Parashat Hayyei Sarah/Thanksgiving
Genesis 23:1 – 25:18
“And Abraham was old, having come into his days; and the Eternal One blessed Abraham with everything.” (Gen. 24:1) Abraham ends his life in blessing. We are reminded that, when God first sent Abraham on his journey, it was defined as a journey of blessing. In two verses God says the word “blessing” five times, bestowing it upon Abraham and “all the families of the world “. (Gen. 12:2-3) Now, as Abraham’s life draws to a close, we are meant to know that the mission upon which he embarked, and which he has done everything to perpetuate into the future, has, with regard to his personal life, reached fulfillment and closure. God has blessed him with “everything.”
Of course we know that Abraham’s life has encompassed great joys, but also difficult trials and tragedies. And we also know that it is precisely at this moment that Abraham is consumed with worry for his son, Isaac, and for his future. This verse introduces his decision to send his servant to try to find a wife for Isaac. Yet, the Torah says that he was blessed with “everything.” Thus, to be “blessed with everything” cannot mean “to have everything.”
Perhaps what Abraham experienced was a sense of being at peace with his life, of a conviction that he had striven to live the life that was his obligation to live, with all its risks and failures, but also with its moments of courage and love. Abraham understood that to be blessed with everything is not to be let off the hook into quiet passivity. It is to be grateful for all that one has received, the appreciation of which instills renewed commitment to continue. (Read a beautiful example of this in the recent profile of Leonard Cohen, of blessed memory, in the New Yorker.)
The Talmud tells us that the eminent sage, Hillel, when he attended great festive gatherings, would say, “If I am here then everything is here.” (BTSukkah 53a) Since Hillel was well-known as a very humble person, his statement cannot be taken to be a proud boast. Rather, it should be heard as a grateful acknowledgment that he was still around, blessed with everything that God had given him in his life, still able to be part of a sacred community, still willing to follow Abraham’s example and “be a blessing.” This was not a boastful statement, but an expression of thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein
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Image: “empty chairs at empty tables” © Frank Herrera altered and used with permission via Creative Commons License
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