Thanksgiving: Letting the Light In
Thanksgiving is a time of such joy. We could say it is the American counterpart to that other popular holiday we celebrate, Passover. There is just something special about taking a break from the world and counting our blessings. And, yet, there is so much sadness and pain these days. We are beginning to understand tragic things do not just happen to other people. They are happening to us.
We learn from the Psalmists: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Ps.34:18). God heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds (Ps. 147:3). I certainly hope so. My sister, Cindy Nesselson Perlmutter z’l, died suddenly and unexpectedly a month ago. No warning, no adequate explanation, a mystery to her doctors. People have asked me if I am angry at God. What does God have to do with a heart that suddenly stops beating? This is a personal tragedy to her family and to her friends. It is also a tragedy to our world because a spark of God which my sister embodied, this individual who brought such joy and humor into the world, is suddenly gone and we are all in some manner diminished when someone like that is no longer among us. Ezra Schwartz’s z”l life also ended abruptly, just last week, the victim of a Palestinian terrorist, gunned down while he was volunteering to distribute food to soldiers during his gap year in Israel. His family members mourn their tragic loss. People in his hometown of Sharon, Massachusetts are grieving recalling his boundless energy, his enthusiastic mentoring of his younger siblings, of children of all ages especially those who were a little quirky. Ezra is gone and though most of us likely did not know him personally, we should understand we are all diminished by his absence. A light has gone out in our world. The City of Lights is not the same city it was just a couple of weeks ago. Though the lights of Paris still shine, in our hearts this beacon of light is now diminished by the tragic terrorist attacks that have rocked its foundation, this city whose ethos in the modern period is built upon the concepts of liberty, fraternity, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. And, though we may not have known any of the victims, we are all diminished by their absence. Many lights have tragically gone out. (Zichronam Livrecha, May their memories be for a blessing). The city of Brussels, home to the European Union, is on lockdown for the 3rd straight day as I write this. Yes, radical Islamism, is having its day, but as the saying goes and is so often true, it is darkest before the dawn. All of the –ism’s of history responsible for millions upon millions of murders—Naziism, Communism, and now Islamism, to name just a few, ultimately fail but in their brutal, senseless drive to remake the world in their own perverse images and in the senseless, horrific wreckage they leave behind, we find ourselves in a world greatly diminished. |
In the Judaic view, every life matters; we all carry within us the image of God. We mostly all carry and convey to the outer world our own unique sparks of God. In other words, we each have the capacity to activate God’s presence in our earthly realm.
It would be easy to be fearful during times such as these. We are enveloped by terrible, frightening news. Is it safe to fly anymore? After all, planes are now being diverted by scares while in flight. Is it safe to go to concerts, sporting events, school? Is it safe to leave our homes?
Our Patriarch, Jacob, found himself fleeing from home, from everyone and everything he had ever known. He entered a new, unfamiliar world alone. And during that first night, in utter darkness, in that nondescript place in the wilderness, he encountered the ultimate light of God. As he himself uttered upon awakening from his dream of angels ascending and descending on a ladder set on earth, Surely God was in this place and I did not know it (Genesis 28:12-17)! Though he was afraid he understood he was in an awesome place, the gateway to heaven, to God.
It is often in our moments of deepest despair, of fear, of greatest vulnerability and pain that, stripped of our facades, we experience our greatest spiritual moments.
Though our eyes these days have been opened to so much tragedy and loss, the joy of Thanksgiving is upon us during which we think about our lives, our relationships, all that we are grateful for. Life is always so much more strange than fiction, these oddly timed moments during which joy so poignantly intersects with sadness. But, really, what is our choice - to succumb to despair, to allow the despots of the world to capture our hearts and souls with their vision of darkness and brutality?
It would be easy to be fearful during times such as these. We are enveloped by terrible, frightening news. Is it safe to fly anymore? After all, planes are now being diverted by scares while in flight. Is it safe to go to concerts, sporting events, school? Is it safe to leave our homes?
Our Patriarch, Jacob, found himself fleeing from home, from everyone and everything he had ever known. He entered a new, unfamiliar world alone. And during that first night, in utter darkness, in that nondescript place in the wilderness, he encountered the ultimate light of God. As he himself uttered upon awakening from his dream of angels ascending and descending on a ladder set on earth, Surely God was in this place and I did not know it (Genesis 28:12-17)! Though he was afraid he understood he was in an awesome place, the gateway to heaven, to God.
It is often in our moments of deepest despair, of fear, of greatest vulnerability and pain that, stripped of our facades, we experience our greatest spiritual moments.
Though our eyes these days have been opened to so much tragedy and loss, the joy of Thanksgiving is upon us during which we think about our lives, our relationships, all that we are grateful for. Life is always so much more strange than fiction, these oddly timed moments during which joy so poignantly intersects with sadness. But, really, what is our choice - to succumb to despair, to allow the despots of the world to capture our hearts and souls with their vision of darkness and brutality?
During this Thanksgiving, all that is good in our lives is thrown into sharp relief against so many sorrowing hearts. We feel their pain while we also look into the eyes of those around our Thanksgiving tables reminding us of how truly blessed we are to be living in this country freely as Jews. Thanksgiving reminds us to reach out to others, to the other, as the Pilgrims did. There is so much more which unites us than divides us. Jacob came to understand that no matter how dark the world may feel, he was buoyed and prepared to face anything because God was with him. So may this be for each of us as well as we discuss our lives and our world with those we love this Thanksgiving.
God’s blessings are indeed many. Hodu Ladonai Kee Tov, Kee L’Olam Chasdoe. Give thanks to God for God is good. Keyn Yehi Ratzon. So may it be God’s will. Amen. Warmly, Debra Nesselson Thanksgiving, 2015 |