[ChicagoHebrew]

It's nice that, at the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, Thanksgiving is afforded religious significance. Do any Churches have special Thanksgiving services?

[GOPJ]

A new country was born, and the Jews had participated in its formation. They were equal citizens in the United States. This was not true of Jews in any country in Europe or in the Muslim world. American Jews were the first in the history of the diaspora to be citizens on an equal footing with their non-Jewish neighbors, and to have actually participated in fighting for the independence of a new nation.

Great post - thanks for sharing...

[aposiopetic]

Thanks for the post.

bump

[JRandomFreeper]

Some Christian churches might.

Our family does. And that's what we go by. Brother will bless the food (dad is dead and gone, these days) and we will be thankful for the grub on the plate.

It's less than nice and polite... but it does have a bit of reason to it. Oy vey.

להחזיק את הבירה שלי לראות את זה ...

Never, ever, ever expect me to do the right thing or be polite. ;)

/johnny

[ChicagoHebrew]

Incidentally, for those who are curious, the Spanish & Portuguese Jewish congregations historically referred to their hazzanim (cantors) as "Reverend," and their congregation's highest religious authority as "Minister." Shearith Israel in NY and Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia still do. Additionally, until about a hundred years ago, they did not have access to ordained Rabbis. That's why Rabbi Angel identifies Gershom Mendes Seixas as "Rev. Seixas."

It is my understanding that they used the terms "Reverend" and "Minister" in an effort to "fit in" without compromising Jewish law. A Hazzan is, certainly, "revered" and does, in fact, "minister" to his congregation.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Do any Churches have special Thanksgiving services?

Yes they do; mine is one. The observation currently is the previous Sunday, so that the contemporary Thursday one can be with family and friends. There is a Thanksgiving themed pot-luck (pot-planning?) that evening and anyone is welcomed, whether they brought a dish or not. Charitable church or quasi-church organizations like the Salvation Army sometimes have Thursday Thanksgiving dinners for the poor, sponsored by donors.

This past Sunday, there was a sharing time after dinner for how God had blessed various people during the preceding year, in which various Christian hymns of thanks were sung on request (I was the pianist for that) and one lady brought up how the American observation is an echo of an element of the Jewish Shavuot, in which the conclusion of the harvest was celebrated for an entire week, and wished we could be even more thankful. (Everyone said Amen.)

[ProtectOurFreedom]

This is a very nice message from Rabbi Angel. Thanks for posting it. It is such a nice contrast to the horrific things being said and done by OWS in NYC.

[Conservative4Ever]

Every church of Christian Science has a Thanksgiving service on Thanksgiving, usually a morning service where a special Thanksgiving sermon is read followed by a time for members of the congregation to express a few words of graditude.