Is Thanksgiving a Jewish Concept?

This is of course Thanksgiving week, but are people actually thinking about giving thanks? Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald, Director of Jewish Treats' parent organization, the National Jewish Outreach Program, says that he considers Thanksgiving to be somewhat of a Jewish holiday. After all, it is believed that the Pilgrims got the idea of saying thanks from the Hebrew Bible.



But there is a difference between Thanksgiving and what the Jewish notion of thanks is all about. Rabbi Yochanan, a 3rd century sage of the Talmud, states: "Would that humans pray all day long," (Berachot 21a). Really, we should be saying thank you to God throughout the day. Think about your relationship with your parents. We should regularly call our parents and say thank you for all they've done for us. The same applies to our relationship with God. But, we're also supposed to be contributing members of society.

We need to work and cannot necessarily pray all day. So the rabbis set up a prayer system where we thank God morning, afternoon and evening, as if we are thanking God throughout the day. So when you eat your turkey this Thanksgiving remember to thank God. Thank God on Thanksgiving and everyday after that, as often as you possibly can. Happy Thanksgiving from those of us at Jewish Treats!