TGIT
In the 1970’s, 80’s, and through the 90’s, I owned and operated a couple of small businesses and depending on the season, I had from 6 to as many as 30 employees. Summertime was our busiest season where we supplied tables, chairs, dance floors, and large party tents for summer weekend events. Our crews began installing the parties on Thursday and Friday, and returned Monday to pick it all up.
One comment I kept hearing over and over across the summer was: “Thank Gd its Wednesday” because the middle of the week workload was often fairly light. In the winter, my skeleton staff could occasionally be heard exclaiming: “Thank Gd it’s Friday.” The weekend was upon them and they were certainly looking forward to a quiet couple of days.
I must take note here that there are large sections of our population who, in contemporary modern times and because of their professions, must try to pack in as much family time as possible over the weekends. Added to soccer, softball games, day trips, and painting the fence, there are also gardens to be weeded and the lawn to be mowed. By the time the workweek begins again, these harried and haggard folks will often mutter: “Thank Gd it’s Monday” as they enter their offices. In this same group we also find the so called “workaholics” who are so into their work or professions that they literally hate being away from the office and therefore are ecstatic as they get back into the fray the first thing Monday morning.
As I remember the comments of my employees and occasionally overhear exclamations of “Thank Gd it’s Friday,” I find myself honing in on two separate yet distinctly important issues. First is the “Thank Gd” section of the comment. Second, the selection of the “thanked” day is truly fascinating.
Since the beginning of Judaic history, we have been thanking Gd for virtually everything. Abraham began the process in a verbal prayer of thanksgiving for showing him and teaching him the “one Gd” concept. Later, Abraham is found thanking Gd profusely for keeping him from slaughtering his favored son Isaac. Speaking of Isaac, his thanks to Gd for delivering him such a lovely and helpful wife as Rebecca is beautifully poetic. Jacob is found thanking Gd for saving his life and for his two wonderful wives. Later he thanks Gd profusely for re-establishing his relationship with his son Joseph.
Moses and Aaron are found numerous times in the Torah thanking Gd for their release from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, for being able to safely cross the Red Sea, for manna and water in the desert for 40 years, the list is almost endless. Often in the writings of various Prophets and later in the Books of Psalms and Proverbs, the authors thank Gd for everything from the rising and setting of the sun to good health to the Shabbat. And all of this is most accurate and correct. We humans are enjoined to thank Gd for each and every day of our lives!
The philosophy of Judaism is to thank Gd for our very beings, for the world upon which we live, for the air and water, for the sun and the clouds, for the endless variety of plants and animals that share the Earth with us – indeed for our very existence. We thank Gd quite often for our continued good health. Ask an Orthodox person “how are you?” and they’ll generally reply, “thank Gd.” In a smaller and somewhat irreligious sense, we find ourselves thanking Gd for all sorts of things. Thank Gd we made that green light, or thank Gd the soup didn’t spill, or thank Gd the traffic is finally moving again. By extension, we are recognizing that Gd has a direct effect on all we do and we feel it is correct to thank Gd for the efforts extended on our behalf.
Within these contexts, I fully understand and generally sympathize with those who exclaim, “thank Gd it’s Friday. The drudge workweek is finally over and I can go home and relax,” or “thank Gd it’s Monday. I’m exhausted from all the yard work over the weekend and I’m glad I can go back to my regular job.” We’re human and it is human for us to have these feelings and these feelings are not wrong in any sense of the word. What I’d like to do is add one additional exclamation to the list of TGIF or TGIM. I feel we’d be a better people if we’d add TGIT to our vocabularies; Thank Gd it’s TODAY! The sun has risen and we are alive to enjoy and partake in this grand new day with all its expectations and its mysteries!
I believe that all mammals (including humans) must sleep. We must rest in order to recharge our minds and our bodies. I am intrigued with the process since we humans willing close our eyes and fall asleep for however long our bodies will allow and that we fall into this mindless state with the full expectation of waking up at the other end, generally refreshed and ready for another round. We fall asleep knowing and expecting to wake again and enter into a new day and most of the time that is precisely how it works. Upon rising, devout Jews each morning recite, “How goodly are your dwellings, O Jacob, your sanctuaries, O Israel! Thanks to Your abundant kindness, O Lord, I am able to enter Your house”! Ma Tovu, how great it is! It’s the Jewish version of TGIT! Thank Gd it’s today!
