Thanksgiving in Israel

Today is Thanksgiving, and I was thinking about the connection between a American Jews living in Israel and this American holiday. My wife has already bought Turkey legs in the Shuk and she is planning a Middle-East-style turkey day. No, we will not be watching the football game here in Beit-El, but hopefully we will host a friend of mine who is a chayal boded (a lonely soldier) in Nachal Charedi.

Many Zionist-types will do away with Thanksgiving on the premise that the holiday has nothing to do with us here in Israel. I respectfully disagree and I proffer a new meaning to Thanksgiving in Israel.

For one thing, we can thank America for being a great exile. Great exile - how's that for an oxymoron. Yet America has treated its Jews better than any other Galut in recent memory. So by eating Turkey in Israel, I will still remember the kindness that the US has shown me and my family, I will give homage to the great ideals on which America was founded, and I will be thankful for my American passport.

The other reason that I will celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving is to give thanks to G-d that, ironically, I no longer live in the United States. With all my warm feelings towards the US, and my fond memories of New York, I am glad and thankful to be here in Israel, the Jewish Homeland and the future of the Jewish people. I am here, and here, with G-d's help, I will stay.

But still, I'm a Jew from America, I have been shaped by many of America's values, and in many ways I am an American.

Maybe I eat Turkey here because I proud. American's in Israel should be proud that they chose The Spiritual Superpower over the economic and military superpower. American Aliyah is a great Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d's name. As my wife has said, American Aliyah is truly the spirit of Kommemiyut, an upright march to our Land. Aliyah for us is a pro-active positive choice and not the result of persecution or a poor living standard in America. And so... I'm proud to eat Turkey in Israel, and I'm proud to have chosen Israel over America.

Yet, though I choose Israel over America, I do not forget the kindness the America has shown me and I will stay true to the good values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

One problem though, we can't find any cranberries around here!