As you set your table for Thanksgiving like a Norman Rockwell painting or prepare to pull up a chair at a Pinterest-like dining room table, take a moment to give thanks before diving into the food that took hours to prepare and will be consumed in fewer than ten minutes time.
In our family, whether on Shabbat, for birthday celebrations, or secular holidays, we always begin our meal with the tzedakah box. Everyone receives a coin from the moment they are old enough to hold it. We go around the room and each person shares something they are thankful for, and then they drop their coin into the box.
There is a ritual to the order. Pick up a coin, share gratitude, drop the coin into the tzedakah box, and pass the box to the next person.
To engage in such a ritual is to create a holy space, a sacred space. Your dining room is no longer just a dining room; now, it is the central place of kindness in your home. Giving gratitude at the start of the meal sets the tone for the whole dinner.
As you set your Thanksgiving table. Dust off the tzedakah box, count off the coins you need so that everyone may partake, and start your meal with a moment of thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachael
P.S. If you stayed in town and/or welcome family or friends into your home for Thanksgiving I hope you will bring them with you to services on Friday night to welcome in Shabbat.
