Parashat Toldot: Genesis 25:19- 28:9

Middah for the month of Kislev: Gratitude

This week is the new moon – Rosh Hodesh – of Kislev, a month in which both the Hebrew and secular calendars converge in calling us to gratitude.

The holiday of Thanksgiving, this year on the 9th day of Kislev at the time of the waxing moon, overtly asks us to pause, share a festive meal with family and friends, and consciously acknowledge our appreciation of the natural world for its sustenance. On this Hag HaHodayah, the day of giving thanks, we recognize our indebtedness to the Source of All.

Then, on the 25th of Kislev, with the waning moon, the holydays of Hanukah arrive, a time of gratefulness for the miraculous, a time of consciously bringing more light into our world. The daily blessing for gratitude – Birkat Hoda-ah recited thrice daily in the Amidah, is expanded to explicitly express thankfulness for past wonders, and implicitly to acknowledge the ongoing miracles in our lives.

Two levels of gratitude: for the ordinary and for the extraordinary. Both are especially recalled during Kislev: Thanksgiving Day rituals emphasize honor for our natural world; Hanukah memorializes the miraculous order of Existence. Both are essential to a sense of grateful awe.

With blessing for generosity and wisdom of heart as we deepen our communal practice of gratitude,

Rabbi SaraLeya

30 Heshvan 5770