Thanksgiving – a Jewish Perspective
The greatest gift that Judaism offers to all people of the world is the belief in One G-d. Abraham, our father, taught everyone he could reach, to thank and praise the One G-d – the Supreme Being – who created the world and everything in it.
Abraham lived at the crossroads of civilization. His house was open to all. Any traveler who was hungry, thirsty or tired was welcome in Abraham’s house. At the conclusion of a meal, Abraham’s guests would invariably thank him. “Is it my food that you ate?” he would respond. “Give thanks to the A-mighty, Who spoke and created this food!”
Abraham taught his guests to believe in G-d by channeling their thanks away from himself and toward He Who deserves thanks.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, and every year, let us remember to Whom we owe our thanks. Let us recognize the One Who has granted us all those things for which we are thankful. Let us remember that there is a Supreme Being, Who created the world and everything in it. He allows us to choose between good and evil and to live a life of meaning regardless of our circumstances.
On Oct. 3, 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the original Thanksgiving Proclamation. In it he stated, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.
"But we have forgotten G-d. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the G-d that made us.
"It has seemed to me fit and proper that G-d should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."
Like our Abraham, our father, Abraham Lincoln recognized that a holiday of Thanksgiving without a G-d to thank would be meaningless.
Let us dedicate this day to thinking about G-d and the thanks we owe Him for all the good He has bestowed upon us.
