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Much of our attention has been turned, recently, to our celebration of the Jewish holidays in the month of Tishri, which came a little “later than usual.” However, it is appropriate that we now turn our attention to a special little holiday that is distinctly American.
The holiday of Thanksgiving has many parallels to our Jewish festival of Sukkoth, which we celebrate at the end of the harvest season in the land of Israel. However, it may have other origins in some Protestant customs of establishing special days of thanksgiving when certain historic and momentous events take place in any given year. It happened that the pilgrims had a peaceful encounter with the Native Americans after sailing to Plymouth Rock and, therefore, Thanskgiving Day was declared. Since Thanksgiving happens close to harvest time, many of the harvest associations became connected to it.
In America today it represent the special occasion in which all Americans can lend their voice of thanksgiving to God for giving us a successful year of harvest and sustenance. With its distinctly American flavor, the holiday may be observed by religions of all variety. Historically, it took a little time for it to become a national holiday. I believe the first president to declare it as such was Abraham Lincoln. Since then, it has functioned as a great unifying moment for most all Americans to take stock of our many blessings and voice our gratitude heavenward, even though there are some who, for religious reasons, choose not to observe it.
Another fascinating item related to Thanksgiving is the name that is given to the great bird which we use for our feast. Some languages give it the name "Peru," thinking that it stems from that country. Most likely, these languages are more accurate in their claim of the bird's new world Meso-American origin. In English, the word "turkey" comes from the understanding that somehow, the country Turkey was involved in its breeding, production and importation. For those who don't speak Hebrew, the Hebrew term for the bird is “hodu,” which is also the name of the country India. The root of the word “hodu” is the same root as the word for thankfulness. So it is logical that the name of the bird is related to the Thansgiving holiday (or India)!
Perhaps you'll have occasion to bring up this interesting factoid at your family celebration! Whether or not you do, allow me and Beth to wish all of you a relaxing and restful Thanksgiving holiday, infused with a sense of gratitude to God for all of our many blessings. We are truly fortunate to be citizens of a remarkable country.