A Note From The Cantor

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday that comes once a year.   It is a very American holiday, conjuring up visions of Puritans and Indians sitting down to a delicious meal together.  Each group offers up thanks to the Spirit they worship for what they have, and they pray for continued good fortune.

Did you know that there is a Thanksgiving in our cycle of holidays?  And did you know that there is a Thanksgiving prayer that is a regular part of our liturgy?   Thanksgiving has been an important part of Judaism since biblical times.

During all our worship services, whether Shabbat, Holiday or Weekday, we read a prayer called the Hoda’ah, where we gratefully acknowledge that God is our Sovereign; and it is from God that good things, mercies, blessings and protection flows.  (Look on page 58 of our prayerbook Mishkan T’filah.)

The festival of Sukkot (which we celebrated last month) can be called a Thanksgiving holiday as well.  Sukkot is a major festival that is full of meanings, but, I’m afraid, so often under-observed and under-used by us.   We usually associate Sukkot with the harvest; the ancient farmers lived in booths (sukkot is Hebrew for booths) during the harvest time, so as not to waste time and energy moving to and from their fields during this very busy time.

But the Torah tells us something very different.   In Leviticus, Chapter 23, verses 42 through 43, God commands us to live in the sukkah seven days “in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt…”  This does more than commemorate a harvest.  It makes us aware, again, that we owe thanks to God for our entire existence as a people.  He miraculously brought us out of mighty Egypt, He took care of us as we wandered about the desert for forty years, and He has preserved us and enabled us to reach this season.

So here’s to a happy Thanksgiving 2011.  As our families gather to celebrate, let us not forget God’s gracious regard for us and for our People.

B’Shirah,

Cantor Margulis