Cultivating the Attitude of Gratitude

I have been searching for a unifying theme for all the upcoming meaningful occasions that this bulletin spans. What links Purim, Pesah, and birkat hahama, the rare blessing of the sun that we recite once every twenty-eight years (this year on erev Pesah)? How do they relate with another special event in our community, completing the Mashaal Sanctuary renovation?
These events share the possibility of cultivating in us a sense of gratitude and appreciation to the Holy One for the bountiful blessings that we enjoy. Purim and Pesah help remind us not to take our physical and spiritual freedoms for granted. Thanking God for the sun evokes in us thoughts of the critical importance of the sun in our lives. The newly renovated sanctuary engenders in us gratitude for having such a beautiful holy space in which to show our appreciation to the Holy One. In Hebrew we call appreciation, hakarat hatov, recognizing goodness, and once we pause to reflect, there is so much for which to be grateful.
New trends in modern psychology have affirmed our ancient wisdom of the importance of taking time to appreciate life’s goodness. Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, the Israeli professor who teaches Harvard’s most popular course, Positive Psychology, recommends making a daily list of five things for which we are grateful. Scientific studies show that this simple act goes a long way to promoting simha, happiness, and healthy relationships—and this can bring new life to our exclamation: hodu l’Adonai ki tov – give thanks to the Lord for all the goodness.
Our tradition encourages us not only to cultivate the attitude of gratitude in relation to God but also to our fellow human beings. I would like to take this opportunity to look back and acknowledge a number of people for their exceptional contributions to the success of some recent events at our synagogue.
Our Young Adult Iraqi kitchen crew headed by Joseph Daoud and comprised of Phil Kattan, Robert Daoud, Tania and Shawn Korin, spent many late nights cooking homemade delicious Iraqi food for a capacity crowd of 120 young adults for the great Babylonian Friday Night Dinner. Irene Buenavida, our sisterhood president, worked tirelessly to ensure the success of our lively Hanouka party. Gladys Mooallem has shown great care in organizing the Adult Bat Mitzvah Group which will reconvene for the second round in April and culminate on erev Shavuot. Orlit Cohen also deserves special mention for her help with the spectacular Yosef Karduner concert.
I know that there are so many others who have recently invested time and resources for the sake of our community. Forgive me for my many omissions--I do hope that they have been or will be acknowledged elsewhere. May the circle of hakarat hatov grow.
Thank God for all our volunteers and for all our special events and occasions.

Hag Semeah,
Rabbi Schachar Orenstein

A question for this year’s seder: What makes you feel free?