Shabbos (Jewish Sabbath)
I am obligated to say the Blessing of Thanksgiving
(Birchot Hagomel) to thank God for the Kindness He
has done for me. I survived a stroke. GOD saved my
life!
My grandson,my wife, medical professionals,
my family, my friends, the community exercised
their free will, to be emissaries of GOD.
I am grateful for their kindness.
Nevertheless, I was not looking forward to going
to the Synagogue today. I feel like it's my formal
debut as a 'Celebrity Nebach (pitiful one.)
I wanted to stay home and crawl under my sheets.
I am not a Rabbi. In my amateur opinion Gratitude
is Not optional. I am obligated to give public
thanks.
So here I am walking down the aisle towards the Bimah.
(A raised platform from which the Torah is read.)
I am trying to look strong and confident.
I said in Hebrew:
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe,
Who bestows kindness upon the culpable, for He has bestowed goodness to me.
When I finished I was enveloped by warm hand shakes and hugs.
I felt loved!
This reaffirmed for me the values of gratitude, kindness, and caring
for others.
When I sat back down next to Yosef, a few tears dripped down my cheeks.
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