In Jewish tradition, there is a core belief that recognizing what you are grateful for should be an integral part of your daily living and your daily prayer. Here at the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County, we’ve asked three of our staffers what gratitude they are feeling as we celebrate Thanksgiving 2025. Wishing you all a peaceful and enjoyable holiday week!

Esther Schulman
Director of Business Outreach

Gratitude. I immediately associate this powerful word with family and health, as I feel so deeply grateful for my children and our wellbeing. Gratitude is at the center of my life, encompassing many layers, starting with gratitude for health - mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. After all, our health is our wealth.

I envision concentric circles surrounding health, starting with my children, my extended family and friends, Jewish community, the broader community and beyond, to include Israel, our Jewish homeland.

At the very center of this circle is my gratitude for my parents, death camp Survivors, who along with other Survivors, often expressed their profound gratitude for having survived, while simultaneously carrying lifelong heartache and loss. They said they had ‘mazel’. Yes, they actually said they had mazel, having survived a hell that we cannot fathom.

As Elie Wiesel, Buchenwald Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient said, “No one is as capable of gratitude, as one who has escaped kingdom of night.”

Cantor Barry Kanarek
Director of Operations

As a bar mitzvah tutor, I often tell my students that the many brachot (blessings) we recite in Jewish prayer throughout the day are expressions of gratitude. Judaism encourages an "attitude of gratitude" (although easier said than done!). Gratitude is central to hasidic thought, not just as a feeling but as a way of life and a spiritual tool for connection and resilience.

I'm grateful for my family, for the roof over my head, for the food on our table and enough money to meet our needs. I'm grateful that most of the hostages are back. I'm grateful for my health. And I'm grateful for our ability to heal- may we all find healing. And for the many difficulties in life- I'm grateful. They are challenges that hopefully will make me a better, stronger person. For the bitter and the sweet ("al hamar v'hamatok"), thank you, G-d, for all of it.

Leigh Lindenbaum
Director of Community Relations

A few weeks ago marked one year of my time working at the Federation. I’m grateful that I had a few years to stay home with my children while they were babies, before returning to work in a new field, with a new opportunity. I’ve found this past year to be fulfilling in a way that my past jobs hadn’t been.

While my kids had attended Jewish preschool programs and we are involved in our synagogue, I felt compelled to be more involved in our community after October 7th. If we don’t speak up and do the work, who will? At Federation, I feel like the work I’m doing has purpose and although it’s challenging to stay up-to-date on the constant war, antisemitism, and adversities both local and afar, it feels important to me that I show up.

This fall also marked my 40th birthday and I had the chance to reflect on the journey life has brought me on thus far. I also got to celebrate with my family as well as friends from every season. There is no greater feeling than being surrounded by the people you love and for that, I am grateful every single day. May we all continue to recognize the little things and the big things that make this life what it is.