As Jewish citizens of this land, we always look to the Torah for a deeper perspective and additional insight. What light does the Torah shed on the wonderful trait of thankfulness?
28 Comments Posted
I 'am thankful for all the many blessings that the creator has bestowed upon my family.
We take so much for granted living in the land of the free. I pray for all those less for-tunate human beings on this holiday inside America and outside America.
In conclusion please pray for my family.
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This is a nice article, but what of the Jewish perspective on the meeting between the Native Americans and the Puritans? What of the historical context and the ultimate demise of the Natives by those same Puritans? What of their oppression? Do religious Jews even celebrate Thanksgiving the way American seculars do?
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you have avoided the question, should a jew observe thanks giving or not! period! ?
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Sir,
Your statement that the United States' "success and prosperity is due to the fact that its Founding Fathers recognized that there is a Supreme Being who provides and cares for every creature" is highly provocative.
You clearly omitted the fact that the country is founded on rule of law - not on the existence of a supreme being.
You also fail to mention that the founding fathers specifically rejected the notion of the "divine right of kings" that was prevalent in Europe, especially in Great Britain.
The fact that "in god we trust" appears on U.S. currency proves only that the founding fathers themselves believed in a single god. They believed this as individuals, but they did not pass this belief onto their new system of government.
That is why we draft laws to run our Nation, as opposed to following a religious text.
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I think that if you consider yourself to be an American jew, then celebrating Thanksgiving is probably a pretty normal idea to you, no? I think that Rabbi Silberberg was putting the idea of Thanksgiving into a context that Jews can understand by looking for deeper meaning, and consulting the Torah. As a Jew, I don't consider myself any different than other Americans on this holiday. Yes, each family/culture has different traditions, but I don't think that changes the meaning of this holiday for most.
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Rabbi Silberberg, thanks for the insight which should be common sense to all of us. 'Thanksgiving' is not just a word or even a day to remember and give thanks. As you explained, it should generate action and involvement. It should dictate our daily life and our interactions with others. When we are thankful and it is seen in our lives I think our entire character changes. People will appreciate being around a thankful person much more than an ungrateful one. Perhaps each of us could be practicing this a little more just to change our nation and our world.
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To thank God for his blessings on us is indeed our obligation; it is the duty of all those who believe that all the blessing we have are bestowed upon us by the Almighty.
But to do so by inviting family and friends to a feast is nothing but a gathering of loved ones. To some it is even a show of hospitality and nothing more. How much food is thrown away from the plenty available how much do we eat until we can move no more?
Know ask yourself how many hungry and homeless are there in America alone, how many are there are all over the world.
America has a lot to be thankful for, but the notion that the Founding Fathers recognized that there is a Supreme Being who provides and cares for every creature forgets the atrocities committed to the native Americans whose lives were taken so that we may live the way we see fit, or the Africans how were brought by force and in captivity and with their blood the road to our prosperity was built.
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"There is no doubt that this great country's historically unprecedented success and prosperity is due to the fact that its Founding Fathers recognized that there is a Supreme Being who provides and cares for every creature."
I disagree. Our prosperity is due to the fact that the Founding Fathers had the wisdom not to impose their notions of a Supreme Being on others. Saudi Arabia and Iran also recognize a Supreme Being.
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David,
Why are you omitting the words that follow: "They understood that since G-d sustains and gives life to every being, it follows that every being has certain "unalienable rights" upon which no government can impinge."
A subtle distinction between our blessed
nation and oppresive regimes such as Iran and Saudi Arabia...
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Anonymous, your post was good in some ways, but not in others. America has done things. They bought slaves in the past from other Africans, (check history thoroughly). Indians or savages as many were called in the past were subjected to things during an era of conquest and expansionism. Now things are looking better for both groups, (I am a descendant in part of one of them). And, people from both contribute to US American society. Live today, and live for the future in treating each other well.
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I am extremely thankful that Israel has been as peaceful as it has been! I am thankful that we not an oppressed people as we have been in the past. However, that doesn't mean that we won't be oppressed again in the future. I am thankful that there are people in the world who are willing to defend us.
Rabbi Silberberg, I agree with you entirely. We are a blessed people living in a blessed nation. I am thankful for this, and I try to give my thanks to G-d as often as I can! This is everyday; not just on Thanksgiving. As an *American* Jew, I treat others as I want to be treated, and as I would treat my best friend or brother, regardless of race or religion.
I believe that in our attempt to atone for the sins of the founding fathers of America, we have lost focus on what is truly important here and now. We must look ahead instead of behind.
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As an 8th grade SS teacher I am thankful for information such as this. I teach in a mostly wealthy, white, Christian city in WA & I dislike seeing a continuation of sheltering. Articles such as this provide another perspective I like to provide to my students. It is important we all understand that as much as we differ, we are similar. In seeking to understand each other, we have a better chance of peace.
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for each blessing we need to thank. Each breath (inhale & Exhale) is already two blessings. So, with each breath we should thank G-D twice. However, since The Lord dose not have time to listen to so many thanks, we invented Thanksgiving !! On Thanksgiving we say thank you G-D a trillion times for our breathing all year !!
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I was one of the first children in the Detroit area to go to the Bais Chabad Sunday School and be taught by Naftali's father, who used to beat the class singlehandedly in games of softball. I remember Naftali as a child of two ro three.
Now, a Rabbi and a fellow writer and New Yorker.
Wow, time sure has passed quickly.
