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From the Desk of Rabbi David Lyon
November 26, 2010

                “I do recommend and assign Thursday the Twenty-Sixth Day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States, to the Service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all that good that was, that is, or that will be.”

       ---     George Washington,
first national Thanksgiving
Day Proclamation, November 26, 1789

                Since that day, Jews who made America their land and their home have participated in the duty to observe Thanksgiving. It is the great common denominator that unites our nation. Partisan politics aside, Thanksgiving is for all of us, no matter the color of our skin, the manner in which we pray or to whom, the gender or sexual orientation in which God created us, or the origins of our fathers and mothers, a day to give thanks to God and each other for the bounties we share.

                Many words of thanks will be shared around the table. Many more will be expressed in letters, cards and emails, texts and tweets this holiday season. Just as George Washington’s words help us recall that first Thanksgiving proclamation, so may we recall some original words of thanks from our sacred texts. These citations are from original sources and from an anthology of Jewish quotations (1956), which I saved from a heap of books. Take a look. You’ll recognize many of them. Share them if you wish.

“It is good to give thanks to God.” Psalm 92.2

“Be not like those who honor their gods in prosperity and curse them in adversity. In pleasure or pain, give thanks!” Akiba, Mekilta to Exodus 20.20

“Lord, I thank You for the goodness of growth, I thank you for the slice of bread and the prayerful mood.” Ben Amittai.

“Who directed the first prayer of thanksgiving to God? A woman, Leah, when she cried out in the fullness of joy, ‘Now again will I praise God!’”

“If a Jew breaks a leg, he thanks God he did not break both legs; if he breaks both, he thanks God he did not break his neck.” A Yiddish Proverb

“As long as the soul is within me, I will give thanks unto You, O Lord, my God and God of my fathers.” Talmud, Berachot 60b; Union Prayerbook Book

                From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving and Shabbat Shalom.