Friday 23 November 2012

Thankgiving and Shabbat

When I saw this picture, it made me smile, because Shabbat is a weekly Thanksgiving meal.
We give thanks that we reach the end of the work week; we are thankful for home and family and the blessings we enjoy. We give thanks for the Torah and for the Creator Who has given us all we enjoy.. Yes, I know that Thanksgiving is a National Holiday where the nation stops to give thanks.
But each Friday evening, Jews around the world do the same thing.
Thanksgiving and Shabbat share the same message; in this busy, crazy world, we need to take a break from it all. And for twenty-four hours, just slow down.
Breath. Enjoy good food and friends. Enjoy family and Torah. Shut out the world and just be.
Both days remind us to remember all our blessings come from.
I remember 13 years ago, I remember spending Thanksgiving at Sentara Norfolk Hospital. My mother had three strokes in three week time and I had to feed mother her turkey dinner. I remember the doctor telling me not to expect her to survive.
 13 years later, yesterday, mummie sat our dinner table, holding Monti as she fed him turkey.
 I remember eight years ago this month, we received the news Mark had cancer and we entered into the fight of our lives.
Eight years later, yesterday, my beloved who is cancer free, helped me clean up the kitchen from the meal we prepared for my mother.
Tonight, our shabbat meal will be simple, but for the next twenty-four hours we will shut out the world and enjoy each other, our little dog, Torah and the Presence of our Creator
Shabbat Shalom.
 

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