Thanksgiving is one of the few goyishe holidays that is actually a debate in the frum community. Unlike most other goyishe holidays, Thanksgiving is a new world holiday and therefore there is some sort of mesorah to celebrate it. It is a minhag klal within the Modern Orthodox world and those black hat on shabbos types who are more open minded. Yeshivish people who have a mischievous side are known to make Turkey for Friday night. Very frum people will generally tell you the classic “everyday we thank God” and that they don’t need to acknowledge some goyishe made up mishegas. However, this year is obviously different, Chanukah and Thanksgiving falling out on the same day have filled up the internet with lots of crappy videos, songs, and jokes, but the real question is whether or not frum people can retain their status of “really frum” and still get away with having turkey on Thursday?
I like the concept of celebrating Thanksgiving, but I’m not machmir about it. If the people (blog readers who live near Yosemite) I happen to be spending that shabbos with have the seuda, I will gladly stuff my face with cornbread stuffing, cabernet cranberry sauce, and deep fried turducken. If they don’t have the meal, I won’t leave in a huff complaining about their lack of hakaras hatov to the United States Government killing off the Indians. In yeshiva they used to tell us that Thanksgiving was sort of ok, but that it really wasn’t proper for yeshiva guys. It wasn’t an all out ban like that against Easter or Yom Ha’atzmaut, but it was a gentle way of saying that the yeshivish world didn’t really give its seal of approval for Thanksgiving. There are yeshivish people who do celebrate it, but those people always feel the need to brag about their mesorah or tradition, and most of them don’t really go beyond the letter of the law by having creamed pearl onions, scalloped potatoes, and orange walnut cranberry sauce.
I wonder if those who’ve never done Thanksgiving before, will take a crack at it this year? There is plenty of oil to be had and you can make it so it happens on Thanksgiving day and chanukah, because chanukah is technically not until that night and Thanksgiving seudas are usually set for around chatzos. Imagine having a menorah candlelit desert, ever eaten pecan or pumpkin pie while singing maoz tzur? Or would that be a maris ayin to those who think you are treating Thanksgiving like a proper yuntiff, when it is just a day that the goyim who secretly want to kill us at the first chance they get, have created.
There are many people who dismiss Thanksgiving and say that it’s a lot of work for something that will just happen the next day, but I’m not sure if those people know about the post Thanksgiving menucha that happens on couches worldwide. Thanksgiving meals produce such good naps that don’t end with someone waking you up for shul. There is something special about having a big meal with no kiddush or divrei Torah, according to pirkei avos it is a meal of scorners, but it’s really just a damned good meal. No matter how bad the food has been, I’ve never had a bad thanksgiving meal.
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Wait, but there’s a minhag Yisroel that we eat milchigs during Chanuka. So… how are we mekayim the minhag to eat turkey on Thanksgiving, since it falls out over Chanuka we need to hold of it’s minhagim and then the minhag of Chanuka where we eat milchigs? Any input as to what in halacha would allow us to be mekayim both, rather than just not holding of Thanksgiving?
Isn’t it obvious? We first eat milchigs, then we wait, and afterwards we eat fleishigs. Just like Shavuos.
Forgot about that when I commented. Thank you for the heads up and reminder.
Skip the turkey. Eat the veggies, stuffing, cornbread, fish, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
Can’t attach a picture here! Darn.
The obvious solution (for those who do not keep CY) is the Baskin Robbins Turkey Cake:
https://www.baskinrobbins.com/content/baskinrobbins/en/products/cake/cakegallery.html
US Government didn’t exist when the Thanksgiving story took place.
So there’s no mesorah after all.
But, Abraham Lincoln was m’takein that Americans should celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. So there is mesora there.
Thanksgiving unlike all Jewish holidays, kicks ass
Which goes to show that Thanksgiving is just another day for the goyim to emulate Bilaam’s animal abuse.
I am in Canada, we have Thanksgiving on a Monday in early October. It is definitely considered a goyishe thing, and is not widely observed by Jews of any stripe, in my experience. Partly because it often falls during Sukkos, but even Jews who set foot in shul only three days a year will often completely ignore Thanksgiving. The holiday as a whole is not a big deal in Canada, certainly people don’t usually travel to visit relatives or anything like that. Curious to hear from your other Canadian readers.
We’re having milchigs on Thanksgiving. It’s just not right. Breaking our long-standing Thanksgiving minhag.
“I wonder if those who’ve never done Thanksgiving before, will take a crack at it this year? There is plenty of oil to be had and you can make it so it happens on Thanksgiving day and chanukah, because chanukah is technically not until that night and Thanksgiving seudas are usually set for around chatzos.”
Chanukah starts first, actually. The first night is Wednesday night, November 27. Thanksgiving is the next day.
I had a Rebbe back in Yeshivah who actually said Hallel (with a brachah) on Thanksgiving. He had it from his Rav, who held that the very existence of western civilization surviving on this continent was a Neis and that it provided a place of refuge for numerous Yidden over the centuries. He brought numerous sources that Nissim of that nature were appropriate for local Yom Tovim (similar to various minhagim in Europe regarding days that were a Taanis and other days that were a Yom Tov).
Funny enough, although he was also a Zionist, he did not say Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut, at least while he was living in the US. When he made Aliyah, he might have changed.
The US Government should ensure every home in the United States is celebrating Thanksgiving. Muslim, Jews, should follow… If not ship em’ out!
We need to end this concept of “individual choice” but take a full on statist approach!
You have GOT to stop wrapping your bath salts in copies of Atlas Shrugged
“It wasn’t an all out ban like that against Easter or Yom Ha’atzmaut.” Because those things are SOOO similar. Oysh.
For those of you who care, this is not a Sicha, its a Maymar.
1. We are not orthodox, we are simply Jewish.
2. As Jews, we thank God every day. In addition, Baalie Nefesh should always make a big party when their friends gets out of the big house. However, if our friend gets out of the big house on Thanksgiving, we delay the party a day, even if is on Chanukah, since there is an element of maris ayin – that others may come to think we are Rachmana Litzlan celebrabrating Thanksgiving holiday of the yishmaelim.
Isn’t it ironic that the one Jewish Holiday that comemorates the victory of Jews against foreign occupation/domination (Syrian-Greeks) and assimilation (Hellenism) has to struggle for purity against yet another goyish holiday (first Xmas now Thanksgiving). There’s a message here in the purity of the oil – lets not mix our Holy days with theirs.
Uh I’m an American and a Jew, so its my holiday too. Don’t be jealous just because all Jewish holidays are awful parve things and all non-Jewish holidays are more fun and less fear and guilt mongering in nature.
If you’re an American, your loyalty is to the United States and it’s patriotic holidays should be respected. If your loyalty is to a foreign power like Israel or any other, then it’s time to leave and live in a country that can trust you. The comments here don’t show much respect for US traditions, so maybe you’re not where you should be.