Welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel, the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Grateful that you are here. Before we begin know that I've been in touch with our "Traveling President" and Alan tells me that we can hold services for December on the 9th at 7:00PM and our Midrash (Torah Study) on the 10th at 10:00AM. Both at the shul. See you then!
Thanksgiving
On Thursday we celebrated the holiday of Thanksgiving a day set aside by President George Washington to give thanks to G-d for the many blessings we enjoy. It is a wonderful holiday and, yes, Jews join with our non-Jewish friends in the celebration. And should because there is a direct link between that first Thanksgiving dating back some 400 years to 1619 and the Jewish people.
In general, having gratitude is a tenet and a core value of Judaism; perhaps the value of the highest order. In fact, the name Jew is a derivation of the word thank you; it comes from the biblical name Judah. Judah was one of the original twelve tribes and was given that name by his mother Leah as an expression of her gratitude to G-d (see Gen. 29:35). In Hebrew, the word for thanks is “todah,” which is derived from the same root word as the name Judah.
But the Thanksgiving connection to Judaism runs even deeper. Psalm 100 begins with the words “A psalm of thanksgiving.” While the vast majority of the book of Psalms was composed by King David, according the Talmud Psalm 100 was one of eleven psalms that were actually composed by Moses himself. The Talmud records that this psalm was sung by the Levites in the Holy Temple whenever a thanksgiving offering was brought.
And There Is More
Every American school child knows, the Pilgrims of Plymouth have been credited with having the first Thanksgiving feast. But how did they know to give thanks?
The Pilgrim leader William Bradford had a copy of the Bible with him on the Mayflower. His Bible contained handwritten notes by the Puritan scholar Henry Ainsworth in the margins. Ainsworth had written out a list of events that required a prayer of thanksgiving to G-d; “The sick – when he is healed; The prisoner – when he is released from bondage; Those that go down to sea – when they come up to land; and wayfarers – when they arrive at inhabited lands.” Where did Ainsworth come up with these four? He had copied it straight from Maimonides, codifier of the Talmud! Stunning yes?
Finally, perhaps there is no one-day set aside as a day of thanksgiving in Judaism because gratitude is something that we should focus on every day. The human condition is to take everything for granted; we rarely stop to appreciate all that we have. We must make a conscious effort to acknowledge what we have in our lives that is simply amazing. We have been gifted such an incredible world, yet we rarely focus on all the good with which we have been blessed. We have come to expect it. Most of us don’t even really appreciate our own good health until it begins to slip away.
Truly hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving and...your football team, won.
From The Torah
This week we learn that Rebecca gives birth to Esau and Jacob. Esau sells the birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. Isaac travels to Gerar with Avimelech, king of the Philistines. Esau marries two Hittite women bringing great pain to his parents (because they weren’t of the fold).
Jacob impersonates Esau on the counsel of his mother in order to receive the blessing for the oldest son from his blind father, Isaac. Esau, angry because of his brother’s deception caused him to lose the firstborn blessings, plans to kill Jacob, so Jacob flees to his uncle Lavan in Padan Aram – on the advice of his parents. They also advise him to marry Lavan’s daughter.
Esau understands that his Canaanite wives are displeasing to his parents, so he marries a third wife, Machlath, the daughter of Ishmael.
Esau is not such a nice guy.
Again, be thankful and Shabbat Shalom!
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