Finding Holiness in Unexpected Places

By Julia Loeb, WLCJ International President

There’s a classic parable about a man who dreams that a hidden treasure lies beneath a bridge in a distant city. He travels for days to find it, only to find the bridge under heavy guard. A captain notices him and asks what he’s doing. Embarrassed, the man explains his dream. The captain laughs: “You crossed the world for that? I once dreamed there was treasure under the stove in some stranger’s kitchen! Imagine traveling all the way to his house because of a dream.” The man returns home, digs under his own stove, and finds the treasure he had been searching for all along. It’s a funny story but also carries an important message. Sometimes the treasures we seek are often closest to home.

We see this lesson beautifully in Parashat Vayetzei. Jacob quickly leaves home fearing his brother’s wrath. He is focused on himself and surviving until the next day. All he has is uncertainty and a blessing for the future, which now seems distant and aspirational. Sleeping under the stars with a stone for a pillow, he dreams of a ladder connecting heaven and earth. But the heart of the story comes when he awakens and says, “Surely God was in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16)

Holiness was not somewhere “out there.” It had been around him the whole time.

The upcoming (or recent in Canada) holiday of Thanksgiving invites us to make that same realization. In the middle of our busy lives, this holiday urges us to stop and notice the blessings that live in our own homes and hearts. Gratitude doesn’t ask us to ignore the troubles in the world around us. Instead, it asks us to recognize the treasures that are already here: the people we love, the traditions that shape us, and the community that sustains us.

This month, our family experienced a beautiful reminder of the blessings that unfold over time. Our son, whose bar mitzvah portion was Vayetzei, was recently married. To hear this parashah once again, in a season filled with gratitude, feels profoundly full circle.

Traditionally, we bless our children with the hope that they will grow into lives filled with Torah, chuppah (wedding canopy), and ma’asim tovim (good deeds), lives grounded in learning, love, and good deeds. To see our son stand under the chuppah, guided by the values he learned and carrying the blessings of those who love him, is to feel that circle closing in a most moving way.

As Thanksgiving leads into Giving Tuesday, Women’s League invites us to turn gratitude into impact by supporting the Masorti Women’s Days of Study, strengthening Jewish learning across the Masorti world. It’s a fitting expression of thanks, supporting learning, community, and a vibrant Jewish future.

Giving Tuesday / Masorti Women’s Days of Study Campaign

All these converging events teach the same truth. Blessing is not something far away. Gratitude is not something we must chase. Holiness is not something distant.

It is already here, around our tables, in our traditions, in our children’s journeys, and in the moments we take the time to notice.

May we enter the holiday and this Shabbat with open eyes and grateful hearts, ready to say, to paraphrase Jacob, surely blessing is in this moment, and I am thankful I know it.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Thanksgiving!
Julia Loeb
WLCJ International President
jloeb@wlcj.org