First Thank, Then Ask

Ephraim Gopin
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

The Jewish New Year approacheth and with it the wishes of Jews worldwide for a year filled with good health, unending happiness and a bank account overflowing with green. We’ll spend our time over the 2 day Rosh Hashana holiday praying for everything we need in the coming year.

I’m certainly good at the asking part. I have a LOT of prayers I’ll be sending skyward. We all have issues we’re dealing with- family, health, financial, friendships and a million other things.

Side note from my great grandmother. Bubbie Zeesa of blessed memory used to say: If everyone threw their ‘pekalach’ (personal packages of troubles/craziness/trying things in their life) up into the sky, we’d only want to catch our own and not someone else’s. Truth bomb. I have so many friends who are hurting that no matter how bad life on a given day may look for me, I wouldn’t trade places.

But back to the prayers. I’m great at asking but I haven’t been so good at saying thank you when prayers are answered. Even a partial answer or a ‘no’ to a prayer is still an answer and thanks should be given.

So every year on Rosh Hashana (New Year) I have a custom: I open my private prayers with a list of thank you’s. Before I ask, I show gratitude for what I received in the previous year.

Here are a few things I’ll be saying thank you for:

  1. Health. Still a work in progress (here’s what I’ve accomplished in the last 2 years) to lose weight but big picture is I’m ok, can walk, see, move without trouble.
  2. 3 amazing kids. I say kids but 1 graduated high school a few months ago and one is graduating high school in 10 months. Time sure does fly.
  3. Friends. I’ve made new friends over the last year and some existing friendships have become much stronger. I am thankful for friends who can relate to where I am in life, who understand, listen, advise and are always there. Without them….
  4. Twitter. OK, so I’m not gonna thank God for Twitter. But I WILL give thanks for the people on Twitter who have become part of my professional network. People who I learn from every day. The best part is finally getting to meet some of them IRL.
  5. My grandmother. Holocaust survivor. Has been to hell and back. Continues to survive. We’re 6,000 miles apart so I’m thankful for the times I get to come to the U.S. to visit with her. I’m thankful she’s alive. I’m thankful that it takes her 17 names to get mine right- that’s what happens when you’re blessed with many grandchildren and over 20 great grandchildren!

That’s a very partial list. I have a lot more to add when Rosh Hashana begins at sundown on Sunday. Once I’ve finished saying thanks, I’ll begin with the multitude of requests.

Jewish tradition states that the entire world is judged on Rosh Hashana- Jew and non-Jew alike. Let me take this opportunity to wish you the best of years- a year of success personally and financially, a year where your physical/emotional/mental health are all stable and a year where happiness is most important and everything else is just salad dressing.

Just remember to say thank you. Not only do people appreciate hearing it. God does too.

Written by

Founder, 1832 Comms. Dad, puzzle doer, new recipe cooker, Boston sports cheerer, Airplane watcher, Looney Tunes lover, 80s pop master

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