Blessings

In this first message of 2025, we learn from Rabbi ILana Goldhaber-Gordon about what blessings are, and how our relationship with blessings teaches us about our relationship with God. Through exploring the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Rabbi Goldhaber-Gordon reminds us that blessings are more than luck; they are gifts from God. Blessings are not deserved, and receiving blessings places an obligation on us to be blessings to others by sharing our blessings. Blessings are not finite or limited things that can be owned or stolen. For that reason, we should celebrate not only our blessings, but the blessings we witness with others, and we should share the testimonies of our blessings as part of our witness of God's love. Finally, when we are cut off from our sense of being blessed, we are cut off from God and become lonely, but when we realize and share our blessings, they allow our relationships with God and others to grow.