Musing – According to the Lord, no leftovers at Thanksgiving!

Hebraic Musing – According to the Lord, no leftovers at Thanksgiving!

Could the original Thanksgiving be compared with the fellowship offering of thanksgiving prescribed in Leviticus?  “‘The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.’” — Leviticus 7:15  Why or how should it all be consumed the same day?  Why did the Lord say “No leftovers”?

According to my friends at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews – There is something very unique about the thanksgiving offering – all of it had to be consumed by sunset on that day.  In fact, it was impossible for those bringing the thanksgiving offering to finish all the food by themselves in the required time.  So why did God mandate it this way?

Sages explain that the impossible requirements were quite intentional.  God wanted the worshipper to be unable to complete the task on his own so that he would invite others to join him.  Those bringing the offering would be forced to share their meal with others, who inevitably would ask why.  This would give worshippers the opportunity to share their story and gratitude with others.  And that’s precisely the point of the offering; to express genuine, heartfelt gratitude to God.  In this way, the offering would be complete.

The importance of thanking God for our blessings, especially in the presence of others, is something that will certainly never change.  For good reason, too – not only is it pleasing to God, but it also does wonders for us. Gratitude has the power to completely change our outlook on life – from one of pessimism to optimism, from sadness to joy.

Saying “thank you” to God isn’t just a gift we give to Him; it’s the greatest gift we can give to ourselves!

Thanksgiving comes only once a year on the calendar, but Judaism says, why wait until then?  Whenever something great happens in life – like the birth of a child or a healing – people are encouraged to host a meal of thanksgiving.  Some families make it a habit to share what they are thankful for around the family table every Friday night on Shabbat.  In this way we carry out the tradition of the thanksgiving offering; it is part of our past and it will be part of our future, so it should be part of our present as well.

Reminds me of one of my many favorite songs:
♫  Give thanks with a grateful heart, Give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son.
And now let the weak say, "I am strong."  Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"  Give thanks… ♫

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a renowned Jewish theologian, who once said, “It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.”  Would you agree with him?

Points to ponder

How can your traditional Thanksgiving Dinner be a “Moment Closest to Christ”?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                           November 20, 2018  

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note –  From “The Original Thanksgiving” email – HolyLandMoments@bless.ifcj.org Nov.18, 2018