Weak Sarah Jama “Apology” Accepted By Weak Jewish Community “Leaders”
March 22, 2023
CIJA throws the Jews of Hamilton under the progressive NDP train
Popular Articles
Read More »
Never Again? Germany Dedicates UNRWA School In Gaza
March 22, 2023
Will it be devoid of anti-Israel indoctrination and antisemitic incitement?
Hungary Is A Quiet Jewish Success Story
March 22, 2023
Unlike in the rest of Europe, Jews are safe and thriving in Hungary
The Trudeau Government’s Fake Fight Against Antisemitism- Part 37
March 22, 2023
Is the Green Party led a ‘foreign agent’?
B’nai Brith Canada Applauds Alberta Legislative Assembly’s Endorsement Of IHRA Definition
March 22, 2023
“We are grateful to the ALA for its continued support of the Jewish people”
Biblical Prophecy Revealed In Tel Aviv Protests
March 22, 2023
Hi-tech elitists leading anti-Netanyahu uprisings are bailed out by Israeli banks
Why Non-Jews Must Also Be Concerned About A Nuclear Armed Iran
March 22, 2023
‘This is probably the darkest era in the Persian people’s history’
Armenia, The Spanish Inquisition And The Modern-Day Pharaohs
March 22, 2023
Less than 100 Jews live in Armenia today
Who Are The Top Traders Of Russian Oil Despite International Sanctions?
March 22, 2023
The oil trade is now weaning away from payments in US dollars
Watch: Behind The Scene With David Bedein
March 22, 2023
Israel’s Proposed Judicial Reform
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
Throughout the Old Testament, there are themes of giving thanks, particularly in the Book of Psalms, which the Pilgrims undoubtedly read.
- 18 November 2021
- 2:04 am
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
- 18 November 2021
- 2:04 am
According to legend, Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the turkey the national symbol of the USA rather than the bald headed eagle; as a ‘consolation prize’, turkey became the National Dish instead. (Photo: https://www.bnaijehudah.org)
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
Most people think of Thanksgiving as strictly an American creation with no particular religious connotations. Even Americans living in Israel often get together that Thursday evening and, more often, the next evening, Friday, and serve an American Thanksgiving dinner.
But think back to Sukkot. Could Thanksgiving have Jewish roots? Thanksgiving is a celebration of the ingathering of the harvest in the fall, at a time prior to the onset of the rains. Thanksgiving is placing trust in G-d as our protector. Thanksgiving is expressing gratitude for the blessings G-d has bestowed upon His people.
Now go back and substitute the word Sukkot for Thanksgiving. Isn’t this a perfect description of Sukkot, prescribed in the Book of Leviticus and celebrated for more than 3,000 years by Jews? Sukkot is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles from the words for tent or hut and, today, referring to a place of worship. The concept originates with the temporary shelters where the Israelites lived during their wanderings in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.
Jews commemorate this wandering in the desert with a celebration of the festival which occurs when the last of the harvest was gathered before the onset of winter.
Since 1980, each year, thousands of Christians the world over pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Sukkot in a celebration sponsored by the International Christian Embassy to pray and support Israel, from Zechariah 14:16: “the nations…shall come up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
Research indicates that the Bible was the most influential piece of literature in Colonial America. Throughout the Old Testament, there are themes of giving thanks, particularly in the Book of Psalms, which the Pilgrims undoubtedly read.
Some say the “first” Thanksgiving took place in Virginia in 1619, but history records it as taking place in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Attending were 90 Native Americans and 50 English pilgrims.
What is known is that the event took place between September 21 and November 9, the period when Sukkot generally occurs, and it lasted three days. From the journals of the Pilgrims, recorded at that time, we also know that their harvest, the fruits of their labors, had been ingathered, like in the early times of Sukkot, and they felt grateful for the goodness of G-d because their needs had been fulfilled.
The following year, there was no similar celebration because of a drought, so the pilgrims fasted and prayed for rain, a concept somewhat akin to the Jewish water libation ceremony, which took place in the time of the Temple during the week of Sukkot. In the case of Sukkot, however, it was meant as an offering of rejoicing for the festival itself.
