Big Tent Judaism

A Holiday to Recognize the Values we all Share

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a day for families of all religions to gather and, as the holidays suggests, give thanks. It’s bound to no particular religion – anyone can celebrate. It’s the model of a truly inclusive holiday. Yet some in the Jewish community, writes Rabbi Brad Hirschfield in On Faith, wonder if it’s a holiday we should be celebrating at all.

He points to a passage in Leviticus (18:3) which reads: “You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws.” Some scholars believe Thanksgiving violates this rule, while others do not. “The issue that divides them is generally whether or not they see Thanksgiving as religious.”

Rabbi Hirschfield, president of CLAL - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, believes it’s not so black and white. Yes, Thanksgiving is a religious holiday (“To whom were the Pilgrims thankful?”), but it also stands for so much more. He writes:

We can acknowledge the deep religious roots of Thanksgiving, appreciate that many things which begin as religious migrate into the domain of the secular, and celebrate that in no country have more people from more diverse cultures ever gathered to celebrate both that which they share and the beauty of the many things which differentiate them from each other…

America is not perfect, but the story of those who preceded us in coming here for their own religious freedom and opportunity is worthy of celebration. The story is both theirs and ours. And the fact that some stories and practices can be both at the same time is one of the things which make this holiday and nation so great.

Things are not Jewish because only Jews do them, and things should not be forbidden or threatening to Jews because non-Jews embrace them. If a holiday, practice, or tradition reflects our values, then it should be embraced. If not, not. Any other test reduces Jewishness, or any other religious-ethnic identity, to a game of difference for its own sake, which is as destructive as sameness for its own sake.

The issue should never be, what others do, but who do we want to be. Thanksgiving celebrates so much of who I hope we all want to be, that I can only say, “Pass the cranberries.”

What, then, are the Jewish values that Thanksgiving reflects? We believe them to be welcoming and inclusion. We are thankful for the growing diversity in the Jewish community, which constantly reinforces the sacred bonds that hold us together. And that’s the message we hope everyone takes away from the holiday: No matter our background, we can all come together and find a common ground for celebration and unity.

From all of us at JOI, have a happy Thanksgiving!