Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster explains why thanksgiving is at the heart of Judaism.
Between the autumn festival of Succot (Tabernacles) and the winter festival of Chanukah (Rededication) there is no Jewish festival.
So the Jews of America, who helped found the country, decided that the in-between holiday of Thanksgiving, held on the last Thursday of November, would be infused with the Jewish values of ingathering, thanks, gratitude and hope for the future.
On November 27, therefore, my daughter, together with her American-Israeli husband and family, celebrated in Israel in the normal fashion - gratitude for the past and hope for the future.
The Hebrew word for both thanks and gratitude is related to the name of the Jewish matriarch, Leah’s fourth son, after which she ceased child-bearing. This son was Judah, pronounced Yehudah in Hebrew. From Yehudah we derive the words ‘Jew’ and ‘Judaism’.
A Jew is many things, but most of all a person who gives thanks and is imbued with gratitude.
As it happens, this year Thanksgiving took place to coincide with the Biblical portion, Vayetze (Genesis 28:10-32:3), featuring the story of Leah giving thanks for the birth of Judah.
This is an action-packed Sedra, in which ‘Jacob departed from Beersheba and went towards Haran.’ During his personal exile, Jacob would first ‘alight by chance on the place’. What a strange turn of phrase. What is ‘the place’ exactly? Many say it was actually Mount Moriah, where Abraham had ‘bound’ his son Isaac, Jacob’s father (Genesis 22) and also the location of the future Temple.
Here, Jacob ‘took some of the stones of the place which he placed round his head and lay down in that place.’
According to Midrash, Jewish homily, the stones began to quarrel among themselves as to which of them would be the stone on which Jacob would lay down his head. Therefore G-d fused the stones into one stone.
This is why it states (in verse 28:18) that after his famous ladder dream, Jacob took ‘the [one] stone that he had placed around his head and set it up as a pillar, pouring oil onto its head and called the place Bet-El - house of G-d.’
The concept of quarreling stones is understood as a metaphor for the future children of Jacob who, as tribes, have their own strengths and weaknesses, characteristics, attributes and gifts. Each tribe is unique with its own separate mission.
However, despite all their inherent contradictions, emphases, and ups and downs, the 12 tribes still manage to coalesce into one people, later a nation, who will always come together in times of trouble, as we have seen so often in Jewish history.
These tribes are the children of Israel, the person Jacob will soon become, encouraging diversity of opinion and united in everything that matters.
Later, Jacob will marry sisters Leah and Rachel. Leah’s 4th son, Yehudah (Genesis 29:35), is not only the epitome of a Jew - full of thankfulness and gratitude, but his descendant David, through Ruth the Moabite, will become the political leader of Israel. His son, Solomon, will unite the kingdom and build the First Temple.
If Succot represents (through the 4 species, the lulav and etrog) the different types of Jew sitting together under the Succah, a little hut, open to the elements, Chanukkah, taking place later this month, will signify rededication and commitment.
The difference between gratitude and commitment is subtle. Hopefully the concept of commitment and its relevance to our own era will be discussed in a future article.
In the meantime, let’s not forget that Judaism’s name signifies thanks and gratitude, expressed by people of diversity who always come together when duty calls.