I am grateful to live in this country of guaranteed liberties and for this article as a reminder of other ways to show our gratitude.
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FYI from a jew /w native american heritage.
Deconstructing the Myths of “The First Thanksgiving”
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Thank you, Rabbi Naftali, for stating plainly and openly that the success of the United States is a result of the trust of the Founding Fathers in the Supreme Being. In this country, religion is not in the law; it is in the souls of people. It strikes me how the United States is similar in some ways to ancient Israel. Both countries were founded by the people who fled from the oppression to serve their G-d freely and openly. Both countries, sadly, started with the destruction of the native population. Both modern US and Israel stand as symbols of freedom in modern world. Celebration of Thanksgiving is so similar to Passover! Families gather at the table and eat the foods that were eaten at the time of transition from the land of oppression to the land of freedom. In my family, we started observing Passover and Thanksgiving after we came to United States 15 years ago. We start our Thanksgiving meal with the Ha-Motzi over cornbread.
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A homeless man told me, 'Gd bless you' today despite my refusal to give him money. Once a year Americans come together and thank Gd for abundance. And we orthodox Jews somehow object to this gratitude toward the exile that has been afforded to us. Our cities of refuge in a time where our home country of Israel is under constant attack and denial of existence. The entire nation wants to spend the day thanking Gd universally for the peace and abundance that we have so readily available. Families drop all obligations to our permanant dwellings to join together at one table. This should prepare and parallel the coming of Moshiach and the willingness of the non-Jews of our nation to accept it and rejoice in the Sukkas that are our transitory refuge. Happy Thanksgiving! Moshiach should come soon speedily in our days!
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I grew up in England which is officially a Christian country but atheism is the biggest and fastest growing belief system. Thanksgiving is not an English holiday but we had "Harvest Festival" at school. Everyone brought in produce either from their gardens or store-bought. We would arrange it artistically at the front of the assembly hall and add big loaves of bread baked in the shape of wheat sheaves. We would sing hymns such as "We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by G-d's almighty hand". The food was then delivered to elderly and needy people.
I think all of us who grew up from that, whatever our beliefs now learned that thanks is expressed through passing on G-d's generosity. Isn't giving to charity directly from your pay check the same as giving first fruits?
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Although we all should have a great appreciation for this great Country we live in, we should Vote , Etc, However you a missing the Mark if you should go so far as to sit down with your family on Thanks Giving Day, and Eat.
Are we going back words, did we not learn from our past, & Exiles, Lets concentrate on our own Holidays Chanukah, Purim, etc.My father was in the World War 2, & and had Thanks Giving , but today he makes Chanukah the day of family get together, Let's stay Jewish!
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So what's so terrible about sitting down with your family to eat? I'd love to do it every weekend? Do you know how lucky you are to be able to spend every Chanukah with your Dad?
I like Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that everyone in the US can celebrate. I recently changed jobs and it was nice to be able to talk about Thanksgiving plans and recipes with my coworkers in a way that won't be possible during the December holidays.
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Good article. I tend to think Thanksgiving is on Thursday and the biggest holiday is Shabbot. Every Shabbos we give thanks and though it's nice to celebrate the American holiday Shabbos is the most important of days. From the Shabbos of one week we look forward to the next, giving thanks for each day we receive.
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If we can sup one day without the political hangups and religious differences, and be human beings just for one day, this will be one step closer to peace and prosperity with our creator. Thanksgiving, I am told, is a feast day that transcends religions under our First Amendment freedom of religion.
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I suggest a deeper look is taken into the true history of thanksgiving and the true nature of those so called founding fathers. As a Jewish woman it is my duty not only to know the truth about the genocide, corruption, greed and dehumanization that occured to the original inhabitants of the land. As a person of Jewish faith I denounce the atrocities that took place. This is not a day for celebration, this is a day of remembrance and reflection. Never again!
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At this time, I want to thank HaShem(G-d) for
giving us(in general) and me(in particular)
the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory.
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I don't have fields to plow or corners to leave for the poor, or first fruits to give in remembrance ; but what I do this season in thanksgiving is give a little of myself and favorite recipes in the form of good food. I try to be a blessing to my neighbors and friends.
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I am most Thankful that my good friends introduced me to Chabad two years ago, enabling my formerly pessimistic outlook to transform to one of hope. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
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Thanksgiving, the American holiday, is based on and one might say, inspired by the Jewish autumn festivals. The closest analog would be Yom Kippur - which is based on self-denial but here it is expressed in the opposite sense: one eats the fruits of the earth and thanks G-d for the pleasures of life, that should we should live to benefit from them. Indeed, we should take joy in G-d and all His earthly works. And we're taught that everything we do in this world, whether we realize it or not, we do for the benefit of Heaven. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, z;tl, realized this and not only on Thanksgiving, which is the public expression of this human need to gratitude to One' s Creator and thereafter, the real work of appreciating G-d continues for the rest of the year and indeed for the rest of our lives.
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The reason America is a success is that its founding fathers were Deists, who acknowledged the possibility of a creator but realized our fates are in our own hands. Contrast that to the social and political failure of Iran, or the malaise and constant state of war in Israel, both of which are run on the basis of belief.
Thanksgiving is just a nice legal holiday and winter shopping break. Its origins go back to the primitive beliefs of those who came well before the Founding Fathers. Enjoy your turkey, but think like a modern human being and forget old, Near Eastern tribal superstitions which have been so clearly disproven by science.
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