We are alive. We have awakened from our slumber to a new day full of importance and promise. We want to be ready to experience just about what ever comes into our circle of influence and at the same time, we want to note all the cosmic wonder that Gd has put here for us to savor. To be sure, that’s a huge order but we have all day don’t we? Yes, it’s going to be busy but we can – we should – we must take the time to recognize that the trees, grass and animals outdoors, the food in our refrigerators and the water in our taps, the very air we breathe all comes from Gd’s beneficence. The Jews of our Torah knew this concept and were charged with the responsibility to teach it to those around them. In most cases they were thrown out of the community or imprisoned or simply ignored but over time, they taught that within our lives, we must thank Gd for everything given to us.
Our morning, afternoon and evening prayer services go to great lengths to thank Gd for all that is given to us. TGIT – thank Gd it’s today! Now before anyone gets the wrong impression; I am a huge fan of planning ahead after all, we all need to have plans; for this afternoon, for next week, for next summer however we must also keep our focus on today – now. We are all living in the moment and within that moment we need to take the time, even briefly, to thank Gd for all that we have. Gd has always been and will always be. We humans however are here for only a finite time on the very world created by Gd for our lives. If we agree that Gd created the heavens and the earth and all that is on earth for us humans, and we further agree that we humans are here at the sole whim of Gd, we therefore should be able to agree that our daily thanks to Gd for everything provided for our lives is essential. I agree that my explanation is a sophomoric approach to a much more intricate philosophy but I think you get the idea.
So, how do we thank Gd? Prayer. We have to establish a discipline within our daily lives to somehow thank Gd for everything we have; our health, our homes, our families. Simply saying under your breath, “Thank you Gd” as you flip the hamburgers on the grill is not what I’m referring to. I am speaking of looking at our daily lives and carving out a set time each day to stop and concentrate on prayerfully thanking Gd for all we have. It can be anytime; as you rise in the morning, before you leave you home for your daily activities, or just before you retire for the night. It’s a bit Zen but simply stopping and taking a few deep breaths as you begin your prayer works quite well. Ask Louise Freeman about her Yoga excercises or ask Michelle about her readings of selected Psalms before she retires each night.
If self composed prayer is not your thing, pick up a prayer book. We have some in our library or you can find a variety of Daily Prayerbooks at Rosenblum’s or Hamakor, or look at Amazon.com. If you have questions, ask me. I’ll happily help you with your prayer selections. And please note here that what works for person A does not always work for person B. If there is enough interest, I’ll be happy to put together a short bagel and lox course on daily prayer.
A principle theme during Rosh Hashana is Teshuvah which loosely means to repent or more accurately “to turn.” If, as I am suggesting, we take the phrase TGIT literally, then we need a plan and introducing a daily prayer session in our lives could produce huge dividends. We would be turning from our current frenetic daily lives to a less frenzied lifestyle by taking the time to thank Gd for all we have. We would be deliberately carving out a set time each day to take a few deep breaths to concentrate on a much bigger picture. Two minutes could work, five minuets of your day would be better, and if you can afford a ten minute block, that would be ideal!
The physicians and psychologists here this morning will certainly agree that taking a few personal minutes each day will add immeasurably to our mental health, and I fully concur. All I’m advocating is to add our thanks to Gd, TGIT, within those personal minutes.
As I said a moment or two ago, Rosh Hashana is the time we Jews stop and examine our lives over the past year and make plans for the coming year. We plan to be better husbands and wives, we promise to be better citizens, we make plans to be more inclusive in our families. I am requesting a promise from everyone this morning to add our daily thanks to Gd to our plans for the year 5770.
The Mishnaic scholar, Rabbi Chia is quoted as saying, “You don’t have to pray loudly, just direct your heart to the heavens.” And that is what I am proposing to everyone this morning. Each of our days is precious, each day is full of possibilities. We should make it a habit to take a few moments of each day to thank Gd for all of the world in which we live and for what we have. We have the ability to take the words of the trite saying, TGIT, and put meaning and love of Gd into each new day.
I want to wish everyone a happy, a healthy, and a very prosperous New Year.
L’Shana Tovah Tikatevu