Rabbi Ain's Sermon Toldot 2022
Toldot 2022
Shabbat shalom.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp. 28 Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah favored Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”-which is why he was named Edom. 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright.
This is a part of one of the most famous stories in our Torah and Ariela already shared her wise thoughts on what happens when one lie turns into another. Nothing good comes of it.
What I want to focus on today is the role that food seems to play in this week’s parasha. Both at this moment, where Esau is famished, and later when Isaac asks for a dish of meat to be prepared before offering a blessing, we see that food is very present. It is Thanksgiving weekend and many if not all of us probably just ate more food than we could have imagined. We did this and given that it is thanksgiving weekend, we hopefully paused and found moments to be grateful.
This is the opposite of what we are seeing in our parasha. Unfortunately, what we are seeing is that food is combined with moments of horsetrading and knivery. Though under the veil of blessings and birthrights, what it means to be a part of a family, is sadly missed.
But I don’t want to miss this opportunity to think about what it might have been like if, when Esau came home tired, Jacob would have offered him the stew, or when Isaac called for the dish to be made, Rebecca would have helped give it to him. It doesn’t mean that Jacob wouldn’t have ended up with the blessings, but you have to imagine that there were better ways of getting to the end result.
When we think about the role that food plays, I believe that it gives us an opportunity to be grateful. Two weeks ago I spoke about how we need to think about others as I shared our synagogue’s experience with Midnight Run but today I want us to look inward-how do we express our gratitude? How do we ensure that we don’t take what we have for granted?
Jeff Uffner kicks things off right every morning with the hallelujah moment but it is of course more than just that.
Having an attitude of gratitude might require a real shift in perspective. Instead of thinking how everything is about me, in a negative sense, it is about seeing ourselves as part of a larger whole and appreciating what we have.
So how do we do that? I would like to share some key texts this morning that I hope will help us focus on gratitude, this thanksgiving weekend, which if isn’t already a part of your spiritual practice, can become tools in your toolbox when you are feeling like you need a good reference.
Alan Morinis teaches-‘In the Mussar classic Duties of the Heart, Rabbiu Bahya ibn Pakuda tells is there is not a person alive who has not been given gifts, if only the gifts of life and hope. But we tend to suffer a kind of blindness that keeps us from seeing and appreciating what we have…First he says, we tend to not feel appreciative because we are too absorbed with worldly things and in the enjoyment of them. He points out that physical pleasures can never be fully gratified and so we pursue them endlessly, which keeps us from gratitude for what we have. Second, we are so used to our gifts that we don’t even really see them anymore.’
I think that this is so true. Much of what we have in our lives, we assume we automatically deserve it, rather than stopping and thinking about what we have it and what it took to get us to this moment. A few years ago Dave, and then Jared read a book by AJ Jacobs, called Thanks A Thousands, where amongst other things, he traced where his coffee came from and of course realized that there are so many people along the way that we should be saying thank you to.
Another way to show gratitude and appreciate our everyday miracles is by looking in our prayerbook. Ever morning we start our service with Birkot HaShachar, the morning blessings. While some of the blessings are existential, like being made in God’s image, most of them help us realize that we are so lucky to live the lives we have.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who enables His creatures to distinguish between night and day.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who made me in His image.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who made me a Jew.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who made me free.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who gives sight to the blind.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who clothes the naked.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who releases the bound.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who raises the downtrodden.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who creates the heavens and the earth.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who provides for all my needs.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who guides us on our path.
Praised are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe, Who strengthens the people Israel with courage.
Another way we can show gratitude is how we approach eating. In Mesechet Pesachim we are taught that Since the destruction of the Temple, every table in every home has become an altar (Pesachim 4b). So the question is, how do we turn eating into an active of religiously offering things.
We can begin with the Hamotzi, the blessing that states:
“HaMotzi”-Blessed are you, Sovereign of the Universe, Who has pulled forth bread from the earth
And then we can conclude with the Birkat Hamazon, the grace after meals, based on the verse from Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy 8:10
י וְאָֽכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ אֶת־יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ עַל־הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר נָֽתַן־לָֽךְ:
When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
In the book Jewish Spiritual Practices by Yitzchak Buxbaum, we learn the following:
There was a time in the 18th century when the Baal Shem Tov traveled with Rabbi Yitzchak of Drobitch in the role of his personal assistant. The Baal Shem Tov brought Rabbi Yitzchak his coffee in a pot and served it to him. After Rabbi Yitzhak drank the coffee, the Baal Shem Tov removed the coffeepot, the cup, and the spoon from the table and brought them into the kitchen. Rabbi Yitzhak’s young son observed all this and question the Baal Shem Tov: “Holy Rabbi, I can understand why you want to offer personal service to my holy father. But why did you also trouble yourself to carry out the empty dishes? The Baal Shem Tov answered him by explaining that carrying the spoon out from the Holy of Holies in the Temple was part of the service of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. Then and now, clearing the table, can be a great act of devotion to God. (Jewish Spiritual Practices by Yitzhak Buxbaum)
You see, we need to appreciate the big moments and the small ones, and it is when we are gathering around food, that we can most express it.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with SPS members out of the synagogue. First, I was with over 25 people at the NY Historical Society as we went to see the exhibit, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”-an exploration of the Jewish Deli. Our docent explained, when talking about the impact of Abe Lebewohl, the founder of 2nd Ave Deli who, would always ensure that a passerby would be able to have food, even if they couldn’t afford it. His Jewish values of knowing what he had, ensured that others had what they needed. Then, I went with 20 members of SPS to God’s Love We Deliver, an incredible operation in downtown Manhattan where we spent the afternoon preparing meals for delivery for those in need-especially those recovering or suffering from illness that prevented them from obtaining food. As the volunteer coordinator shared, we were providing God’s love in what we were doing. Again, taking time to appreciate what we had and using food as the vehicle, allowed us to provide for others.
Tradition teaches that one should aspire to recite 100 blessings everyday, I know that you might not always be able to reach that number. But on this Thanksgiving weekend, where we are thankful for food, friendship, health, safety, and of course Ariela and her family, I encourage you to Do a forensic accounting of your current thanksgiving capacity. Track yourself and notice: How many times a day do you thank God or people? Choose a number or frequency you want to reach, and make a plan for how you will get there. Do you aspire to 100 blessings each day? A blessing each morning, noon, and night? One more blessing than you typically say right now? This isn’t much difference than tracking what we eat or how many steps we take or how often we stop to breathe. I think that if we can make gratitude a part of our ritual-thanking people, God, and the community for what we have, we will be able to feel healthier-both physically and spiritually, and then, the blessing and birthright that always seems to be so contentious, will be big enough for everyone.
Shabbat shalom
