- What does this text mean when it says the land is 'given to' us?
- Why give thanks to the land and not just the food we eat?
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר: כַּמָּה יְגִיעוֹת יָגַע אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן עַד שֶׁמָּצָא פַּת לֶאֱכוֹל: חָרַשׁ, וְזָרַע, וְקָצַר, וְעִמֵּר, וְדָשׁ, וְזָרָה, וּבָרַר, וְטָחַן, וְהִרְקִיד, וְלָשׁ, וְאָפָה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ אָכַל. וַאֲנִי מַשְׁכִּים וּמוֹצֵא כׇּל אֵלּוּ מְתוּקָּנִין לְפָנַי.
Explaining his custom, he would say: How much effort did Adam the first man exert before he found bread to eat: He plowed, sowed, reaped, sheaved, threshed, winnowed in the wind, separated the grain from the chaff, ground the grain into flour, sifted, kneaded, and baked and only thereafter he ate. And I, on the other hand, wake up and find all of these prepared for me. Human society employs a division of labor, and each individual benefits from the service of the entire world.
- What kind of effort do you think went into the meal in front of you?
- How else do we benefit from the world that we can be thankful for?
Thanksgiving is as important to societies as it is to individuals. It protects us from resentments and the arrogance of power. It reminds us of how dependent we are on others and on a force greater than ourselves. As with individuals so with nations: thanksgiving is essential to happiness and health.
- In what ways are we dependent on others?
- How is giving thanks essential to happiness and health?
Thank you does mean that I need you or that I am vulnerable or that I cannot function without help. It means that we live in the presence of others and that life in community is inherently about dependence. Thank you is an expression of relationship. It reveals the dependence we have on each other, even if a certain toughness of spirit prevents us, at times, from acknowledging it.
- How can thankfulness better your own relationships?
- What can you do to lessen your 'toughness of spirit' and be more vulnerable?
(43) Can we say a better thank you? Dayenu tells us we can and that we must. When we sing the praises of others generously and specifically, we do more than offer them a gift. We open up our own world of plenitude, revealing to ourselves the great fortune that is ours, even amidst hardship. As contemporary writer Melodie Beattie observes: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.” Dayenu.
- Can you think of a time in your life when you were so focused on getting more that you forgot what you already had?
- How can saying Dayenu (it would have been enough) during times other than Passover benefit you?
(2) The first words out of the mouth of a traditional Jew upon waking are: “I am grateful,” Modeh Ani. It is not merely a prayer. It is a personal statement of being. It is a reflection on abundance before we have even engaged the world. We are grateful merely for the fact of our existence. “I give thanks to You, living and everlasting King, for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness.” My soul has been restored. I can live another day.
- What gets in the way of you being grateful for the fact of your existence?
- How can you make the best of every day?