As the custom of celebrating the harvest continued over the years, in October 1777, all thirteen colonies celebrated a harvest of eight days. Perhaps it is more than coincidental that the holiday of Sukkot also lasts for eight days.
In 1789, George Washington suggested a National Day of Prayer and thanksgiving to G-d for all religious denominations. By 1852, 29 states had marked the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving, but it was not until 11 years later, in 1863, that Abraham Lincoln appointed a National Day of Thanksgiving as the last Thursday of each November.
In 1879, Canada designated the second Monday in October as their Thanksgiving day
Get thej.ca a Pro Israel Voice by Email. Never miss a top story that effects you, your family & your community
On the tables of the Pilgrims
Some research indicates that foods, which have become synonymous with the holiday of Thanksgiving, may not have been on the tables of the pilgrims in 1621, while other foods were served then that are not served today.
Boiled wild turkey, roast goose, roast venison and roast wild duck were all cooked on a spit and mentioned in their journals. Boiled lobster, seethed cod, Indian corn made into a pudding, hominy pudding, stewed pumpkin, fruit, cheese and whortleberries were served buffet style and eaten with spoons and knives and cloth napkins.
Whortleberries, an indigo-blue berry, were served; there is no mention, however, of the most famous berry, cranberries. However, cranberries are one of the very few fruits native to America and were used by the Indians many years prior to the coming of the Pilgrims. Their quality as a natural preservative led to their being crushed and added to meat. They were also included in poultices to draw out the poison in arrow wounds, and they were also used as a dye for their color.
It was the Wampanoag Indians of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who introduced the berries to the Pilgrims. Because the Pilgrims had difficulty pronouncing the Indian name for the berry, which was sassamanash, they noticed the blossoms on the vine resembled a crane, so they called them crane berries. Later, the name became cranberry.
Pilgrim women used the berries to make sauces, relishes, tarts, stews and brews, although it took several hundred years before a Massachusetts farmer began what is known as cranberry cultivation.
Tarnegol hodu, the Hebrew name for turkey, is based on two unrelated languages. First, tarnegol, which means rooster, is derived from the ancient Sumerian word tarlugal meaning the king’s bird, and mentioned often in the Talmud but not in the Bible. Hodu is the biblical name for India (Esther 1:1), which is derived from the Persian word Hindu, a name for the region around the Indus River. (Photo: chabadmineola.com)
Kashrut
We do not have records of Jews attending, so while turkey, duck, goose and venison, domesticated, are all kosher, the wild versions are not.
In Upstate Goshen, New York, there is even a company called Musicon Farm which breeds fallow deer, provides music in their barns and videotapes each deer’s life. It was the first farm to produce commercial glatt kosher venison.
So, a Jew keeping kosher, wandering into Plymouth in 1621 would not have gone hungry (discounting the fact that a shochet or specially trained slaughterer, was not present to kill the animals). He or she most certainly would have felt at home with the Thanksgiving parts.
Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, lecturer, food writer and author (Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel), nine cookbooks (including What’s Cooking at Hadassah College.) She lived in Israel from 1970-1980; she and her late husband, Barry, came to live in Jerusalem in 2008, where she works as a foreign correspondent for North American Jewish publications, lectures to senior citizen residences, walks in English in Machaneh Yehudah, the Jewish produce market. She has been book reviewing for 40 years.
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
Click an icon above to share, email, or save this article
Previous
Next
Previous
Next
Read More
Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.
We do news differently!
Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.
We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.
But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!
Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.
Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
Happy reading!
Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.
We do news differently!
Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.
We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.
But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!
Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.
Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
Happy reading!
Sponsored Content
cOMING SOON…….
Breaking News
Recent
Features
News
Current Events
Opinions
Politics
Religion
Culture
Memoriam and Obituaries
PodcastS
Subscribe Now
Receive the latest in community & international Jewish news direct to your inbox