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Did you know that the holiday of Thanksgiving was instituted in the middle of the Civil War?
On October 3, 1863, at the height of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring that the last Thursday of November would become "a day of Thanksgiving and Praise." In his remarks, Lincoln reflected on "the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies" even as he acknowledged the pain, loss, strife, and divisiveness of his day.
It was a 74-year old woman, Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, who wrote to Lincoln urging him to create a fixed holiday of Thanksgiving. She let the president know she had been petitioning for a national cohesive day of Thanksgiving for fifteen years and that no one had listened. President Lincoln responded to her letter immediately.
As Thanksgiving approaches there is much for us to reflect upon and learn from the origins of this national celebration.
- At a moment when our country feels divided, when we are filled with both fear and profound blessings, we can remember that we are not the first generation to walk a difficult path. In fact, it is this very moment, more than ever, that calls us to name and celebrate the American and Jewish value of Hoda'ah - Thanksgiving.
- It took a strong persistent voice of one committed person to bring about this day of Thanks. Persistence, commitment, and hope are always our best allies.
- It is no secret that Thanksgiving finds its roots in Torah. And, President Lincoln was firm in his belief that Thanksgiving was to be a day for acknowledging the divine, what we understand to be the connective tissue of our universe. In this vein we firmly renew our call that all human beings are created b'tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, and are deserving of dignity.
In Leviticus, we learn of the zevach sh'lamim, the Wholeness Offering, a sacrifice that was made when a person wanted to mark something profound happening in their life. To make a sh'lamim offering (sh'lamim, sharing the same Hebrew root as Shalom, peace), the community would gather together -family and friends as well as the priests and leaders, and even God, whose presence was invoked and recognized. Together they would physically and symbolically share a meal.
Some scholars believe that all of the biblical sacrifices were made in total silence.
We suggest that on this Thanksgiving, in the spirit of President Lincoln and in our Torah's foundational teachings, we each offer at our tables a moment of silence - one that might hold our gratitude for all that we have, our pain at the strife in our world, and our hope in our own capacity to continue to work for justice for all.
Please feel free to share this letter at your Thanksgiving celebration. And, here are some questions you might want to consider:
- How do we share gratitude with those with whom we don't agree?
- When have you shown persistence in your own life to bring about change?
- How is hope your best ally?
L'shalom u-v'rachot,
In Peace and Blessings,
Your Temple Israel Family
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