This weekend has some of the most travelled days of the year. We arrive at destinations to see family and friends, eat good food, and express our gratitude for community.

Yet, we often do not prepare ourselves for what could be sacred experiences until it is too late.

Our ancestor Jacob is also in a journey. One night, he lays down to sleep and has a dream of angels going up and down a ladder.

When he wakes up, Jacob says, “God was in this place and I did not know it.”

The commentator Seforno explains Jacob’s thought process: “If I would have known that this was a Divine place, I would have prepared myself mentally.” How many times do we look back at an experience and ask, “If only I prepared myself, how much more meaningful could that have been?”

This Shabbat of Thanksgiving, we can be proactive in this process, reminding ourselves before we enter a space that this could be the moment where the Divine meets us. Even moreso, this could be the moment where we in fact bring the Divine presence with us.

We are now in the month of Kislev. Chanukah is just weeks away. Let us not wait for miracles before our eyes. Rather, let us partner in creating the miracle of gratitude.