For many reasons, Thanksgiving is a very popular holiday. The feast, the football, the friends, and the family, are all very festive.

I want to thank Phil Devorris for helping put it all in perspective, and thank him for allowing me to share a portion of his thoughts: “I’d like to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving and the beginning of a most joyous holiday season. Whether you spend it with friends, family or in quiet contemplation, please take time to count your blessings.  The world’s population passed 7,000,000,000 people this month. We all face different challenges in our lives, but compared to the lives of the vast majority of those 7,000,000,000, we are all indeed fortunate. Being thankful for what we have follows a tradition that goes back 500 years in our country. Few things are more helpful to the psyche than taking a moment to be thankful.”

The more I think about Thanksgiving, the more I begin to see a second component, the act of GIVING. By giving, one truly demonstrates being thankful. Giving also helps the psyche, and also helps those who are less fortunate. In Judaism, we strive to take the ordinary and make it holy. By making simple things special we add meaning to our daily tasks, and enrich our lives and our community. In this vein, let us try to show our thanks by giving our time, and our support to those in need, not only in this holiday season, but all year long.