You can always find something to be grateful for #Thanksgiving #devartorah

 God miraculously took care of all the Children of Israel’s needs during their 40 years in the desert. Our Torah describes how the clothes and shoes never wore out and how God Himself sustain them with manna. According to the midrash, manna assumed the taste of whatever the person desired. If he wanted steak for supper, manna tasted like steak; if she wanted fish, it tasted like fish. Nevertheless, our ancestors constantly complained about their lot in life. The Torah records how they griped about the manna. Remembering the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt, they whined: “… There is nothing but manna before our eyes.” What ingratitude. They were showered with God’s blessing of a well-balanced diet, yet they were not satisfied. They wanted variety.

These Jews remind me of a farmer was known for his negative attitude. A neighbor stopped by for a visit one day and noticing the man’s wonderful crop said, “You must be extremely happy with this year’s harvest!” “Well, yes, it surely looks like the best I’ve ever had.” The farmer grudgingly continued, “But a bumper crop is awfully hard on the soil.”

Most of us find it easy to complain. Although we are greatly blessed by God, we tend to focus on the negatives rather than the positives of life. As a result, we often murmur against the Lord when we should be praising Him for our countless blessings. We let ourselves be distracted by the few disappointments and deprivations which are inevitable in life. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln could still count the country’s blessings and proclaim Thanksgiving as a national holiday despite the destruction of life and property the war engendered. How much more so should we thank God every day that we live in the United States of America, the land of freedom and equal opportunity. Whenever we are tempted to grumble about something, let’s remember the words of the Torah “and when the people complained, it displeased the Lord” (Numbers 11:1) Then every day will be a thanks giving day.

Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat shalom,