Vayishlakh 5782 - Gratitude for Having Enough Right Now
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November 20, 2021
We, the Jewish people, practice a tradition laden with prayers for gratitude. We have fixed blessings to say thank you to God every time we see a rainbow, eat a bite of food, or wake up in the morning. Especially on Shabbat, when we traditionally ask for nothing but peace, we have ample time to practice gratitude for what we have and to visualize a mindset in which we lack nothing. While another day focused on gratitude, especially a day with delicious food and beloved family, is always welcome, the Jewish tradition already provides us a weekly Thanksgiving Day.
Of course, Judaism also provides us space to ask for more. Although our weekday Amidah - our standing silent prayer - begins and ends with praise and thanks, the middle section includes requests for wisdom, forgiveness, success, and health. Judaism recognizes that we do not always have everything we need. Instead, we must maintain that balance of gratitude for what we do have and striving for what we lack.
Early in Parshat Vayishlakh, Jacob gives us a framework to measure when we have what we need and when it is time to ask, pray, and strive for more. As Jacob meets his brother for the first time in twenty years, he tells Esau, יש לי כל - I have everything (Genesis 33:11). Although his statement sounds simple in English, it’s a little more complicated in Hebrew. We would expect Jacob to say, יש לי הכל , with an extra letter in front of the word kol, all or everything. Jacob’s statement, then, is both incomplete and telling. It is not that Jacob has everything, but rather, that he has everything he needs right now. We know that decades later, Jacob will describe his life as מעט ורעים, “few and bad” (Gen. 47:9), and yet, right now, he lacks nothing. Even a life that is bitter in the long term has those moments of perfection. At multiple points a day, our liturgy asks us to pay attention and to ask, do I have enough right now, even if just for a moment? Once I have enough, can I pause, reflect, and accept rather than chasing more?
In his interpretation a few verses later, Rashi presents an example of a definition for what is enough. As Jacob travels to the city of Shhem, the Torah describes him as שלם, complete or whole (Gen. 33:18). Rashi explains:
[Jacob is] whole in body, in that the limp [he received from his fight with an angel] has healed. He is financially whole, in that he lacks nothing, even after giving a hefty gift to his brother. And he is whole in his Torah, that he did not forget any of his Torah learning during the time he spent in the house of Lavan.
With Rashi’s explanation, having enough must mean health and access to healthcare. It must mean having enough money to put food on the table and a roof over our families’ heads. And enough must mean having the time and safety to preserve our Jewish values and traditions, to act according to what we believe God desires from us. As Jacob has enough with each of these gifts, perhaps we, too, have enough with that assurance of health, finances, and spiritual well-being. While each of us may have a different list of absolute needs, we each can define a point at which we no longer need to ask or fight for more for ourselves. And we practice living in that world of enough on Shabbat and maybe even on Thanksgiving.
For all of us here, there will be times in our lives in which we do not have enough. In last year’s d’var Torah on this very parashah, I taught the importance of seeking and accepting help, and I stand by that teaching. We define the moments when we have enough so that we can identify those times when we need more or need differently. Just as Jacob’s few and bad years have their moments of wholeness, even the most joyous life has its times of need. It is not wrong or negative to ask and to strive for what we need, or even, for what we know we want. Even in those moments of lack, we can rest from our anxiety, from our pushing and striving by reminding ourselves of what we do have here, of the good we are fighting to preserve.
As we celebrate that once-a-week exercise in gratitude and as we approach that once-a-year gathering with the people and the food, perhaps the laughter and the games, for which we express our thanks, we revisit Modim, a prayer that we traditionally recite three times a day in our Amidah:
We are thankful to you, that you are Adonai our God and the God of our ancestors throughout all time. You are the Rock of our lives, the Shield of our salvation in every generation. We thank You and praise You for our lives that are in Your hand, for our souls that are in Your charge, for Your miracles that daily attend us, and for Your wonders and gifts that accompany us, evening, morning, and noon. You are good, Your mercy everlasting; You are compassionate, Your kindness never-ending. We have always placed our hope in You. For all these blessings we shall ever praise and exalt You. May every living creature thank You and praise You faithfully, God of our deliverance and our help. Praised are You, Adonai - your name is the good, and it is wonderful to thank you.
