A very cool Shabbat Shalom to you!
Congratulations on another week of hard work and accomplishment.ย
Now it’s time for a day of spirituality, mindfulness, thanksgiving, and much needed rest and relaxation.ย
Heal and rejuvenate your body, mind, and soul.
A time for Hashem, self, family, and community.ย
Shabbat is a true gift from G-d. ๐
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Jews, The People of Thanksgiving.”
This week was Thanksgiving (ืื ืืืืืื), but for Jews we are already called, “The People of Thanksgiving. “We are named ืืืืืื (Yehudim) after ืืืืื (Yehudah), the son of Isaac and Leah because Leah said (Genesis 29:35): “ืืคืขื ืืืื ืืช ืืืื.” (“This time let me thank G-d”). Also as Jews, we are not just called the People ofย Thanksgiving, but we are actively supposed to say 100 blessings a day thanking G-d, so in the true sense of the word, everyday is Thanksgiving Day for the Jewish people.
Jews are the People of Thanksgiving not only on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. We are thankful for being the chosen people and for our redemption and return to the Promised Land of Israel; we are thankful for the life and opportunities that G-d has given to us; we are thankful in good times and G-d forbid, in the bad times; and we are thankful because, yes, ultimately everything from G-d is for the good.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So this past Shabbat, there was a wonderful guest speaker at Aish, Rav Gav(riel) Friedman.ย
He was a very lively speaker and with a lot of worthy teachings for his lucky audience.ย
One thing he said that really stuck with me is about people that complain.ย
People have hard lives!
As he said, “I don’t know what each of you has been through.”
But one thing that can help us cope with our challenges is our perspective.ย ย
And then he said the following:
We need to be glad that we have something to complain about!
Huh, what does that mean?
Well, think about it…
– If you complain about your spouse, thank G-d that you are married (and have a life partner) to complain about.ย
– If you complain about your job, thank G-d that you have a job (and income) that you can complain about.ย
– If you complain about your food, thank G-d that you have food to eat (and sustenance for your body) to complain about.
And so on and so forth.ย
Whatever we complain about, think about what you actually have (the big picture) and what you are complaining about (usually the little picture).ย
Really, we have so much to be grateful for that we can easily just forget or take for granted.ย
So next time your complaining, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE that you are complaining about–you might stop yourself from complaining.ย ๐
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I learned a new holiday terms today.ย
Of course, you know about Thanksgiving–when we celebrate with our family all the wonderful things in life that G-d has blessed us with.ย
Well now there is “Friendsgiving.”
This typically occurs on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and is enjoyed with friends (instead of family).ย
We are still grateful, but we just are thankful with a different set of significant others in our lives.ย
To me there is nothing like my family–as my father taught me:
Blood is thicker than water.ย
But friends are important in our lives as well, and good and true friends are so hard to come by–so we should celebrate them and with them whenever possible too.ย
Finally, I choose this flower, “Bird of Paradise” for this blog, because I love it and it is something wonderful from G-d that I am grateful for.ย
Happy Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving to All!ย ๐
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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