Being Grateful 

In 2017 I began a Gratitude Journal. Never heard of it? In simple terms, it is a journal where each day you write down no less than one thing you're grateful for. Of course, you can write down more than one. I often wrote down two or three, because there was always more than one thing to be grateful for each and every day. I loved writing in my journal because it made me conscious of all the good going on in my life, and steered me away from dwelling on the bad. You know - stress, politics, difficult bosses or coworkers, all those annoying things that eat you up inside and keep you awake at night. 

Initially, I kept it up daily, but then it became more sporadic. In mid-2018 I stopped altogether and picked it up in 2021. That lasted until the end of the year, and once again I stopped recording my gratitude, though I did have a perfectly good reason why. In 2021 I began developing a tremor in my writing hand. By 2022 it grew worse and worse and by 2023 writing became difficult and laborious. Plus I'd developed severe, very painful arthritis in the same hand making writing all but impossible. Just trying to write a short grocery list was a chore that could take upwards of ten minutes. 

I'd been seeing a hand specialist who by mid-2023 told me that I'd reached the maximum number of cortisone shots he could give me. Any more and the cortisone would start permanently damaging my cartilage and bone. My only option was to have the arthritic bone in my hand removed. I didn't love the idea of undergoing major hand surgery, but if that was the only way to be pain-free and regain the use of my hand I figured I might as well get it over with. My surgeon warned me it would be extremely painful, and the recovery long even with three months of post-op hand therapy. As I sit and type this I am five months out from surgery, and while I am buckets better than I was before undergoing the knife, I still have a ways to go. He did tell me that it could take six to twelve months before I'd truly be pain-free and back to normal. I should have believed him. He was so very right. And that's my perfectly good excuse for not writing in my gratitude journal. 

Today I pulled it out and began reviewing pages and pages of entries. I had forgotten many of the joys that I've written about, the gratitude I expressed. Entries spanned from being grateful for reconnecting with an old friend to successfully making a batch of Fromage Blanc cheese to having a roof over my head to an afternoon nap to finishing a quilt I'd been working on for months to an amazing dinner my husband made to witnessing a blue sky the likes of which I'd never seen to finding and meeting new family to recognizing that gratitude was changing my perspective by giving me a way to look at life and influencing how I responded to it. As I thumbed through the journal I was amazed at all that I'd found worthy to write about, things I should still be grateful for every day. 

In a moment's breath, I rededicated myself to once again regularly write in my journal. I dated a new page and scribbled (my handwriting is not yet terribly legible) several things for which I'm grateful. It was when I closed it and saw what was stamped on the front cover that I remembered why I began the journal in the first place, the reason for its coming to be. In gold ink is stamped: "Start something wonderful." That was the impetus in the beginning, and even though I've taken a long break away, it is now the inducement to continue. Just as my journal entry of long ago made me realize how recognizing and expressing gratitude changed my perspective and life in such a positive way, it is time once again to restart and appreciate the simple wonders of life. 

 

Hanukkah and Lessons Learned from Ancient Israel

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights will soon be upon us and will run for eight days and nights. In the year 168 B.C.E., the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes sent his soldiers to Jerusalem to desecrate the Jewish Holy Temple. That was not enough. In addition, Antiochus also abolished Judaism. The Syrians set up altars and idols to worship Greek gods and Jews were given two options: conversion or death. The Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, rebelled against King Antiochus. Around 164 B.C., the Maccabees defeated King Antiochus and his troops.

When the Maccabees returned to their ransacked temple, they found only one jar of oil—just enough to light the temple’s candles for one day. But according to the Talmud, the oil miraculously burned for eight days. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the ancient Hebrews over those who sought to crush their faith. The triumph is symbolized by the miracle of light. It commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 B.C. after three years of war.

Now it is 2023. It is almost ironic that the first night of Hanukkah this year, December 7, falls exactly two months after the brutal, murderous attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians including children and babies.

Much like the war waged by the Maccabees, this is a war that will be fought until Israelis can live safely again in their homes without fear of being murdered for being Jewish. Because make no mistake, this war is about Jewish survival. While many say it's a territorial war, it is not. It is about the Jewish people's right to exist and live freely as Jews in the land given to them by God. Unless you are keenly aware of the war(s) between Israel and the Muslims, you may not understand how deep antisemitism runs in the Muslim world. Their hatred of Jews is on a par with Hilter's, and in fact, bold Arab leaders often say they are intent on finishing what Hilter started. In the West, politicians and leaders have long sought peace in the Middle East. What the West does not comprehend is how can there be peace when the Arabs hate Jews with such a fervor that they see no resolution short of annihilating every Jew standing on Israeli land?

That is why as Jews, this year, perhaps more than any other, we must light the candles all eight nights and remember that this is not the first time that a group has tried to annihilate us. It didn't work then, and it won't work now. Am Israel Chai!