CLERGY CORNER: Greatest gift

Posted on 04 December 2014 by LeslieM

Many people had family come in from out of town to be with their loved ones during Thanksgiving. Many invited friends over to join in. And those friends came bearing gifts.

Giving gifts can be a marvelous expression of love. In the Torah, we read that when Jacob first saw the love of his life, he wept. The Sages ask, “Why did Jacob weep?” Some say he wept in joy. But that’s just one of many answers.

Rashi gives several reasons that are all indeed possibilities. But there is one particular one he gives that stuck out during this time where everybody is busy looking for gifts. You see, one of Rashi’s explanations is that Jacob cried because he had no gifts to give her. He had been robbed and, at that moment, he had nothing.

I thought about that a lot and I wondered what I would say to someone who came to me crying that he or she had no gifts to give, and my response would have been, “But you do have a gift you can give, you can give of yourself. You can give your love and devotion. You can sing or make someone laugh. You can hold a hand and give a hug. You can give of your time, of yourself, and that just might be the greatest gift of all.

What good is giving a bunch of flowers on the holiday if your usual behavior throughout the year does not show your love? I watched during Thanksgiving as various friends and family members came to express their love in the health centers and I caught some very odd behavior in a few cases. I saw one longtime friend come to visit a patient and she brought her a giant box of chocolates. The only problem was that the patient was a severe diabetic, which made that chocolate a very unloving gift. Another patient had a relative who brought them two bottles of wine, but, guess what? That’s right; the patient was a recovering alcoholic.

There is a tale in the folklore of our people about a man who comes to his Rabbi in the middle of a crowded place and goes on and on about how much he loved the Rabbi, about how wonderful the Rabbi is, and about how he adores him. The Rabbi responds, “You don’t love me. If you did then you would know how much I dislike such displays.”

Speaking of gift giving, you probably missed a special day that happened on the 2nd of December. It is known as “Giving Tuesday” It is a day to think about donating your time and your money to those in need.

Our bellies are filled from Thanksgiving and will soon be filled with latkes and jelly donuts for Chanukah, but there are so many who hunger and thirst for food, for health, for love. Let us show our thanks to G-d by being there for those who are more in need of gifts than we have ever been.

I should tell you that I am not a fan of Thanksgiving. I am not a fan of Mother’s Day either. I think the idea of acknowledging your mother should be a daily event and I feel the very same in regard to giving thanks.

What do you have to give? Give of yourself. Give “With all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.”

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. Join us for worship on Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. and give us the gift of your presence.

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