This Thanksgiving, my heart turns again to the quiet strength that comes from gratitude, not for what we wish we had, but for the blessings God has already placed in our lives.
In a world of constant comparison and societal pressures, it is easy to forget this spiritual truth. In the Jewish tradition, we observe gratitude not only as a feeling, but as a response to a sacred question.
That question is Ayeka? Where are you?
It is the first question God poses to humanity in the Garden of Eden, and it continues to echo through the generations. It is not a request for an exact location. It is a calling: Where are you in this moment? What do you decide to stand for when the world around you feels uncertain, frightening, or unfair? Who are you choosing to be?
And the answer our tradition gives us is the answer of our forefather Abraham: Hineni. Here I am.
Hineni reminds us that everyone can do something. Everyone is empowered. Hineni is the language of faith in action, even in the hardest times. It is the courage to step forward even when the path ahead is uncertain. When there's nowhere left to go but to jump into the abyss of the unknown. It is answering God’s call not because life is easy, but because we know He walks with us, especially during the tough times.
Seen through the lens of Hineni, Thanksgiving is not just a holiday on the calendar that comes around once a year. It is part of a daily spiritual practice – a way of standing before God with presence, purpose and an open heart. And it is often in the moments when gratitude feels the hardest to find that we need it the most.
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Over the past two years in Israel, I have witnessed this sacred kind of gratitude firsthand. Since the horrific attacks of October 7, I have sat with families of hostages who, through tears, told me, “Others have it worse—we still have hope.” I met parents who buried their children and whispered, “Thank God we could lay them to rest. Thank God we were able to say goodbye.” I have listened to women managing their households alone while their husbands served for months in the reserves, women exhausted and brave, who still said, “He is coming home. Other families lost everything.”
This is not denial. It is deep, spiritual resilience – the kind that has carried the Jewish people through every chapter of our history.
It is no wonder that last year—even amidst a year of heartbreak as war continued to rage on—Israel was still named among the happiest countries on earth. Not because we haven’t suffered attacks from our enemies, but because we focus on resilience, on thanksgiving, on seeing ourselves not as victims, but as blessings, even during the hard times.
Our tradition teaches this through the story of the Red Sea. The first mention of singing in the Bible happens not after the Israelites reached safety, but while walls of water rose on either side and danger surrounded them. They sang because they recognized the miracle of simply being carried forward. They sang because gratitude does not wait for certainty.
This is Thanksgiving: not the absence of fear. Not the comfort of easy answers. But gratitude inside the unknown, because we trust that God always walks with us.
And so this year, the question of Ayeka comes to each of us: Where are you? Where are you in a culture that tells us we never have enough? Where are you when God calls you to show up with compassion, faith and clarity?
Thanksgiving invites us to answer with a full heart: Hineni. Here I am.
Here I am, choosing gratitude even in hardship.
Here I am, finding the blessings in our lives that we otherwise overlook.
Here I am, bringing light to the world.
This Thanksgiving, may we each have the courage to answer God’s quiet question with the strength of Hineni. May we recognize the blessings that endure even in difficult times. And may we remember that gratitude is not the result of a perfect life, but it is the practice that fills every life with meaning, purpose and hope.
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