Dear Temple Emanuel Community,
On this Thanksgiving Day, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge how much there is to be grateful for in our lives, and in our sacred community. Despite a world that can seem chaotic and turbulent, our congregation continues to find new ways to come together, honoring tradition while we create the next chapter in the life of the Temple Emanuel family.
We hope that you are enjoying a meaningful holiday with loved ones, connecting with others near or far, and we hope that you can take a moment on this national holiday to celebrate some of the blessings in your life.
As your clergy, we are grateful for your participation and presence in our Temple Emanuel community, and we hope that you will continue to connect with us as we look forward to our Festival of Lights, Chanukah, which starts with the first candle on Sunday, December 18.
The blessing below is a gift from our homes to yours on this Thanksgiving Day, and we hope that your table will be full of love, abundance, kindness, and gratitude today and every day.
With gratitude,
Rabbi Max Chaiken
Cantor Rachel Reef-Simpson
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Source of Life, Holy One of Blessing, today we give thanks as a nation for all the blessings we are lucky enough to enjoy.
We give thanks for the earth, which has sustained our lives in every generation. May we renew our efforts to preserve, and to protect our environment that it may sustain us bountifully for generations to come.
We give thanks for all that we have. May we never take it for granted, and may we be inspired to give generously to those in need.
We give thanks for our ancestors; immigrants who sought shelter, who found refuge here in this land. May we remember their sacrifice, and honor the sacrifice of all the native peoples who called this land home for centuries.
We give thanks for those around us, for community and companionship. May our celebration help to heal divisions, move our hearts and our world towards justice, and bring us into renewed connection to one another.
On this day, we pray for health and happiness, joy and light, love and kindness to pervade in our world, and we pray for the strength to bring those qualities to one another, and to our world, on this day and every day.
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, Hamotzi Lechem Min Ha-aretz
Blessed are you Adonai our God, Source of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
