“Thanksgiving is a much needed model for an increasingly secular American Jewry”

Thanksgiving is a much needed model for an increasingly secular American Jewry. Where “cultural Judaism” is often “soft” and “optional”, Thanksgiving has an undeniably “commanding” presence. Who doesn’t come home for Thanksgiving, from wherever that may be? Who doesn’t have a turkey at the table, even if it’s made of tofu? Thanksgiving is an unapologetic model for a cultural identity being a commanding presence in one’s life.

Rabbi Mishael Zion, “A Thanksgivukkah Manifesto”, Huffpost Religion (5 November 2013) {http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-mishael-zion/a-thanksgivukkah-manifest_b_4214556.html}