Thanksgiving
By RABBI DAVID WOLPE
The first words we say in the morning are “Modeh ani”– I am grateful. When the Amida is repeated the prayer leader recites everything on behalf of the congregations save the modim passage — the prayer of thanks. Our lives are filled with blessings to recite — over food, over experiences, over nature, over one another — and each is an expression of thanks to God.
Gratitude is not an expression of satisfaction: you can be grateful and still believe that things are broken. Being grateful is not a state reserved for the good times of life alone. It is a disposition, not a judgment of your situation. We are grateful because we are alive, because each day unfolds with possibility, because to be grateful is to recognize how much in this world has been freely given to us even when things are tough.
Thanksgiving is a beautiful holiday in its spirit and accords with the deepest wisdom of the Jewish tradition. For all that God has given us, for the sun of the day and the dark of night and our hope for tomorrow, we give thanks.
(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)
Breaking News
(JNS.org via The Jewish Journal) – The Beverly Hills Police Dept. (BHPD) is “actively investigating” a series of incidents of vandalism in the city of Beverly Hills over Shabbat, according to a police statement.
According to BHPD, police... Continue Reading ⇒
Categories Categories
Select Category
2017 Ten Commandments Hike (1)
Anniversaries (1)
Art (12)
Article (15)
Arts and Culture (268)
B’nai Mitzvahs (7)
Births (18)
Books (38)
Breaking News (994)
Chanukah (90)
Comics (99)
Commentaries (520)
Death Notices (2)
Engagements (4)
Events This Month (1)
Father’s Day (5)
Featured Article (749)
Feintooner Cartoons (142)
Film & TV (222)
First Person (29)
Food (26)
General Assembly (5)
Halloween Poems (1)
High Holidays (50)
International (1,800)
Israel (2,741)
Israel Elections (76)
Jewish Trivia Quiz (295)
Jewniverse (3)
Jews in the News (58)
Kristallnacht (17)
Lag B’Omer (4)
Letters to the Editor (19)
Limmudfest New Orleans (14)
Local (680)
Mother’s Day (5)
Music (85)
National (2,386)
News (9)
Obituaries (521)
Opinion (5)
Opinions (611)
Passover (68)
Passover Poems (7)
Purim (40)
Repub (1)
Rosh Hashanah (56)
Say Little, Do Much (101)
Shavuot (20)
Simchat Torah (8)
Sports (254)
Succot (53)
Summer Olympics (57)
Ted Roberts – The Scribbler on the Roof (108)
Teen Heroes (12)
Thanksgiving (4)
The Tell by Ron Kampeas (11)
Theatre (58)
Theatre (2)
Tisha B’Av (8)
Travel (5)
Tu B’Av (6)
Tu B’Shevat (10)
Uncategorized (185)
USY IC NOLA (3)
Weddings (4)
Winter Olympics (5)
Yom Ha’atzmaut (6)
Yom Hashoah (31)
Yom Kippur (56)
Yom Kippur (3)
Yom Yerushalayim (5)
Archives Archives
Select Month
December 2019 (66)
November 2019 (104)
October 2019 (109)
September 2019 (107)
August 2019 (97)
July 2019 (97)
June 2019 (69)
May 2019 (116)
April 2019 (88)
March 2019 (111)
February 2019 (86)
January 2019 (90)
December 2018 (113)
November 2018 (89)
October 2018 (94)
September 2018 (107)
August 2018 (100)
July 2018 (74)
June 2018 (107)
May 2018 (120)
April 2018 (106)
March 2018 (97)
February 2018 (70)
January 2018 (103)
December 2017 (113)
November 2017 (93)
October 2017 (90)
September 2017 (113)
August 2017 (136)
July 2017 (138)
June 2017 (127)
May 2017 (102)
April 2017 (113)
March 2017 (125)
February 2017 (107)
January 2017 (132)
December 2016 (153)
November 2016 (150)
October 2016 (95)
September 2016 (125)
August 2016 (138)
July 2016 (110)
June 2016 (124)
May 2016 (102)
April 2016 (95)
March 2016 (164)
February 2016 (102)
January 2016 (106)
December 2015 (106)
November 2015 (137)
October 2015 (142)
September 2015 (137)
August 2015 (125)
July 2015 (110)
June 2015 (135)
May 2015 (137)
April 2015 (143)
March 2015 (131)
February 2015 (148)
January 2015 (149)
December 2014 (204)
November 2014 (156)
October 2014 (169)
September 2014 (179)
August 2014 (145)
July 2014 (245)
June 2014 (136)
May 2014 (163)
April 2014 (130)
March 2014 (149)
February 2014 (133)
January 2014 (181)
December 2013 (183)
November 2013 (173)
October 2013 (207)
September 2013 (151)
August 2013 (158)
July 2013 (145)
June 2013 (123)
May 2013 (146)
April 2013 (153)
March 2013 (149)
February 2013 (120)
January 2013 (135)
December 2012 (131)
November 2012 (153)
October 2012 (117)
September 2012 (88)
August 2012 (117)
July 2012 (95)
June 2012 (41)
May 2012 (13)
April 2012 (4)
December 2011 (5)
November 2011 (10)
October 2011 (5)
September 2011 (1)
August 2011 (2)
October 2010 (3)