Idolatry: It is the Second Commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:3, Deut. 5:7). Approximately ten percent of the 613 mitzvot have to do with idolatry! Worshiping false deities is no small laughing matter in Judaism. Not committing idolatry is so grave that in Jewish tradition, it is one of the three situations in which a Jew must give up his life (Sanhedrin 74a). Needless to say, one has to be cautious with being idolatrous, and inquiring about Thanksgiving is no exception. The most objective way of coming up with an answer to this objection is to look at the history of Thanksgiving. Is it pagan or religious in its origin? If yes, then it's forbidden. If no, then it's permitted. The origin of this holiday is when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth in 1621. The Pilgrims were thanking the Almighty for having the local Native Americans bring them a sufficient amount of food in a time of resource scarcity and poor weather conditions. Plus, if it were a strictly religious affair, the Pilgrims would have never invited "those heathen [fill in the blank with an obscenity]" to break bread. President George Washington made the first Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789, albeit with Deist undertones. Abraham Lincoln declared that the fourth Thursday of every November would be for Thanksgiving, although it was under the FDR administration that it was established as a federal holiday in 1941. Since the Constitution has an amendment for the federal government not to establish religion, followed by the Fourtheenth Amendment extending that to state government, a declaration such as this cannot, by definition, be considered religious in nature. That is bolstered by the fact that neither the Thanksgiving meal nor the American football games watched on that day can be considered religious in nature or origin. Even R. Moshe Feinstein, z"tl, admits in his 1980 teshuva that Thanksgiving has no religious origins. In Igrot Moshe, YD 4:11, he states that even if some people throw in some religious ritual (i.e., a Grace before Meals with the word "Jesus" in it), it does not become prohibited. Therefore, Thanksgiving cannot be considered an idolatrous practice.
Imitating the Gentile: Leviticus 18:3 states the prohibition of imitating Gentile customs. What that means is up for debate, and I thank HaShem for Talmudic commentary because it helps define some of these questions. According to Tosafot (Avodah Zara 11a), "imitating the Gentile" consists of two things: idolatrous customs and foolish customs from the Gentile world, regardless of their origins. I previously discussed how Thanksgiving is not an idolatrous practice, so that eliminates the first category. The second category is not so clear. The Vilna Gaon (YD 178:7) was ultra-stringent in his ruling when he stated that any custom without a Jewish basis should be avoided. Rabbeinu Nissim's commentary, on the other hand, states that only the idolatrous customs are under consideration for Leviticus 18:3. Even if they're apparently foolish, as long as they have a reasonable explanation, they are permissible. The Rama (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 178:1) even agrees, and uses the example of a physician who wears a special garment to define himself as such. The more lenient ruling, which has more pragmatism in light of the Rama's insight, would allow the celebration of Thanksgiving to be permissible.
A little more prodding into the customs themselves. The first is the one of eating turkey. It is believed that turkey being served at the first Thanksgiving meal is a myth. If you take the middle ground approach of "stupid customs are out," then turkey has to go. I'm vegetarian, so that facet is a moot point for me personally. Family gatherings aren't pagan or religious in nature--it's what humans do. And as for giving thanks, I'll elaborate on that in my final paragraph.
A Jewish Holiday?: Adding a holiday to the calendar is controversial enough when one considers a fully Jewish holiday such as Yom Ha'atzmaut. If Israeli Independence Day can cause this much tension, just think what kind of heated debate you can get into with adding a holiday with secular origins. Thanksgiving status and origin bar it from ever becoming a religiously Jewish holiday. The only exception, of course, would be if it became a [universal] minhag, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Therefore, it cannot be considered a religious obligation to celebrate it or put it on the Jewish calendar. Since Thanksgiving has the status of permissibility, rather than obligation, Rabbi Yehuda Kerzl Henkin suggests that Thanksgiving be occasionally skipped (Benai Banim 2:30), just to reinforce that notion. This accomodates Feinstein's middle-ground view, as well, since he prohibited the establishment of Thanksgiving as an obligation, while at the same time permitted its voluntary celebration.
