Thinking about thanking - The Jewish Standard

It’s probably because it seems like we might have to squint to see what we’re grateful for that it’s a very good thing that we have Thanksgiving this weekend.

The news is grim. The world is grim. Life is grim. Right?

But maybe that’s not true of everything. When we walk outside now, we see some leaves still hanging on trees, and they’re so brightly colored that when we (okay, I) look at them, it’s hard to keep gray in mind. The ground’s covered with leaves now, and the recent rain has left puddles. Somehow, at least where I walk, those puddles are not mud-colored but instead glow a deep russet. It might sound pathetic to gush over a puddle, but they are so very beautiful when the light hits them right.

And the light the last few days also has been beautiful, so very clear that each leaf is clearly visible.

When there is beauty in the world, there is the possibility of joy.

Last Saturday night, we went to a klezmer concert at my shul. It was wonderful. Some of the music was mournful, some reflective, much of it less conventional klezmer than jazz. The band — Hot Pstromi, a cutesy name for a seriously gifted group — also played music that was so joyous that it was impossible not to be filled with that joy.

After the concert, a friend and I realized that we’d both had the same question. How was it possible that people who had lived such hard lives — because life in the shtetls and cities in the Pale of Settlement was not romantic, it was not pastoral, it was not nostalgic heaven; it was often sad, dangerous, and marginal — could make music filled with such joy?

But they did. And if they can, certainly so can we. Because, as we realize this Thanksgiving weekend, we have much to be thankful for. Most of us were lucky because someone who came before us in our family dared the ocean voyage and the complete unknown to come here; some of our readers made that choice themselves. (Although more likely by plane than boat.) Joy is an ever-open option for us, and we should take it whenever we can.

Thanksgiving used to be just one day; now it’s a long weekend. Some of it, for some people, is commercial. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, chances to buy things that generally aren’t as on-sale as the advertising suggests.

Since 2012, there’s also been Giving Tuesday. It’s a time when we can show our gratitude for our good lives by giving to others. It’s not as if tzedakah isn’t already a major Jewish value. It is one of the sturdiest underpinnings of Jewish life, and something that we should do all year round. But this is another chance to give, tied to the American rather than the Jewish calendar but a basic Jewish way to think and act in the world.

We encourage our readers to consider being part of Giving Tuesday, and we wish you a happy Thanksgiving weekend.

—JP

Opinion

comments