Over the last week or so, I have been reminded time and time again just how lucky I am. With Thanksgiving just a day behind us, I think a little reflection is in order.
A week ago, I had my friend and co-creator of this blog Maya, as well as another mutual friend Michael, come in from the city to Jersey to celebrate Shabbat. This was the first time they have come into Jersey, as opposed to me going into the city. It was also the first time they have seen my community and my temple. After the service (Maya will talk about the service experience I believe. I thought it would be a little biased coming from me), we had our usual discussion, what we liked/didn't like about the service, what could have gone better or what was weird, just a regular, post-service talk. As inevitably happens when you combine friends and drinks, we got loud and began to stray from our service discussion to what I have begun to believe is the real reason we get together every few weeks, philosophy/theology and the beliefs about our Judaism. That night's topic, klal Yisrael. The content of that discussion is for another day. There is, however, something else I felt, not completely until we said our goodbyes, that I have been compelled to share.
You see, growing up, and really throughout my entire life up until recently, I never had many Jewish friends. While I was friendly with the kids in my Confirmation class, it was never a social circle I was engaged with outside of the classroom. When I went off to college, I never joined Hillel or any groups or activities. And when I came back to New Jersey from a freshman year in Boston, I picked back up with my friends from high school who I have grown to love. And while, my closest group of friends are beyond loyal and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, none of them are Jewish (most are anti-religion all together), and because of such I think they don't always understand what I am doing or why I am doing it. There is a certain communicative and cultural difference that, while they love to argue with me on issues of theology and such, we are divided by.
That is where Maya and Michael have recently been so awesome. I have never really had a friendship like the ones I have with them. Meeting at the NATE conference, all three of us share common interests, life experiences, and aspirations I have never really shared with anyone before. While I am extremely grateful and eternally indebted to people like my Rabbi and mentor/boss Michelle, there is something altogether different about having connections like this with someone your own age. I have people who I can bounce ideas off of, who will question my ideas and beliefs with their own, and who will push me to think about things in ways I never have before.
So, in that spirit, I thought of a fun activity for my students to do last Monday. I provided them with the following article about Thanksgiving and Judaism, taken from Ha-Eretz, an Israeli newspaper (click here). It is a really interesting piece about the values of Thanksgiving and how they intertwine with Jewish values, mainly gratitude. In the classroom, we discussed the article, what it meant, and how the students felt about Thanksgiving. Later on, I had them make thank you cards to people they feel they appreciate, but don't always acknowledge. As you can imagine, it was a really great activity. The students were engaged and thoughtful, everyone making a thank you card to someone who deserved it. There is one student who asked if he could stay a few minutes late in order to finish his card. When he did, I almost cried when I read it. I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something like this... "I want to say thank you to my mom and my dad and my family. Even though we don't always get along and fight sometimes, I love you guys very much. I am very grateful to have you in my life." This, from a 6th grader, is a more heartfelt expression of emotion than many adults are capable of.
Judaism teaches us to look to our past. To see those that have come before us, to recognize the sacrifices they have made for us, and to rejoice in those sacrifices with gratitude and love. I don't think we honestly take the time to do this. Even if it's a simple thank you, sometimes that is all it takes. So, with all of my heart, I want to say thank you to all of my friends, family, colleagues, and individuals in my life who have sacrificed something, whether it be time, money, or energy, to help me become the person I am today. I love you all very much and am very grateful for what you have done for me. And if you can, I implore you, take the opportunity to thank those around you. I promise, they won't soon forget it.
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