November 2005 Does Thanksgiving Benefit God Or Us? By Rabbi Alvin Kass We celebrate Thanksgiving Day this month together with Americans of all races and creeds. It is the only spiritual event in the pantheon of annual holidays which can be celebrated by all of our fellow citizens regardless of background. To be sure, thanksgiving and praise of God are activities in which observant Jews are involved almost continuously, from the moment they get up in the morning until the hour they retire in the evening, every day of the year without exception. Indeed, the Jewish liturgy is so filled with expressions of thanksgiving that at times they appear to be superfluous and repetitious. Why should it be necessary to thank God so much? In fact, some cynics have contended that the fulsome praise and thanksgiving of the Jewish prayer book are nothing more than pusillanimous sycophancy towards an autocratic monarch unbefitting autonomous human beings. Such an argument, however, completely misses the point. The beneficiary of our thanks is not God, but ourselves. In a similar fashion, we try to train our children to say "please" and "thank you" whenever anything is done for them. The words are often recited automatically without much feeling or forethought, but inculcating the habit of expressing appreciation for favors conferred is a fundamental moral obligation. At its root lies an understanding that in relation to human life there are no rights, no claims, no entitlements. Every boon bestowed upon us is an undeserved benefit for which we ought to express gratitude. The series of benedictions, approximately 100 in number, which the Jew is obligated to recite daily, are designed to instill an awareness of the multiple gifts that God lavishes upon us. The Jew who recites his morning prayers has been reminded, among other things, of the miracle of waking up, the privilege of freedom, the benediction of sight and the benevolence of God who "gives strength to the weary" and "provides for all my needs". We often think too little of what we now possess, concentrating our attention instead on what remains to be acquired. The future, however, is often the result of how we use the money, position, knowledge and vitality that are already ours. To develop the capacity to say "thank you" on a continuing basis is to grasp the creative genius and generosity that are manifest every time we eat bread, drink wine, encounter a wise teacher, or witness the grandeur of thunder and lightning. On each occasion that we say a bracha, we help to inculcate an inner discipline which heightens our delight in the content of our lives and helps us to use our assets in the most constructive way possible. It is equally important to say "thank you" when adversity strikes. The genius of our sages was never more in evidence than in the obligation of a man to recite the benediction, "Blessed be the Righteous Judge" in the face of bereavement. It is much easier to confront the trials and tribulations of life if we understand that the universe owes us nothing and that the world was not constructed to minister to our needs. So often tragedy induces bitterness and self-pity as if we were singled out to bear the slings and arrows of failure, illness and death. The habit of reciting prayers of thanksgiving, however, puts things in their proper perspective. Thanksgiving endows a man with humility and a sense of balance. When a person can discern more precisely his relationship to the world at large, he augments his joy in times of prosperity and increases his strength to bear affliction in hours of hardship. The annual celebration of Thanksgiving Day is an appropriate time to think about the role thanksgiving ought to play in our lives every moment of every day.