What's a Jew to Do?: Since it's not a religious obligation, not celebrating Thanksgiving wouldn't damper one's Yiddishkeit. This affirmation makes it all the easier to say "Do what's within your comfort zone." If you're not comfortable with it because you're worried about the slippery slope, then don't do it. On the other hand, there is more than ample halachic permissibility to do so, as long as your mentality isn't "I'm doing it to keep up with the Joneses" or "It's a mitzvah to have turkey on the fourth Thursday of every November." (There's so much wrong with that latter statement, but I won't go into it)
As a Jew who tends towards inclusiveness, I would encourage that American Jews spend at least a few of these Thanksgiving Days celebrating. I've heard the clever one-liner of "In Judaism, every day is a Thanksgiving Day." I won't dispute that--observant Jews pray thrice daily to give thanks to HaShem, not to mention the myriad of other daily blessings in a Jew's life. It seems pointless to have a day solely dedicated to giving thanks. After all, shouldn't we have repentance on our minds daily? Yet we have Yom Kippur built into our calendars. Same goes with freedom and Pesach, as well as the joy of Torah and Simchat Torah. Thanksgiving is a stop along the crazy road called life. It's not merely a day off of work, although that is an added benefit. The reason I voluntarily, rather than obligatorily, enjoy Thanksgiving is because I get to focus on an important middah--hakarat ha'tov, or gratitude. I would love to go on and on about how wonderful Mussar is, especially in this context, but I just want to comment on the essence of gratitude in a Jewish context. It is a cornerstone of Jewish thought and practice, so much so that a Jew is supposed to say one hundred blessings a day! (That would be one blessing every 14.4 minutes) Judaism is predicated on what HaShem provides for us, and that each day we should be thankful for all that He provides us. It's no accident that if you forget to say a bracha (blessing) before eating food, it's as if you have stolen from the Almighty (Brachot 34a). Without a sense of gratitude, one ultimately turns to idolatry and self-indulgence.
One more point I would like to make: If there is any beautiful teaching I have learned from Chasidism, it is that things that are neither inherently evil nor holy, but are considered kelipat nogah (neutral non-holiness), have the potential to be used in the service of HaShem and elevated to level of holiness. In its state of permisibility, I inherently view Thanksgiving Day, as celebrated in America, as kelipat nogah. Here we have a secular celebration of giving thanks [to a "higher power"]. Rather than have scorn upon such a lenient ruling and dismiss Thanksgiving as pointless, I view it not only as an opportunity to fuse together secularism with Judaism, a concept that R. Samson Hirsch called 'Mensch-Yisrael,' but also to raise a religiously neutral moment and turn it into something holy. Granted, I won't have a kosher turkey on my table, but I'll be sure that meatless slab of hickory-flavored ribs will be in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. As a follower of Mussar studies, I will focus on the middah of hakarat ha'tov and find ways in which I can be more thankful in the future. I will take time out my day off to study the Talmud tractate of Brachot, or even pull out my siddur and analyze a few prayers. Even from the viewpoint of being an American citizen, I will also be thankful that America is a great country simply because its Constitution has granted unprecedented freedom that has not been seen in the Diaspora. In the past, circumcision and kosher slaughtering, just to name a couple of Jewish practices, have been outlawed. But I thank HaShem that I live in a country that allows me to freely practice Judaism.
Overall, Thanksgiving Day for a Jew should be focus on how to make blessings and prayers a more intricate part of one's daily life. It should be a day to realize all the blessings that are in one's life come from HaShem, and that we should be thankful for each and every one.
יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם
"May HaShem bless you and watch over you.
May He shine His face toward you and show you favor.
May He be favorably disposed toward you, and may He grant you peace."
A Happy and Meaningful Thanksgiving to All!
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