What is the Jewish view on Thanksgiving?

by Rabbi Tzvi Shapiro
Question:

I am wondering what is the approach of Judaism to the observance of Thanksgiving holiday. Is it observed or recognized; if yes why, if no why?

Thanks

Answer:

Thanksgiving can be divided into three parts:

The idea. The day. The celebration.

The Idea:

Giving thanks is a very Jewish idea, as a matter of fact, as Jews we give thanks to G-d every day as soon as we wake up, right before we go to bed, and at least a hundred times in between.1

The Idea of thanks-giving is thus supported and celebrated by Judaism.

The Day:

Thanksgiving Day as a national American Holiday, is just that: a National American Holiday. As Jews we ought to commend America as a nation for deciding out of the goodness of its own heart to dedicate one day to give (or highlight) thanks to G-d. At the same time, as Jews there is no reason to limit our own thanks to one day, or to have an American chosen day represent the Jewish idea of thanks.

The Day of thanksgiving should be recognized and categorized as a noble American Holiday; Judaism doesn’t think it needs to be officially endorsed or adopted by Jewish institutions.

The Celebration:

There are two ways to give thanks to someone. A) Give him something you like, or you think he likes. B) Give him something he asked for. The American Thanksgiving gives thanks to G-d through the former. The Jewish idea of giving thanks to G-d is the latter. So if you feel the need to apply the adage “when in Rome do like the Romans” and thus celebrate Thanksgiving precisely the way our fellow citizens do, make sure it is a Kosher meal, and remember to recite the proper blessings. Additionally, don’t let the festivities of Thursday night’s dinner take away from your enthusiasm and celebration of the Friday night and Shabbat meals.

The Celebration of Thanksgiving is a marvelous human gesture. Judaism hopes you will also give thanks befitting of a Divine request.

Footnotes

    * 1. Literally. There is an obligation for a Jew to make at least 100 blessings a day.

Source: http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/224,2172785/What-is-the-Jewish-view-on-Thanksgiving.html

Interesting article:

http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2008/11/17/are-we-jewish-rednecks/

 

 

 

See: http://www.lukeford.net/blog/?p=2595

 

 

One of the most prominent and prolific bloggers over the last couple of years was "Not the Gadol Hador". With a rare sense of scholarship, wit and somewhat obsessive fixation for theological issues, his blog made for interesting reading and spirited debate.

 But at the end of the day, with all his questioning, was he truly happy?  His last post reflects his feelings on the matter:

We apologize for the inconvenience

As I said a few days ago, this blog has gotten depressing. I rue the day I got skeptical. Maybe I can turn back the clock, maybe not. But anyway, it was fun at the time, but now I regret it all! And just to prove that this time I'm serious, I am disabling all comments and deleting all posts. So long.

So there you have it, an end of era so to speak. So what did I learn from all this. I think the key take out is that "faith" in some shape of form is crucial, an imperative rather than a choice. You need to believe something, something true, something that trancends your own feable existance. In the words of Victor Frankl "“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how".

I hope the Gadol finds that something to believe in.

 

 

 

Fifty Years in the Pulpit: Seven Veteran Rabbis Tell It Like It Was

No better way to learn about history than to hear it from those who were there to see it. Interesting reading, makes you realise how much things really have changed.

 

 

http://www.sumseqfiles.com/shiurim/Rabbi_Yosef_Gavriel_Bechhofer/

RYGB was  a rebbi of mine when I was in Ohr Somayach, Monsey. He is fantastic. See his blog here .

 

Is it okay to be a hypocrite?

By Moshe Goldman

Dear Chabad.org,

I feel funny wearing tzitzit when I drive to Shul on Shabbat. My rabbi says I shouldn't take them off, but it seems so hypocritical.

--J. Hyde

Dear J,

We humans are full of paradox and contradiction - starting from the fact that our very existence is a marriage of opposites: a composite of body and soul, spirituality and corporeality. The paradox is further compounded because even our spiritual side is itself in schism: We have two souls, two personalities inside us: a transcendent Divine soul and an earthly animalistic soul. The rest…well, you're experiencing it right now.

So if we wouldn't make a move until every part of us is in synch, we would never get out of bed in the morning. We would be forever depressed about our hypocrisy. The key is realizing that we were created by G‑d with a paradoxical, contradictory nature, and that our mission is not to be perfect. Rather, we have to do the best we can at any given moment to ensure that our Divine soul is the one calling the shots. (And if it ever so happens that the animal soul calls the shots, as soon as we come to our senses we resolve to be stronger and we continue battling).

Truthfully, this is not called hypocrisy. It's called being inconsistent. And the only person who is consistent is the one six feet under.

That is why your rabbi is right. Every Mitzvah you do has value independent of what's happening with the rest of your life/body/family etc. Why should something you refrain from doing something good just because you are not yet perfect?

Between me and you, the ultimate resolution of this issue is not to drive on Shabbat...G‑d willing, you will be ready to take that step eventually.

If the tzitzit bother you because of false impressions you feel you may be giving, you can tuck them into your pocket after services.

Take care, and it really is all about doing one more Mitzvah.

--Moishy Goldman for Chabad.org

 http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/709030/jewish/Is-it-okay-to-be-a-hypocrite.htm

 

Healing the rift within Orthodoxy
Jul. 22, 2008
Michael Freund, THE JERUSALEM POST

It's summer time, and Tisha Be'av, when Jews mourn the destruction of
the Temple in Jerusalem, is less than three weeks away.

