Thanksgiving: A Jewish Holiday

By Rabbi Alex Freedman.

Thanksgiving often feels like a Jewish holiday to me. So much so that my instinct before the big Thursday meal is to say Kiddush! First, there’s the ample food and warm company around the table. Next, there’s the day off from work and school. Finally, the theme – gratitude – is a central Jewish value. In fact, gratitude is so important to Jewish tradition that we try to practice it every day. It’s even encoded into our name, Jews.

We should be aware of our blessings far more than once a year. That’s why for Jews, our thanksgiving – expressing gratitude to G-d for the blessings in our lives – is a daily practice. It’s why we have prayers every day. It’s why we say blessings before/after meals and momentous events. The very first prayer of the morning captures this: Modeh Ani. I am thankful. “Modeh” and “Todah Rabbah” share the same root word of “Thanks.”

One real challenge of praying the same prayers and blessings over and over is that they become routine and mere words. I experience this challenge myself too. But nevertheless we should strive for an attitude of gratitude on a daily basis. I believe that even when my prayers aren’t fully heartfelt, my intentions are since I’m setting aside precious time.

To be a Jew is to be part of a grateful people. This is true historically since we have needed countless blessings in order to survive and thrive as we do today. And it’s true linguistically as well. The Jews are יהודים, or those descended from the tribe of Judah, יהודה. Our ancestor Judah is given this name by his mother Leah because she affirms, “This time I will thank G-d. הפעם אודה את השם” (Gn. 29:35). The root thank “Odeh” becomes the basis of “Judah,” whose children became the “Jews.” So we are the people who are grateful. We read that verse from the Torah this week in Parashat VaYetze, which just so happens to be the Torah reading for the week of Thanksgiving.  Coincidence?

The rabbis ask, Why does Leah thank G-d only after this fourth son of hers? They answer that Leah could foresee that there would be 12 sons born to four women, which meant that each should be allotted three. Her fourth, therefore, was above and beyond, more than she deserved.

That’s a goal of Jewish prayer and Thanksgiving, for us to pause and realize we have more than we deserve. As Gilbert Chesterton said, “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

Before eating dinner this Thursday night, many American families will go around the table saying, “I am grateful for X.” This is a wonderful thing. The Jewish reflex, I believe, is to go one step further and say, “Thank you, G-d, for X.”

Hag Thanksgiving Sameach!