Giving Thanks

Anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States. The tragedy in Pittsburgh has shattered our sense of complacency. Now there is security in front of most shuls and yeshivahs. There is no single source of anti-Semitism in the US. The radical left and the nationalist right are both guilty. Farrakhan keeps spewing his hate and the new progressive radical members of Congress who view Israel negatively is very disconcerting. Anti-Semitism in the colleges and universities is rampant. But with that said America is still good to the Jews, and we shouldn’t take that for granted. It is a country that we need to be grateful for.

I always hesitate writing about Thanksgiving knowing that there are those who think celebrating the day is ‘goyish”. I respect that opinion. I do not agree with it, but I respect it none the less.

I guess my attitude comes in part from  growing up in the state of Massachusetts where Thanksgiving is sacrosanct and partially from the conviction that my father had  noting that ,”mir daf yeh zogen a shainehm dank tzoo America”  (We{ Jews} do have to give a heartfelt  thanks to America). My father and other Holocaust survivors understood very well the contributions this country has made to their liberation and the opportunity to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives in this country and begin life anew. In the United States, Jews did not feel oppressed and received precious rights that included, citizenship, the ability to vote, the opportunity to worship as they saw fit and other guaranteed freedoms protected by the Constitution. All those things were denied them in Nazi Europe.

This did not negate in any way the proper “hashkofah” that Jews must have to thank Hashem each and every day for all their blessings. Being grateful is an intrinsic part of being a Jew . Each morning we wake up and say Modeh Ani.  It is a statement of appreciation to G-d for the ability to arise and continue our lives into the new day. We thank G-d continually in the brachos that we recite. All day long a Jew is busy thanking G-d for all the kindneses which He bestows upon us.

My father was a Gerrer Chasid and a Talmud Chochom whose devotion to Hashem was proven countless times in the war years through adversity and trials and tribulations. Many times he put his life on the line in order to be able to do one more mitzvah.  In Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, as an example, a Yad portion of a pair of tefilin was smuggled into the barracks that he was in. Each night, 50 men put on the precious tefilin to say the bracha. One fateful day, a kapo informed them that the Nazis were changing their barracks. That brought terror to the group. It seems that when a change like that happens, the barracks is turned upside down and the tefilin would most surely be discovered. Each one of the fifty men gave the kapo their only daily sustenance- a piece of bread (which was a feast for him) in order for him to hide and preserve the endeared phylactery. Several men died from malnutrition because of this sacrifice and although my father never saw the tefilin again there was great satisfaction that it was saved from destruction. So, no one can ever doubt my dad’s piety and “yiras shamayim”. His entire being was devoted to Torah and mitzvos.

 As we sat at the Thanksgiving table, our Jewishness was very much pronounced. We washed and benched making sure that we understood that Hashem dictates the world and provides the bounty. But with that said, my father always gave a d’var Torah that spoke about “hakoras ha-tov” (appreciation). To him, that ethic was one of the most important principles to live by. America accepted my displaced parents when no one else wanted them or cared about them. They never forgot that and inculcated in their children the need to appreciate the blessings that this country 5bestows.

But we tend to take that all that for granted.  In the hussle-bussle world in which we live in, people do not have the time or inclination to be thankful. We do things by rote and habit without giving a second thought to the significances of our actions. It is essential to take a day out of our busy lives to reflect and show appreciation at least once a year.

Additionally, we live in a time of self importance and narcissism.  People seem to feel that they are entitled to everything that the world has to offer. It’s ironic that I spend most of my day convincing people that government entitlements are perfectly appropriate and necessary for their livelihood, but there is a converse side to the argument. For some there is an assumption that has been instilled in us by the advertising community that tells us “you deserve it”. Maybe its our grandmothers (of which I plead guilty) that condition us into believing that we are so perfect already  that we don’t have to struggle- that it is our G-d given right to have things without work or effort.  Those individuals ignore the harsh reality of life and are people without any sufficient expression of gratitude.

These ingrates are wrong.  You have to say thank you to Hashem, your parents, your teachers, your rabbis and your country for all that you have. Eric Hoffer, the American social philosopher, wrote, “the harshest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”

We have to right that misconception. Make Thanksgiving, whether it will be on the last Thursday of November or Shabbos or any other time of your choosing, a time of reflection and appreciation for this country. “mir daf yeh zogen a shainehm dank tzoo America” and all it has given us. There is nothing goyish about that.

By Cynthia Zalisky

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Cynthia Zalisky is the Executive Director of the Queens Jewish Community Council. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.