Normally during this period, religious Jews tend to focus on themes
relating to the need for greater Jewish unity, in line with the
talmudic statement that it was the very absence of such cohesion which
led to our destruction and exile some two millennia ago.

But these aren't normal days - far from it - and the mercury in the
thermometer isn't the only thing heating up.

Ever since the conversion crisis erupted nearly three months, the war
of words between religious Zionists and haredim has grown increasingly
fiery, threatening to drive a stake right through the heart of
Orthodox Jewry.

Indeed, one of the consequences of the ruling by the haredi-dominated
Rabbinical High Court retroactively annulling conversions performed by
religious Zionist Rabbi Haim Druckman was to swing open the floodgates
of hateful intra-Orthodox rhetoric.

Spokesmen for both sides quickly manned the barricades, and wasted
little time hurling insults and invective at each other.

On May 7, for example, Bar-Ilan University's Dr. Asher Cohen wrote an
article in Makor Rishon comparing the Lithuanian branch of haredi
Orthodoxy to the murderous Taliban in Afghanistan, and decried what he
described as "haredi halachic Bolshevism."

Is this the language of respectful discourse? The haredi media was no
less discourteous in its approach. The daily Yated Ne'eman, in its
reporting on the controversy, repeatedly refused to use the title
"rabbi" when referring to Druckman.

And on May 25, the editorial in the haredi daily Hamodia denounced
Druckman's conversions in harsh terms, belittling them as "one big act
of clowning."

These are just a few choice pearls of the cruel and undignified
attacks that have been launched by both sides against one another in a
decidedly unspiritual-like display of deprecation.

Even normally cooler heads have started to join the fray, as a growing
number of moderate religious Zionist rabbis speak openly of "freeing
Israel" from "ultra-Orthodox hegemony".

As an Orthodox Jew, I find this clash deeply troubling.

WHILE THE dispute between the two camps pre-dates the establishment of
the state, driven by ideological differences over Zionism, events in
recent years have further heightened the discord.

Disagreements over how to oppose the 2005 Gaza withdrawal, and
controversy surrounding the observance of shmita, brought to the fore
a sense of loathing and even hate that simply has no place in a
spiritually-oriented community.

Frankly speaking, this is not the Torah way.

And if cooler heads don't prevail, and soon, it could cause lasting
damage to the inner fabric of Orthodox Jewry, potentially tearing the
community apart.

The dangers inherent in such a split are obvious. As it stands now,
Orthodox Jews are a minority among world Jewry, and there is nothing
to be gained by a division among the ranks.

Moreover, so much of what Orthodox Jewry believes in, from traditional
values to public decency, is currently under assault. Can we really
afford to be expending valuable time and energy excoriating one
another when everything we hold dear is under attack? We must find a
way to mend the schism within Orthodoxy.

• Step number one in healing the rift: tone down the rhetoric and turn
up the respect.

After all, on nearly all the major theological issues, from the
centrality of Torah to the primacy of Halacha, we basically agree with
one another. Sure, there are differences, and they are far from
insignificant, but personal attacks and insults, public humiliation
and disgrace, must be banished once and for all from our civil discourse.

• Step number two is surprisingly simple: create an exchange program
between religious Zionist and haredi yeshivot. Once a month, on every
Rosh Hodesh, students from religious Zionist and haredi academies
should get together and study Torah and Talmud.

Let them pore over biblical passages in unison, grapple with the
complexities of the medieval Tosafists and stretch their minds
together trying to figure out the meaning of Maimonides. That
experience alone would generate newfound mutual respect on both sides,
and would regularly serve to underline just how much the Torah can
bring us together.

It would also tear down the prejudice and preconceived notions that
prevail, and in communities that value scholarship, no one could
possibly object to the simple act of learning and studying together.

• Step number three: bring pressure to bear on public figures in the
religious Zionist and haredi worlds to take active steps towards
forging greater unity.

These can include organizing annual summits of leading rabbis from the
various streams of Orthodoxy, the issuance of joint declarations, and
the publication of compilations of halachic works by both Zionist and
haredi rabbis.

JEWISH HISTORY is replete with heated disputes. But now especially, as
Tisha Be'av nears, and the embers of the conversion crisis continue to
burn, Orthodoxy's varied adherents would do well to recall the words
of Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, the famed Netziv of Volozhin. In
his introduction to the book of Genesis, he cites one overriding
reason to explain why the generation that endured the destruction of
Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans warranted such punishment nearly
20 centuries ago.

"Due to the baseless hatred in their hearts towards each other," the
Netziv wrote, "they suspected that those who disagreed with them on
religious matters were Sadducees or heretics. This brought them to
misguided bloodshed and many other evils until the Temple was destroyed."

At this critical point in our nation's saga, it should be clear, we
can ill afford to replicate that fatal mistake.

Rav Asher Weiss in my personal opinion is an up and coming star who definitely will make it to the top tier of the gedolim hierarchy. And he deserves it. Listen to this shiur entitled "Ask the Posek"  at the Young Israel of Century City. Fantastic! As R'Steve Brizel said in his audio roundup , "OK, I admit it, I’m a big fan. This shiur, in English, once again demonstrates you can have gadlus, humanity and a dry sense of humor."