Thanksgiving is next week. People have waxed poetic about the similarities between Thanksgiving and Sukkot – both harvest celebrations – but few non-Jewish Americans know about Sukkot and we ALL know about Thanksgiving!
Would you like to bring some Jewish content to your Thanksgiving table? Here are three ideas.
1. Choose a favorite Jewish dish and serve it for Thanksgiving. It could be a sweet apple kugel for dessert or tzimmes side dish. (Email me if you want a recipe.)
2. Go around the table and have everyone say something they are thankful for. Oh, doesn’t sound Jewish? Well, it is. And it fits into any religion or atheist world view that being grateful is a good thing. Someone had to feed those turkeys, someone had to pick the cranberries and apples, etc. Let’s show some appreciation. One thing that I always tell my kids, we are SO LUCKY to be in the minority of human beings who have wooden floors instead of dirt.
3. Put a tzedakah box in the middle of your table and a quarter in front of each plate. Invite each person to put their coin in the box and say one person they commit to helping this winter. The coin can be symbolic or you can use the money to buy something. (Helping Ideas: help a friend with homework, rake the leaves for an elderly neighbor, read to a sibling, do the dishes for mom!)