Dear Friends, 
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On this day of Thanksgiving, we are keenly aware that blessings may come in the most unusual places, even places of which we are unaware.  

Just in recent weeks…

• A family member of mine recently was diagnosed with cancer. Amid the hubbub of tests and decisions and treatments, it drew us much closer. 
  
  
• An old friend of mine, whom I hadn’t seen for ten years, attended a study seminar in New York in September, we sat together, and learning that my latest book was nearly finished, he confided that he had a new book contract and could use some guidance. 
  
  
• A neighbor had a friend visiting from California. We had a chance encounter and learned that her brother was ill and facing traumatic surgery, and though she is Muslim, she asked for my prayers. We have developed a new friendship of our own.
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This week we read in the Torah of Jacob setting off from his home, expelled due to his rift with Esau. On his journey to Assyria, he slept for a night at a certain place, laying his head on a rock for a pillow. He dreamt of a ladder from the earth to the heavens, with messengers of God ascending and descending. Recognizing that this was a sacred place, Jacob awoke and declared, “Truly, God is in this place, and I, I did not know it!” (Genesis 28:16)

Our task is not to know it, but to discover it, like Jacob.  

The world is filled with holy places – nearly any place we sit, stand or lay upon may be such a certain place. Although, like Jacob, we may not know it at first, how wonderful if we might discover that sacredness from our encounter or experience. 

Thus, sharing Thanksgiving today, let’s not merely eat and watch football. That can be done any day or anywhere. Rather, let’s engage the Divine in our connections and sharing in our storytelling and our listening, in our helping and in our being helped.  

For a Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Douglas Kohn