In this week’s Torah Portion, Parashat Toldot, we encounter the opposite of thanksgiving. Said simply, this is a parashah that focuses on ingratitude and taking. Jacob pushes his (slightly) older brother Esau into selling him his birthright for a cup of soup, and then Jacob steals Esau’s blessing through outward trickery. They boys’ parents, Isaac and Rebekah, each choose their favorite son and support his efforts.
If this were the end of the Torah’s story about thanksgiving, we would be in a sorry state. In fact, it’s just the beginning. The real story of Jacob and Esau is not the taking or the trickery, but the gratitude and giving that come later. For me, the real story of Jacob and Esau is one of reconciliation and redemption. But, that is still yet to come...
The joy of studying Torah each week is the spiritual reflection that is possible when we know the end of the story, but willfully ignore it. This week we learn of taking and losing. This week we are left to consider the isolation and unhappiness that selfishness breeds. We are left longing for giving and gratitude. (and we know they are still yet to come)
As we move toward Shabbat, and then toward the holiday of Thanksgiving, I invite you to reflect again on the word “thanksgiving.” This word implicitly asserts that living a life filled with gratitude is insufficient. Unlike gratitude, thanksgiving is renewable. It spreads from person to person, life to life, soul to soul. Gratitude is a feeling. Thanksgiving is an action. In fact, this week, we hear a call to action: Seek out gratitude. Embrace opportunities for giving.
Questions for further reflection (perfect for family-sharing during Shabbat meals):
- What are you grateful for in your life?
- How might your gratitude inspire you to give?
- What gifts do you still have yet to share with the world, and how might they be used to help others?
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1 comment:
Nice refocusing on the gifting and the reconciliation, instead of the trickery and dysfunction. Thanks for the Shabbat chiddush.
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