are linked through themes of gratitude, family, blessing, resilience and perhaps, an acknowledgement of God’s presence in our lives, a meaningful connection on this Thanksgiving holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom,
Cantor Michael Shochet
