Thanksgiving 2023, 5784
Dear Congregational Family,
This is generally one of my favorite weeks of the year. I have always adored Thanksgiving. I grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where the Thanksgiving “cooking” seemed to start early because of the blowing up of the balloons just a mile from my home. More, this is the one holiday that seemingly every American celebrates, bringing a kind of ecumenical connection that has become increasingly rare.
And yes, of course and obviously, it feels hard to celebrate anything as Jews these days. Our Homeland was viciously attacked; our brothers and sisters murdered, maimed and kidnapped. Moreover, what was called an “uptick” has now become the most significant and vitriolic rise in antisemitism most of us have known in our lifetimes. Our fear and anger are palpable.
I told you from the first Shabbat after the war that we might be terrified, but we would never be paralyzed. So, in thinking about gratitude, I want to thank you for not being paralyzed. In my twenty-seven years as a rabbi, in fact, I have never seen a community as motivated and ready to step as you all have during these past few weeks. You have marched, written letters, posted on social media, showed up at Temple and classes; displayed lawn signs, spoken your truth, travelled to Israel, donated precious resources, supported the IDF, made phone calls, packed boxes, spoken up to school boards and corporate structures. You have been tireless in your extraordinary dedication to our purpose; to our survival; more, to our thriving as a people. For that, we should all be grateful. It has been no small feat.
And we cannot turn our gaze away from the mountain we must still climb. Let us take this day of gratitude to take a breath and reboot for the next stage. Israel will be entering a new stage of the war, and we must be ready to support the next round there and here. Our Israeli brothers and sisters need to know that we are here for them. We will be travelling on a solidarity trip in the winter. We will continue to support them politically and financially. Indeed, we will be clear-eyed about continuing to tell the truth about why we were drawn into this war in the first place, and our commitment to ridding Gaza, to freeing Gaza from terror rule. We didn’t seek this conflict and we have never been perfect, but we will overcome this existential battle. That belief doesn’t mean we don’t care about innocents who die. That belief doesn’t mean Palestinians don’t deserve self-determination. But statehood should never simultaneously mean pushing our people into the sea. Moral clarity is imperative, and we must articulate such without compunction. Indeed, the same goes with fighting Jew hatred on every college campus, school district, corporate arena and street corner. I believe in our ability to do so, and I am thankful during this week of gratitude for our continuing commitment to achieving those goals.
Tradition teaches that we continue to live fully, even as we fight. On this Thanksgiving, let’s take the time to speak up about that for which we are grateful, while simultaneously making sure to speak clearly at our tables about our steadfast devotion to our People. Included with this email is a special Thanksgiving prayer that expresses all of these feelings. If you are so inclined, we hope you will share it at your family’s table.
A student goes to his master and says, “The world is so terrible, I can’t breathe. What am I to do?” The Master says, “My student, express gratitude from the deepest part of your being.” The student frustrated, retorts, “You want me to express thanksgiving when the world is falling apart; when we are at war; when people seem to hate us more than ever?” The Master responded, “You didn’t ask me how to find joy, you simply asked me how to be able to breathe again. When you dig down to your core and find something for which to be thankful, you will at least be able to start breathing again.”
Indeed, we may not be able to come to a place of utter joy on this Holiday, but we do need to breathe again, to take the pause we so badly need, so we can reboot and continue our arduous path forward.
As always, we are with you and will do everything we can to lead the way.
I am so proud to call myself your rabbi. Rabbis Perolman, Sternberg; Cantor Fishbein and their families, join Lauren, Jake, Talia, Sadie and me in wishing you a Thanksgiving in which we can find our ability to breathe once again.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Love,
Matt
