Day 3 | Recognize Human Need February | Adar

On Being Needy

Today’s blessing “Blessed are you… who has provided me with all my needs”  compels us to focus on how our needs are met.

Rabbi Lisa Goldstein shares that it can also remind us of our unmet needs: the scarcity in our lives. 

This scarcity, as well as some other challenges Rabbi Goldstein highlights, can make gratitude difficult, especially during this global pandemic. 

Reflection questions: 

  1. When is your own gratitude in danger of becoming performative?
  2. When have you struggled to be grateful during this past month? What feels scarce in your life? 
  3. “Gratitude exists side-by-side with the things we lack.” Are you able to recognize the Jewish idea of “eilu v’eilu,” this and that, something you both are grateful for and in need of simultaneously?