Thanksgiving, a non-Jewish holiday, beloved by American Jews
If you have ever heard me speak, you will find out that I have a pronounced American accent. In fact, it is so noticeable that our youngest son, who has never been to America, sounds American as well. Yet, I only spent a total of 14 years of my life — and those were not consecutive — in America. However, they were years that shaped me and my accent. In the years we lived in America, my mother would always host Thanksgiving for family and friends; often because we wanted to be part of the celebrations, but were the only people in that particular family circle that kept kosher. It felt as observed as any other holiday – like Pesach and Shavuot – with just as much planning but nowhere near as much religious ritual.
My parents, though not American, had their own understanding of Thanksgiving and little desire to serve things like green bean casserole, sweet potatoes covered in marshmallows, or any kind of pie. Instead, my mother served a combination of Friday night dinner with a distinct Israeli flavor. There was always turkey and my absolute favorite cranberry sauce out of a can — ridges in glorious display. However, there was also Israeli salad, and green beans were cooked in tomato sauce rather than cream of mushroom soup. Dessert would have been either banana or apple cake, and I don’t think we ever watched a football game. And yet, it was Thanksgiving, because as Jews, giving thanks comes naturally.
It’s all in the name: World Jewry today hails predominantly from three tribes — Levi, Judah, and Benjamin. There is a lot of history here, which I will happily unpack in the future. The word “Jew” is derived from the word “Judah,” the primary of these tribes. In Hebrew, Judah is “Yehudi.” All Hebrew words have three-letter (sometimes two, but most often three) roots. The root of the word “Yehudi” is the same as the root for the Hebrew word for thanks, ‘Hodah.’ It’s the same root as the prayer we say upon waking in the morning, ‘Modeh Ani’ — I give the Lord thanks for my waking this morning and every morning. That is to say that giving thanks is in our DNA. It is so deeply ingrained in who we are that it is in our name. In fact, we are far more known as Jews than we are as Israelites.
Never has our thanks been more apparent than in the last few weeks, where we overflow with thanks to any non-Jew and Jewish celebrity that supports us, that believes in us. This desire to belong and yet retain our culture is so strong that it is embedded in some wonderful Thanksgiving history that I’m excited to share. After quite a few weeks of not focusing on my primary love of food, I have, for a moment, found my way back to food. For that, I give thanks.
Some Jewish Thanksgiving history:
The so-called first Thanksgiving is, in fact, a contested issue to the point that John F. Kennedy had to declare in 1963 that both Massachusetts and Virginia had early Thanksgiving celebrations. Let’s, though, focus on the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower to Cape Cod in November 1620 — incidentally not when they celebrated Thanksgiving. In fact, 47 of the 100 Pilgrims died that winter, and it was only in March when the Pilgrims finally came ashore. Only when the land began to thaw did they plant corn with the help of the local Native American tribe. After the first harvest, the Pilgrims, who were deeply religious Christians, made a feast to celebrate the first harvest and give thanks to God. When the Native Americans came to see what was happening, the Pilgrims welcomed them to their table. Though we would all like to think that this Thanksgiving celebration happened in an unbroken chain from that point forward, it would take centuries until it was firmly established in the American calendar.
George Washington, America’s first president, but prior to that the leader of the American Revolution, had unwavering support from the Jewish community of Shearith Israel in New York (later, known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue). The community would participate in Thanksgiving celebrations when there were no Christian prayers. However, when the colonial governor of New York insisted that Christian prayers were included as part of the celebration, the Jews were unable to participate. Washington was made aware of the challenge by the community’s cantor, Gershom Mendes Seixas. In 1790, after visiting the sister synagogue of Shearith Israel – the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island – the now-President reiterated his belief that America should not be a Christian nation but rather a country in which people of all faiths could live freely in, contribute to, and call home.
“All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it all on occasions their effectual support…”
– President George Washington
commemorating 300 years of faith and freedom.
As so many Americans sit down for their Thanksgiving meals today, how many will remember that this is the clarion call of America, a place that ‘gives to bigotry no sanction’?
From that point forward, it was established that Thanksgiving would be secular in nature, with many Jews today celebrating Thanksgiving with equal fervor to Seder night.
All this is well and good, but I promised some food, and I will deliver.
Green Bean Casserole – A History
Cicely Brownstone (1909 – 2005), a veteran food writer for the Associated Press from 1947 to 1986 and a Canadian-born Jew who relocated to New York, wrote about food for most of her life. She found herself at a dinner in Florida in 1955 at the home of John A. Snively Jr., a citrus magnate. At the dinner, a green bean casserole was served, and everyone raved. At which point Snively’s wife, May, shared that she had served the same dish previously to the Shah of Iran and his wife, Queen Soraya. The Queen, who was either very curious or a really picky eater, had spent the evening asking the server about the ingredients of each and every dish. By the time she got to the green beans, the server had lost his patience and, in response to what was in the green beans, he said, ‘Listen lady, it’s just beans and stuff.’ The story captured Cicely Brownstone’s imagination, and she went away from the dinner and set out, with the help of Campbell Soup Company’s Dorcas Reilly (1926–2018), to create a dish of green beans and stuff.
But is this enough of a Jewish story? The fact that Cicely Brownstone, a food writer, helped create one of the most iconic of Thanksgiving dishes? From what I have learned, the family was completely secular. But what I did take away from the story was this: the home that Cicely grew up in with her four sisters was warm and welcoming. The family gathered often to eat together; warmth and hospitality prevailed. And the family remained close-knit, with all five sisters moving from Manitoba to New York. In fact, Cicely lived in a brownstone together with one of her sisters and the sister’s family. Cicely didn’t see herself as separate from the society around her and contributed to it with one of the most widely syndicated food columns in America for close to forty years. And, years later, one of the dishes she helped create and popularize still graces Thanksgiving tables across America.
I can write – and others have already written – reams about Jewish contributions; not just to America, but to every country that has given us freedom and, over the last hundred years, the contributions Israel has made to the world, in the form of life-changing inventions, are noteworthy.
I often wonder what it is about us. About our disproportionately higher rates of inventions, creation, and the validation of just some of our innovations that leads to so many Nobel prize laureates. I think it’s, once more, in our DNA; I don’t think we have a choice. Firstly, it is mandated in the Torah that we be a “light unto the nations” — be that currently a moral and ethical light, or a scientific and creative light. Secondly, our deep-seated need to prove our worth to the society around us. If I create, if I improve your life, if I fight alongside you for freedom like Gershom Mendes Seixas of the Shearith Israel Synagogue in Colonial New York, and in the process, lose twenty members of my congregation. If I do all of that, maybe you will make space in your society for me and my brethren. Though no one should have to prove their worth in order to have the freedom to live in a free society, try telling that to Irving Berlin, Emma Lazarus, Levy Strauss, Albert Einstein, Ruth Bader Ginsberg or Steven Spielberg.
So, this Thanksgiving, I give thanks for being a Jew, for being born in America, for having Israel, and for knowing that we are a light unto the nations, and our light will shine bright for many, many, many years to come.
New Recipes
By the time anyone reads this, you will only have a couple of hours before your Thanksgiving feast. With that in mind, I offer up a few seasonal and quick recipes that will be at home on your Thanksgiving table and equally at your Shabbat table!
Rainbow Salad – the best salad you will ever taste!
Green Bean with Cherry Tomatoes – an easy and delicious side dish.
Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms – Don’t let the word ‘pilaf’ be intimidating; truly, this is a straightforward and super yummy way to prepare rice.