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November 19, 1999/10 Kislev 5760, Vol. 52, No.12
Ideas for enjoying a Jewish Thanksgiving
JULIE HILTON DANAN
Special to Jewish News
Thanksgiving. The holiday brings to mind pleasant images of families gatherings around roasted turkey, cranberries and pie.
Perfectly compatible with Jewish observance, the holiday is a traditional favorite of Jewish families. It always falls on a Thursday, never on the Sabbath. The classic main dish is a turkey, available in kosher form. And gratitude for one's blessings is something all Americans can share in feeling and expressing.
Here are a few ideas to make Thanksgiving a special family day:
Do good deeds together. The classic Jewish way of enjoying our blessings is to share them with others. You could donate money to organizations that fight hunger, or your time to serve meals at a community Thanksgiving dinner for the needy or to deliver meals to shut-ins.
Say blessings. I encourage families to say the Hebrew blessings for wine and bread before the festive Thanksgiving meal. Or you could go further and adapt a Hassidic Passover custom of asking everyone present to add a drop of his or her own wine to the goblet before saying the blessing. As you do so, tell one thing that you are thankful for this year.
Say grace after meals. Through this prayer we can thank God for our many blessings of food and nourishment. Both the traditional and shorter more contemporary versions of the "Birtkat HaMazon" are found in many prayer books.
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi has written a special Thanksgiving prayer which can supplement the "Birkat HaMazon." The English version of Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi's prayer reads: "In the days of the pilgrims, the Puritans, when they arrived at these safe shores, suffered hunger and cold. They sang and prayed to the rock of their salvation. And you, standing by them, roused the caring of the natives for them, who fed them turkey and corn and other delights. Thus you saved them from starvation, and they learned the ways of peace with the inhabitants of the land. Therefore, feeling grateful, they dedicated a day of Thanksgiving each year as a remembrance for future generations. ... Thus do we thank you for all the good in our lives ..."
This prayer is available in Hebrew and English in a loose-leaf collection, "Hashir Vehahevach" ("The Song and The Praise") through the ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal, alephajr@aol.com.
Create a Thanksgiving seder. In addition to the blessings and customs mentioned above, you could create a Thanksgiving seder plate and place objects on it which signify the blessings of our nation and/or things for which you are personally thankful. Besides displaying and explaining these objects at the meal, you could also read or tell stories of the first Thanksgiving, followed by a retelling of your family's own saga of finding freedom in America. This could be oral, or the more ambitious might choose to create a hand-crafted memory book that is brought out each year.
Round the meal out by singing Hebrew songs of thanks, as well as American folk songs. This type of seder is especially meaningful if shared among families of different religions and backgrounds.
Invite someone far from home to Thanksgiving dinner. Check with your synagogue for ideas. If possible, also invite the person to phone home at your expense. Invite people outside your usual social circle to the Thanksgiving feast. If they are new Americans, they may have much to share about the blessings of this country that we often take for granted.
Julie Hilton Danan is the author of "The Jewish Parents' Almanac" (Jason Aronson). She is spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am in San Antonio, and is studying for rabbinic ordination with ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She wrote this column for the on-line magazine Jewish Family & Life! - www.jewishfamily.com, which first published it. It was distributed by Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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