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| Praised are you O' Lord
God who is King of the universe, who rules the universe,
granting us life, sustaining us and enabling us to reach
this day. |
Barukh ata adonai eloheinu
melekh HaOlam
SheHechiyanu
v'kiyimanu v'higiyanu lazman
Ha'zeh |
This blessing can be found on page 712 of Siddur
Sim Shalom. This week we celebrate the
holiday of Thanksgiving. It is time when we recall the events
of our American history in which we formed a relationship with
the natives of the land who, folklore tells us of how they taught
us to appreciate the produce of the land. Legends has painted
a picture of us sitting together with the native American people
enjoying the bounty of the land and benefiting from the camaraderie
of the our new found friends. This week we to will do the same.
Many will join with family and friends to raise a glass and toast
all for which have been blessed. We will eat and we will drink
and we will partake in good conversation. Some will venture out
to a game of football in the backyard, some will sit around a
fire toasting marshmallows and some will simply laugh and yell
in front of the television set sharing a common sporting event.
Many will be able to place our fears about the world aside for
a few hours and we will be thankful for all that we have, in the
face of so much that has been lost.
This bracha reminds us the world is a good place
and we are blessed to be here. This bracha recognizes the intricate
and fragile nature of our existence and gives us pause to become
aware of the beauty and the joy we have in our lives. This bracha
tells us to reacquaint ourselves with the habits of connection
we may have lost. This bracha most often recited when a person
does something, eats something for the first time, for beginnings
are exciting and we than God for providing us with the opportunity
to participate. Our lives are enhanced by the new and the fresh
and we feel the occasion more starkly when something is novel.
We also recite this bracha at occasions of great
happiness, such as a Bar Mitzvah or a wedding or the birth of
a baby, but the truth is we could probably recite this bracha
everyday. There is so much for which to be grateful and we should
never take for granted the blessing of being to live today. This
bracha instructs us to live in the moment. Stop thinking about
what is going to be and live for what is. Shehechiyanu says we
are alive and that is a gift in and of itself. Shehechiyanu says
hold your loved ones close and enjoy their embrace. Hold hands
with your child, embrace your spouse, hug a friend call a relative
who lives too far to hold and then thank God.
It doesn't matter if the turkey is overdone, or
if you prefer to have the cranberries out of a can and thy happen
to be fresh made this year. It doesn't matter if you would prefer
a sit down meal but this year you have compromised to having buffet
and it doesn't matter if there are people who you have invited
just because you had too, hoping they wouldn't come, yet this
year they have decided to take you up on your invitation. "Don't
sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff." We have been
a great gift, to wake this morning anew with the breath of God
in us, energized and ready to embark on the next step in our lives
that begins now. May we have the courage to face today strengthened
by the promise of tomorrow.
Copyright © 2001 Rabbi
Yohanan Stein. All rights reserved.
New Jersey Region United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism
PO Box 390; 1025 St. Georges
Ave
Linden, NJ 07036-0390
Phone: 908-925-USCJ (8725)
/ Fax: 908-486-USCJ (8725)
E-mail: njersey@uscj.org
Copyright © 2000 -
2003 New Jersey USCJ. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: July 2003
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