Shofar (TBE Newsletter)

The Shofar, Temple Beth El’s monthly publication, keeps community and temple members up to date on what’s going on. Take a look at this month’s Shofar to see what’s coming up or browse through the archives to see all that we’ve done!

November 2025 – Shofar (pdf)

Finding Thanks in the Unfinished Places

Dear Friends,

When a friend’s grandmother would bake challah, she would leave one small loaf a little underdone. I used to think she’d simply forgotten it in the oven. Reflecting on this, she once said, “We leave something unfinished to remember that gratitude doesn’t come from perfection—it comes from noticing blessing even in what’s not yet complete.” As Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself thinking about unfinished challah, and how hard it is for far too many people to feel thankful when life feels uncertain or painful.

The Midrash (Genesis Rabba 1:4) teaches that when God created the first human being, “the angels were divided into camps—some said, ‘Don’t create them,’” because they will lie and fight, “and others said, ‘Create them’” because they will show kindness and justice. In the end, God went ahead and created us, knowing our faults but also knowing our potential, which includes gratitude. What a radical statement—that our capacity for gratitude is so central to being human that God was willing to risk all our imperfections for it. Gratitude, the Midrash implies, is not the result of a perfect life. It’s the sacred act of saying “thank You” in a world that’s still being healed.

Since the 16^th Century, the Jewish way is to start each day with Modeh Ani l’fanecha—“I give thanks before You”—even before we’ve gotten out of bed, before we’ve checked the news, or Insta, or Facebook, or…before we know what the day will bring. Gratitude is not a reaction to good news; it’s a spiritual discipline that shapes us to see blessing, even amid brokenness.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (the great grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Chasidism; his movement is widespread to this day in Israel) taught that when we search for even the smallest good point (טובה נקודה) within ourselves or our circumstances (Likkutei Moharan 282:2), that spark can expand and illuminate the darkness around it — transforming meitzar (narrowness) into merchav (spaciousness), echoing the Psalmist’s words: “From the narrow place I called to God; God answered me with expansiveness” (Psalm 118:5;מִן־הַמֵּצַר קָרָאתִי יָהּ עָנָנִי בַּמֶּרְחָב יָהּ).

Action step:

This month, I invite you to begin a new daily practice: each morning, before coffee or email, write down one thing— just one—for which you are thankful, especially something that feels incomplete. Maybe it’s a relationship still healing, a project still in process, or a hope still forming. Give thanks for it not because it’s finished, but because it’s alive.

In that unfinished gratitude, we meet the Divine—the One who continues to create and re-create the world with us, each day, anew.

Wishing you and yours a Thanksgiving filled with courage, compassion, and gratitude in all its forms.

p.s. send me feedback via phone: 424.248.5775. Thank you!

SHOFAR ARCHIVES