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November 20, 1998/ 1 Kislev 5759, Vol. 51, No. 9
Thanksgiving a good time to think about national and family history
YOSEF ABRAMOWITZ
Special to Jewish News
Thanksgiving, being celebrated this year on Nov. 26, is a uniquely American family holiday. It is also a holiday that can be easily incorporated into Jewish family life.
Most American families get together for the traditional turkey dinner because it is nice for everybody, even those who live far away, to return home at least once a year. The story of the pilgrims and their plentiful harvest, followed by a feast with Native Americans is part of American folklore, but it is not recalled at the dinner table the way we recall the story of Exodus at the Passover seder.
We have the model of storytelling with which generations of Jews have taught and renewed our values and commitments. We can apply that model to the Thanksgiving meal. At Thanksgiving, we can recall the good and the bad in American history. We remember the suffering and displacement of the indigenous people, and other shameful oppressions such as slavery, as well as the refuge the United States provided for so many people, and the ongoing fight for civil and human rights.
Thanksgiving is an opportunity for a living Haggadah ("telling" - the book used at Passover), an opportunity to take stock of the country and give thanks for its blessings and for the opportunity here to work for and create change. There are many special ways to integrate Judaism into your Thanksgiving meal.
Bake a challah for Thanksgiving dinner. Try one with a Thanksgiving theme, such as cornmeal or cranberries. Say the motzi (the blessing over bread) before eating.
Recall the history of this land. Go around the table and have everyone participate in recalling the history of the land since the pilgrims arrived. Each person can continue where the one before left off.
Answer questions. Allow each person an opportunity to respond to questions such as these: What are we personally thankful for? What are we thankful for as American Jews? What do we wish to contribute to this country? What do we believe are the highest ideals and best values of the United States? Have we, as a nation, lived up to those ideals and values in the past year?
Read aloud great quotes. A great example of something you can read aloud at Thanksgiving is the Emma Lazarus poem that is inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame;
With conquering lips astride from land to land,
Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries she
With silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor;
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Conclude with a blessing. Here's an example of a blessing you can say before you conclude with the grace after meals: "God, source of life, compassion, and justice, grant us wisdom and strength that we may lift our lamps for freedom, justice, and compassion. Amen."
And Thanksgiving is about the immigrant family experience. Especially now that most Jews are at least third-generation Americans, we have been losing the history of the great wave of migration that brought our ancestors to these shores. Making a family tree, showing pictures of great grandparents, and telling their story - their struggles and triumphs - will lead our children to come away with a greater appreciation of where they came from.
Yosef Abramowitz is the editor of Beyond Scandal: The Parents' Guide to Sex, Lies & Leadership, available at all on-line bookstores.
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