At the inaugural session of the first Congress in September 1789, Rep. Elias Boudinot of New Jersey introduced a resolution “to request that [President George Washington] would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God.”
Rep. Roger Sherman of Connecticut supported the resolution. He felt it was “warranted by a number of precedents” in the Bible, “for instance the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the Temple.” (Wall Street Journal, “Thanksgiving, 1789”, 11/20/12). The resolution passed, and the first national Thanksgiving was celebrated on Thursday, November 26 of the same year.
Today, we read the first expression of thanksgiving in the Torah: “Leah conceived again and bore a son, and declared, ‘This time אודה את ה׳ I will thank the Lord. Therefore she named him Judah/יהודה” (Gen 29:35-6).
A Midrash (in Bereishit Rabbah, 71:4) notices that Leah did not thank God after the births of Reuven, Shimon, or Levi. The four Imahot Rachel, Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah anticipated that each would have three sons. It was only when Leah gave birth to Judah, her 4th son, that she felt moved to give special thanks.
The names of Leah’s first four sons suggest another way to understand her delayed thanksgiving. Reuven means ‘Hashem has seen my affliction,’ relating to the eyes. Shimon means “Hashem has heard that I was unloved,” relating to the ears. After bearing Levi, Leah explains עתה הפעם יילוה אישי אליי “now my husband will escort me.” Hizkuni explains that, now that Leah and Yaakov had three children, Yaakov would have to hold Levi’s hand and walk along with him! The name “Levi” is related to walking, to the legs. With the birth of Judah, Leah called attention to speech, an activity of the mouth.
Eyes, ears, legs, mouth. The names convey the sense of building the human structure. With the birth of Judah, Leah felt complete. A person who feels complete can express gratitude. And one who feels incomplete cannot easily express thanks.
In our parashah, a sense of incompleteness is described as a kind of death.
Seeing that her elder sister has borne four children while she has borne none, Rachel tells Yaakov הבה-לי בנים ואם-אין מתה אנכי give me children, or I shall die (30.1). Rashi comments מכאן למי שאין לו בנים שחשוב כמת--one who does not have children is considered like one dead.
Yitzchak (Isaac), Yaakov’s father, is also understand as being somehow dead: God refers to Himself as Elokei Yitzchak, God of Isaac (Gen 28:13). Rashi comments that it is inappropriate to associate God’s name with a living person. However, Isaac was blind and locked up in his house, והרי הוא כמת, so he is considered as one dead.
Yaakov, himself, is also like one dead! When he encounters his future wife, Rachel, for the first time, he cries. Rashi explains that Yaakov was sorry that he had arrived empty handed. On his way to Haran from Beer Sheva, his nephew Eliphaz encountered him with an instruction from Esav to kill Yaakov. Eliphaz did not want to murder his uncle but felt the need to honor his father’s bidding. Yaakov explained that Eliphaz might satisfy his father’s command by taking the possessions that Yaakov had brought with him, והעני חשוב כמת, for a pauper is considered as one dead (see on 29:11).
In Hallel, we read, לא המתים יהללו י-ה, ולא כל-יורדי דומה the dead cannot praise God, nor any who go down in silence. One who feels incomplete, for lacking children, losing his sight, or losing his possessions, is less able to praise God. Leah felt sufficiently blessed to praise God.
A Midrash teaches that as Leah grasped פלך הודייה, the ‘spindle’ of thanksgiving, so do her descendants. For example, King David writes, הודו לה׳ כי טוב, כי לעולם חסדו Praise the Lord for He is good, for his lovingkindness lasts forever (Ps. 107.1, etc.) (Bereishit Rabbah 71.5).
Since the exile of the 10 lost tribes, the Jewish people are all associated with Leah and may follow in her footsteps. Yet, as King David himself teaches, it is is sometimes difficult to feel that one is able to give thanks: נאלמתי, לא אפתח פי “I am dumb, I do not open my mouth” (Ps. 39.10). With King David, we pray, ה׳ שפתי תפתח , ופי יגיד תהלתך “O Lord, may you open my lips so that my mouth might recount Your praise” (Ps. 51.17).
Leah teaches that, in order to open the mouth, one must feel complete even if one lacks. (In her case, Leah lacks the degree of marital love she seeks.) To praise God, one must feel that the blessings one has received exceed what one could have expected.
Today is the first Shabbat after the American holiday of Thanksgiving and the first Shabbat in the month of Kislev reading up to the festival of Chanukah. Then we will sing,
Maoz tzur yeshuati, the Rock of my salvation,
lecha na’eh leshabeach it is fitting to praise You…
Tikkon beit tefilati may God’s house of prayer be established,
vesham todah nezabech and there we will offer up a Thanksgiving offering.
May we often find the opportunity and the voice to “acknowledg[e], with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of the Almighty God.”
-- David M. Rosenberg