5

A good deal of ink has been spilled in the past century regarding the permissibility and appropriateness of American Jews celebrating Thanksgiving.

For the most part, Ashkenazim are split, with some big name 20th Century rabbis giving it the OK, and in some cases celebrating it themselves, while some still tend to just pretend it doesn't exist (although not with the same negativity generally directed at certain other non-Jewish holidays).

What about Sepharadim? I know that the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish community in the U.S. has a strong tradition to observe and celebrate Thanksgiving, dating back to the founding of the nation. But what about everyone else? Is there affirmation that Thanksgiving is a worthy holiday to observe? Is there opposition to it? Is there a more neutral response? Is there some mixture of the above like there is among Ashkenazim?

Community
  • 1
Seth J
  • 41,606
  • 7
  • 85
  • 245
  • 2
    Come to think of it, the Syrian community in Brooklyn has been here for quite some time now, and has some very firmly-entrenched official positions. I wonder what they do? – Shalom Nov 21 '13 at 21:10
  • Rabbi Marc Angel supports the celebration of Thanksgiving: http://www.jewishideas.org/angel-shabbat/thoughts-thanksgiving – Shivaram Lingamneni Nov 25 '13 at 07:32
  • @Shivaram, that's already mentioned in the question. – Seth J Nov 25 '13 at 16:16
  • @SethJ – It seems like he was replying to MarkN, except isn't R' Angel of Turkish ethnicity, and not Syrian? – Adam Mosheh Nov 27 '13 at 03:17
  • @AdamMosheh, he is the former rabbi (and his father preceded him) of the Spanish-Portuguese synagogue on the UWS. Also, he linked to the article that I linked to in the linked answer in the question (if that makes sense). – Seth J Nov 27 '13 at 03:39
  • A good deal of ink has been spilled in the past century regarding the permissibly and appropriateness of American Jews celebrating Thanksgiving. Actually AFAIK the hullabaloo was only raised towards the end of the century. Until then everyone pretty much assumed it was fine, and many did it themselves. – mevaqesh Aug 09 '16 at 21:54
  • @mevaqesh Rav Moshe Feinstein's earliest published responsum on the matter is from 1953. That's hardly the end of the century. – Double AA Dec 07 '16 at 16:46
  • @DoubleAA First of all, I said towards, a word which you conveniently omitted in your quotation. I don't see how a single responsum, albeit from a growing star of the American rabbinate, contradicts my point. AFAIK it was a fairly widespread practice, that only started seriously being questioned in the latter half of the century, and particularly, after the swing to the right. That being said, it was a subjective call in the first place, as there is no objective benchmark for "a good deal of ink". – mevaqesh Dec 07 '16 at 16:50
  • @mevaqesh 1953 is hardly towards the end of the century, and you know it. – Double AA Dec 07 '16 at 16:52
  • @DoubleAA I didn't claim it was. I claimed that I thought that the OP slightly exaggerated the frequency of of responsa on the topic throughout the century, by using admittedly non exact terminology, that by definition is not strictly refutable (or confirmable). – mevaqesh Dec 07 '16 at 16:55

0 Answers0