Thanksgiving: For Jews?
Unlike other traditions such as Halloween, which has pagan roots, and Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Christianity’s founder, Thanksgiving has grown out of a motivation to thank G-d for the good people have gained in
While Thanksgiving isn’t forbidden, should Jews still embrace it, or even celebrate it? From my own perspective, I can only say that I don’t celebrate it, nor do I think Jews should or even need to. One reason is that thanking G-d is a daily, some would even say constant, affair in Judaism. The first words we utter in the morning are “Mode ani lefahnechah,” literally “I give thanks before you,” an act of thanking G-d that is performed even before we get out of bed. The liturgy is full of praises of thanks and of acknowledgements that we cannot live without G-d’s loving help. An excellent example of this is the "Asher Yatzer" blessing said after using the bathroom. Even in such a mundane situation, we acknowledge what G-d does for us. We should focus our energies on daily thanksgiving, not just being thankful one day a year.
A second reason grows out of practical considerations. Thanksgiving Day always falls out on a Thursday, a day where much of the cooking for Shabbos begins. To stage a large meal or gathering on Thursday takes away from Shabbos, both in terms of prep time and in terms of quality. Shabbos is meant to be the height of the week, and a voluntary event of similar proportions can make Shabbos seem less special. In fact, I try to use the extra time I have off during this season to invest even more time on Shabbos, for example by making extra dishes or going more in-depth with the Parsha. Shabbos is actually a gift from G-d to the Jews, and to truly value, appreciate, and invest time in a gift one has received, is probably one of the highest forms of thanksgiving one can show.
posted by Anonymous at 1:25 AM
5 Comments:
There is a great article on the Jewish perspective on Thanksgiving at http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=448177
Adam? Is that you?
Loved the post. I feel exactly the same way, but not strongly.
Oy Vey!!!!!!
I say live and let live. If you don't want to celebrate Thanksgiving, than don't, but I'm skeptical of your "religious reasons." Frankly, I think it's an identity issue because engrained in the religiously, observant (and most especially Ashkenazic) mindset is a wish to be as separate from all things "goyisha" as possible. You mentioned that it interferes with Shabbat, but there are lots of things that interfere with the preparation of shabbat, including other Jewish observances. Second, it's not like a day is too long to prepare another meal for Shabbat. Third, you mentioned that giving Thanks is a constant part of Judaism, so there is no need for a holiday. Fine, but there's still nothing wrong with marking a special day for "extra prayers." I hypothesize that if Judaism had a similar day for giving "Thanks" that you would rise with all might, religious fervor to give great thanks on that holy day because saying it everyday would not be enough.............
While I accept that reason someone else might give to not celebrate Thanksgiving (though wouldn't personally agree with it), and I'm sorry to be disrespectful, but I would like you to just be honest with yourself and your psychology.
My intuition is that this piece was written by a bal t'shuvah.
Gut voch, FB! I don't know if it's actually relevant, but Ascent of Tsfat had a phatty Thanksgiving dinner, and it's run by Lubavs.
But in general, here in Israel, Thanksgiving came and went withought fanfare. Surprise surprise.
I was going to attend, but then I read your post and it sobered me up. No, just kidding.
In any event, no, I didn't go, and Thanksgiving pretty much came and went without fanfare, as I said previously. Although, at the Sheva Brachos that I attended on Friday night, they did serve a whole turkey, which was out of the ordinary.
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