Thanksgiving -- 5775

Of all American holidays, Thanksgiving focuses the most on food.  Sure, we gorge on candy for Halloween and we barbeque on Independence Day.  But Thanksgiving’s menu is the most proscribed.  The meal takes center stage.  On Thanksgiving, like many Jewish holidays, food forms the ritual.  The food tells a story (even if that story isn’t factual).  The stories of Thanksgiving are not only national (“first feast”), but also familial (“grandma’s recipe,” “Dad always carves the turkey.”)  On Thanksgiving and every day, the foods we eat tell us who we are.

Temple Emanuel’s recent class on Jewish eating was fascinating.  We explored the rules that dictate what we eat in biblical, rabbinic, and ecological language.  We considered the many reasons for eating –nutrition, surely, but also pleasure, sociability, remembrance, geography, politics, and many others.  All these reasons are on display at Thanksgiving.

The class concluded by considering a proposed policy for eating at Temple Emanuel.  Until now, we’ve had expectations, but there hasn’t been a clear and public policy document.  In drafting the policy under consideration, the Ritual Committee policy sought to declare our Jewish identity while also acknowledging the realities of the ways most of us live.  It strove to promote inclusiveness by making Temple Emanuel a welcoming place for all kinds of Jews and all kinds of people.  Should one expect to eat at synagogue as one eats at home?  It’s a fascinating balancing act.

I urge you to consider the many rules that govern your own eating.  Not just kashrut, of course, but the “grammar” of your own diet.  Where, specifically, do you eat?  What do you eat at home and what away from home?  What constitutes a “special” meal for you?  At what times of day are certain foods allowed?  Do you have any taboo foods?

Let us be aware of the earth’s bounty, which sustains us each day.  Let us be aware of the others at our table, who enrich our lives.  From all of us at Temple Emanuel, Happy Thanksgiving!