From the Rabbi's Desk

איזהו עשיר? השמח בחלקו./Who is wealthy/happy? One who is happy with their portion. (פרקי אבות ד:א). These words are of the utmost importance. We spend too many days of our lives looking at other people and feeling as though we don’t have the lives we want. We look too often at what’s lacking and not at the beauty of all we have.

This concept is enshrined in the עשרת הדברות/Eseret HaDibrot/The Ten Commandments, especially the tenth: לא תחמוד/Do not covet. This command is often overlooked but it’s the essential root of all of the others. Until we’re content with what we have, we’ll continuously desire what someone else has. It’s an exhausting part of humanity to look too often at what others have instead of what we’re blessed with in our own lives.

This week, we learn about the problem of wanting something that’s someone else’s in פרשת תולדות/Parshat Toldot when we see יעקב/Jacob and עשיו/Esau competing with each other. The root of their conflict comes from an inability to be content… to be happy with what they had. This brings us to the present and the holiday of Thanksgiving.

Three appetizers, squash Caesar salad, challah stuffing, cranberry sauce, roasted veggies, balsamic glazed brussels sprouts with kosher beef bacon, smoked turkey with barbecue sauce gravy, oven roasted turkey with pan gravy, lemon meringue pie, pecan pie and marshmallow brownies… that’s our menu. We’ve been working on fine tuning it for days and now I get to start preparing this feast. But there’s a problem with this; we have to elevate this holiday, not just the meal associated with it. The gift of Thanksgiving is not merely about delicacies and traditional foods, but about the act of saying thank you.

To be thankful is to recognize that our world is crafted for us by others and by ourselves. To be thankful is to recognize the role God plays in our daily lives. To be thankful is to step outside of our egos and embrace living in a world where we need each other. We live in a world where we’re constantly nurtured and enhanced by the people around us and the only appropriate thing to do is to say thank you to the people who have impacted us for the better.

Thank you to our Board for caring about our community and taking the time to be here and manage our vision of the future. Thank you to our Sisterhood for being the heart of our community for all of these years and for stepping up when few others did. Thank you to our regulars at services for spending time together and making sure we have a community where people can come together to be with each other and God and to say prayers.

Thank you to our staff. Thank you to Adam Kofinas for his tireless commitment to our community. Thank you to Natalie Geuli for pushing us to stay focused and elevate our programs and engagement. Thank you to Nicole Feldman for being the person who’s always keeping us thinking ahead of time and making sure we’re well prepared. Thank you to Matty Perry for managing our community on a daily basis. Thank you to Rabbi Gutierrez for making sure we stay true to our heritage and keep our services in line with our Sephardic Roots. Thank you to Chana Mayer for elevating our Building Blocks program and for always being willing to help in any way needed. Thank you to all our Building Blocks teachers for caring for our children, the future of the Jewish people. Thank you to Acquinilla and Darien, and the rest our maintenance staff, for taking care of our building and caring so much about our daily operations. Thank you to the police officers who keep us safe. Thank you to Alex Borukhov for feeding our bellies and our souls and for being so good at his job. I also want to thank Carrie, Ayelet and Galit for all of the times they allow me to be away at work for you. I want to thank them for making my life, and my world, everything it is… they complete me.

Lastly, thank you. Thank you for choosing to be engaged. Thank you for stepping forward. Thank you for being committed. Thank you for pushing us to be better and to grow. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for volunteering. Thank you for being a part of what we’re building together here at OVS.

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for. We don’t have to look at what others have since we have so much in our own lives and that’s something to be fully aware of and embrace. There’s no need to be unhappy, no need to covet, and no need to take what’s someone else’s. We have a gift and we should all be overjoyed to be part of it.