Looking Toward the Thanksgiving Holiday

Dear Friends,

As we know, holidays bring an array of emotions, expectations and experiences. On Thanksgiving the expectation, of course, is that we will be filled with gratitude, able to offer abundant thanks.

For some of us giving thanks will come easily and we will raise our cups in appreciation and delight. For others of us, feelings of sorrow, loss, fear or anger might make gratitude difficult to reach. Many of us will probably experience an array of emotions as we swing between gratitude and grief, joy, anger and heartache.

Some of us will be sharing a meal with friends and family who see the world in similar ways as we do. Others of us will be sitting at tables with family and friends with very different points of view.

Something that might be helpful to remember is that in Hebrew the word for thanksgiving, hoda’ah, also means acknowledgment. The practice of gratitude is not only about offering thanks. It is also a practice of presence.

It is a practice that says, I acknowledge this moment. I am present to this moment, whatever the moment contains

Here are links to prayers and practices to bring to this Thanksgiving holiday.

I hope they offer guidance and support.

Prayers for a Thanksgiving Gathering
Pre-Thanksgiving Practices:
 Presence and Gratitude
Setting the Table with Compassion

Wherever we find ourselves on Thanksgiving, may we experience moments of love and connection that bring nourishment and strength. May this time open us to possibilities we have not yet seen or imagined.

May we eat and be nourished.

May we savor the fullness and be satisfied with all we receive.

May our lives be for blessing

Deuteronomy 8:10

With love,

Rabbi Yael