November 22, 2006
Rabbi Norman M. Cohen          

It seems like we just finished celebrating our Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the time of thanksgiving for God’s gifts, and all of a sudden it’s time to celebrate another holiday of Thanksgiving. That is one of the great advantages of being an American Jew; we have two sets of holidays. There’s Rosh Hashanah and the secular New Year, Israel Independence Day and the 4th of July, Sukkot and Thanksgiving. We certainly have an abundant number of opportunities in which to celebrate and to enjoy ourselves.

On the other hand, there are some who might say that it’s really too much. After all, we spent so much of our energy and thoughts expressing thanks on the holiday of Sukkot, it doesn’t make sense to do it all over again so soon on Thanksgiving.

The reply to that argument is simple. First of all, the Jewish holidays and the secular holidays are not identical. Although there are similarities, there are also many differences. The Jewish New Year, for example, is a time for us to make a renewal of spirit and conscience. It’s a time of SOBER reflection. Everyone knows that the secular New Year is anything but sober! Thanksgiving holidays, like Sukkot and the one this weekend, remind us that we should be grateful for the things that we are fortunate to have and enjoy: our food, shelter, happiness, and most important of all, the gift of life itself. That feeling of thanks and appreciation is something about which we should be constantly aware, so that having two holidays, no matter how close they are in time, should never be considered repetitive. After all, we eat everyday, we watch the same TV programs each week, sometimes see a good movie twice in the same year. So why should giving thanks for all that we have be redundant, no matter how often we do it.

Let us keep that in mind on this Thanksgiving holiday. In fact, let us try always to keep that in mind and heart. We enjoy the gift of life so much more when we are aware of what a precious gift it is.

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