What does an attitude of gratitude ask of us?
This week’s Torah reading, Tzav, raises this question in an indirect but important
manner. The portion continues last
week’s lengthy and detailed description of the sacrifices offered up by our
Israelite ancestors. Our focus this
Shabbat is on a class of offerings known as shlamim—offerings
of well-being. In this list, the todah—the sacrifice of gratitude—stands
out in one significant way. Whereas other sacrifices of
well-being may be eaten until the third day, "the flesh of [the]
thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being shall be eaten on the day that it is
offered; none of it shall be set aside until the morning" (Leviticus
7:15). Whatever is left over until the following morning must be destroyed.
Given
our propensity to associate American Thanksgiving with leftovers, why does
Torah uniquely forbid the consumption of leftover gratitude offerings?
Drawing on the medieval commentator Isaac Abravanel, Rabbi
Shai Held suggests that by banning leftovers, Torah strongly encourages the
celebrant to share the meal with friends and family. He writes: “The nature of gratitude is such
that it is inherently outward-looking. Think of a moment in your life when you
have had an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God or to another person.
Imagine especially a moment when you received something - whether a much-needed
meal, a kind word, or a gesture of deep love - that you were not at all sure
would be forthcoming. You may well notice that when you fully inhabit the sense
of gratitude, you feel an urge to share the gifts you have received with
others. When we are moved to the depths of our being by having been given
something, we seek to become givers ourselves. A grateful heart overflows. . .
. The simple requirement that there not be any leftovers from the thanksgiving
offering thus teaches us a fundamental theological and spiritual lesson. We are
not meant to rest content with being recipients of God's gifts but are asked to
becoming givers ourselves. God's gifts are meant to flow through us
and not merely to us.”
In other words, gratitude and hoarding are completely
incompatible. As one of my favorite
prayers in our Reform siddur, Mishkan Tefilah, teaches: Teach us, O God, to give thanks for what we
have by sharing it with others.
This coming Shabbat is known as Shabbat Ha-Gadol, the
Shabbat before Pesach. It’s fitting that
we read about the gratitude offering, as Pesach asks that we open our homes and
our hearts to others. “Let all who are hungry, come and eat.” Indeed.
To be grateful is to share.
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