Thank you Toda Rabba

Week 2 of the Five Towns Acts of Kindness initiative focuses on giving thanks. As I read an article that Yoel Zev Goldstein, the young man who was acquitted in Japan, is on his way to Israel, I am sure that many are thankful about his release. Another article in Hebrew about a man who brandished a knife demanding to see a rebbe thankfully ends better than the fatal stabbing incident which occurred recently.
The following are A-OK suggestions for week 2.

GIVE THANKS
1. Let’s remember to say thank you more often. For at least one thank you of the day be specific in your gratitude for the acts that people do for you daily or occasionally with a detailed explanation of why what they did for you was so meaningful. For example, thank you for packing the groceries for me - it was so helpful since my back was hurting me today. Or Thank you for the water- I was so thirsty and my mouth was dry- I really appreciate it. Feel what it would be like to not have this done for you and express it.
2. Let’s speak to people who serve us with a soft tone, respect and gratitude. Paying for a service does not absolve us from good manners or from appreciation. Disappointment in the quality of service should be expressed only in a calm, pleasant, and respectful manner.
3. Go to the fire department, police, Hatzolah, post office, Town Hall, crossing guard, and even the meter maid, and thank them for their service to our community.
4. Make it a point to acknowledge gratitude and focus on the good that someone did for us even if we generally find that person difficult to get along with.
5. Call or write, to express appreciation you have towards your parents, Rabbis and teachers for anything they have done for you in your lifetime.
6. Express gratitude to anyone else that may have had an impact in your life. Call someone who gave you encouragement in the past and express to them how effective their words were to this day. Kind words last forever, use your words to encourage others and to uplift them as you were.
7. When we appreciate who we are, it is easier to appreciate others. List three things you are grateful for and thank Hashem for your unique gifts. Also, at a family meal have each member express one thing they are grateful for that day.

Just to give examples on two points. A cousin of mine got married when she was twenty-one. The day of her wedding, her mother received twenty-one roses from her in gratitude for all the years she had raised her. How many brides would think of thanking their mother on the day the wedding?
When there is a Jewish Holiday and I notice a police presence on the street helping to ensure security, I often walk over to a policeman and thank him for protecting the community.