Tue, October 8 2024
6 Tishrei 5785
Rabbi's Sermons
Bereshit - Genesis
- Parshat Bereshit: Oct. 26, 2019, October 1, 2021, October 2, 2021
- Parshat Noah: Nov. 2, 2019, October 8, 2021, Oct. 29, 2022
- Parshat Lekh-L'kha: Nov. 9, 2019, Oct. 31, 2020, Oct. 31, 2020 - Part 2, Oct. 15, 2021
- Parshat Vayeira: Nov. 16, 2019, Nov. 7, 2020, Nov. 7, 2020 - Part 2, Oct. 22, 2021, Oct. 23, 2021
- Parshat Hayei Sara: Nov. 14, 2020, Oct. 30, 2021
- Parshat Toldot: Nov. 30, 2019, Nov. 21, 2020, Nov. 6, 2021
- Parshat Vayeitzei: Nov. 28, 2020, Nov. 13, 2021
- Parshat Vayishlah: Dec. 14, 2019 , Dec. 5, 2020, November 20, 2021
- Parshat Vayeisheiv: Dec. 12, 2020, Nov. 27, 2021
- Parshat Miketz: Dec. 4, 2021
- Parshat Vayigash: Jan. 4, 2020, Dec. 26, 2020, Dec. 11, 2021
- Parshat Vay'hi: Jan. 11, 2020, Jan. 2, 2021
Shemot-Exodus
- Parshat Sh'mot: Jan. 18, 2020, Jan. 18, 2020 - Part 2, Jan. 9, 2021
- Parshat Va'eira: Jan. 25, 2021
- Parshat Bo: Feb. 1, 2020, Jan. 23, 2021
- Parshat B'shalah: Jan. 30, 2021, Jan. 15, 2022, Feb. 3, 2023, Feb.4, 2023
- Parshat Yitro: Feb. 15, 2020, Feb. 6, 2021, Feb. 6, 2021, Feb. 21, 2022, Feb. 22, 2022
- Parshat Mishpatim: Feb. 22, 2020, Feb. 18, 2023
- Parshat T'rumah: Feb. 29, 2020, Feb. 29, 2020 - Part 2, Feb. 20, 2021, Feb. 4, 2022, Feb. 5, 2022, Feb. 25, 2023
- Parshat T'tzaveh: March 7, 2020, Feb. 27, 2021, Feb. 12, 2022, Feb. 11, 2022
- Parshat Ki Tisa: March 14, 2020, March 6, 2021, February 19, 2022
- Parshot Vayak'heil-P'kudei: March 21, 2020, March 13, 2021, February 26, 2022, March 18, 2023
Vayikra-Leviticus
- Parshat Vayikra: March 20, 2021, March 11, 2022, March 24, 2023, March 25, 2023
- Parshat Tzav: April 4, 2020, March 27, 2021, March 19, 2022
- Parshat Sh'mini: April 18, 2020
- Parshot Tazria-Metzora: April 25, 2020, April 17, 2021, April 2, 2022, April 20, 2024
- Parshot Achrei Mot-Kedoshim: May 2, 2020, April 24, 2021, May 7, 2022, May 3, 2024, May 10, 2024
- Emor: May 9, 2020, May 1, 2021, May 13, 2022, May 14, 2022, May 6, 2023
- Parshot B'har-B'hukotai: May 8, 2019, May 16, 2020, May 7, 2021, May 21, 2022, May 28, 2022, May 24, 2024, May 31, 2024
Bamidbar-Numbers
- Parshat Bamidbar: May 15, 2021, May 20, 2023, June 7, 2024
- Parshat Nasso: June 6, 2020, June 6, 2020 - Part 2, May 22, 2021, June 10, 2022, June 2, 2023, June 14, 2024
- Parshat B'ha'alotcha: June 13, 2020, June 13, 2020 - Part 2, June 9, 2023, June 10, 2023, June 21, 2024
- Parshat Sh'lach: June 20, 2020, June 20, 2020 - Part 2, June 5, 2021, June 28, 2024
- Parshat Korah: June 27, 2020, July 18, 2020, July 24, 2023, July 5, 2024
- Parshot Chukat-Balak: June 26, 2021, July 12, 2024, July 19, 2024
- Parshat Pinchas: July 11, 2020, July 11, 2020 - Part 2, July 2, 2021, July 3, 2021, July 22, 2022, July 23, 2022, July 26, 2024
- Parshot Matot-Masei: July 18, 2020, July 18, 2020 - Part 2, July 10, 2021, July 30, 2022, August 2, 2024
D'varim-Deuteronomy
- Parshat D'varim: July 25, 2020, July 25, 2020 - Part 2, July 17, 2021, August 6, 2022, August 9, 2024
- Parshat Va'et'hanan: Aug. 1, 2020, July 24, 2021, August 12, 2022, August 13, 2022, Aug. 16, 2024
- Parshat Eikev: Aug. 8, 2020, July 31, 2021, August 19, 2022, August 20, 2022
- Parshat Re'eh: August 7, 2021, August 30, 2024
- Parshat Shoftim: September 7, 2019, Aug. 22, 2020, August 14, 2021, August 14, 2021 - Part 2, September 3, 2022, September 6, 2024
- Parshat Ki Teitzei: Aug. 29, 2020, August 20, 2021, September 13, 2024
- Parshat Ki Tavo: Sept. 5, 2020, Sept. 5, 2020 - Part 2, August 28, 2021, Sept. 17, 2022, Sept. 20, 2024
- Parshot Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Sept. 11, 2021, September 24, 2022, Sept. 27,2024
- Parshat Ha'Azinu: Sept. 26, 2020, October 4, 2024
- Parshat Haberakhah
Rosh HaShanah: Sept. 19, 2020, Sept. 19, 2020 - Part 2, Sept. 19, 2020 - Part 3, Sept. 20, 2020, Sept. 7, 2021, Sept. 8, 2021, Sept. 9, 2021, Sept. 26, 2022
Yom Kippur: Sept. 28, 2020, Sept. 16, 2021, October 5, 2022
Sukkot: Oct. 3, 2020 , Sept. 20, 2021
Passover: April 3, 2021, April 23, 2022, April 7, 2023, April 12, 2023 April 27, 2024
Rosh Hodesh: April 22, 2023
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