Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 30, 2021

Rabbi Gershon Weissman| Special to Ventura County Star

I love the holiday of Thanksgiving.Even though I now live in Israel, I still observe the American Thanksgiving with very dear friends atime for all to express appreciation for the countless blessings we have.

In my Jewish tradition, we prioritize the expression of thanks multiple times every day. Three times a day, morning, afternoonand evening we are to recite meditative prayers which include the following blessing contained in the Daily Prayerbook.

We gratefully thank you, for it is you who are Lord, our God and the God of our ancestors for all eternity; rock of our lives, shield of our salvation are you, from generation to generation.

"We shall thank you and proclaim your praise, for our lives, which are committed to your power and for our souls that are entrusted to you; for your miracles that are with us every day; and for your wonders and favors at all times, evening, morning and afternoon.

"The beneficent one, for our compassions were never exhausted, and the compassionate one, for your kindnesses never ended, always have we put our hope in You. For all these blessings, may your name be blessed and exalted, our king continually forever and ever.

Even the name of our religion, Judaism, comes from the name Judah, which in turn has the root meaning of thanksgiving or praise. When our matriarch Leah gave birth to her third son, she named him Judah, saying she will now praise (give thanks) to God,Genesis 29:35.

More: Interfaith: Autumns gifts of change and the joy of giving

Another tradition within Judaism is to recite 100 blessings of thanks to God each day. This is based on the Torah verse Deuteronomy 10:12, What does God ask of you? The Hebrew word for what is mah, which is close to the Hebrew word me-ah, meaning 100.

A later commentary by the rabbis in the Talmud saidthat God asks of us to recite 100 blessings each day to express thanks for all the kind and good things we experience each day.

From the earliest moments of everyones day, we are to thank God for waking up, for the breath of life, for observing the distinction between day and night, for our ability to perform our bodily functions, for getting up and putting ourselves together to greet the day, and each moment when we eat or drink we are to recite a blessings of thanks, through each day, to total 100 blessings.

Many years ago, when I was serving my congregation in Agoura Hills, I asked our elementary school age Hebrew school students how many bad things would have to happen for them to feel that they were having a bad day? One said five things, another said four, one said eight.

Ithen asked how many good things would have to happen for you to feel youre having a good day? One said five, one said six, another said seven. Then I said: if we really think hard we can come up with thousands, even millions of good things, that happen every day.

Our planet Earth is just the right distance from the sun so as to allow for us humans to live. We have farmers working to plant and grow the food that we take for granted. We have parents who love us, and God who puts all of this in to motion.Many students added their list of things that happen just right each day!

Indeed, we are to be thankful for all these blessings. And we are to be grateful for the United States of America, which taught us to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Rabbi Gershon Weissman is a member of the Conejo Valley Interfaith Association, whichmeets monthly and welcomes clergy and representatives of all religious faiths. Weissman and his wife Sheva retired to Jerusalem, Israel. Contact him at gershonweissman@gmail.com.

More:

Interfaith: We are to be thankful for many blessing - Ventura County Star

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