We tend to forget that the pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock were immigrants. And since then America has been a land of arrivals, where peoples of different origins joined together to build a republic. My ancestors became part of this story in the early 1900s when Jews from Europe found their way to the…
Are there Jewish prayers specifically for Thanksgiving? Absolutely, says Alan Brill, a professor of Jewish Studies Seton Hall University who writes about history and trends in Jewish spirituality and practice on his blog — it’s a tradition with a long history. In a post this week, Brill ran through more than two century’s worth of…
As Thanksgiving nears, most of us are laser-focused on preparing (or procuring) the big turkey dinner. But once the feast is finished, we can look forward to catching up with family and friends in a more leisurely fashion. Since brunch is the most leisurely meal of all, we’ve compiled our favorite breakfast recipes for you…
Though the #metoo campaign has brought renewed attention to sexual harassment and assault against women, we often overlook the degree to which women in low-wage jobs are particularly at risk. The women who pick the food we eat every day, for example, have for decades experienced an epidemic of gender-based violence in the fields. According…
On November 20, JTA published a piece highlighting an Israeli research group’s findings that burning the excrement produced by turkey and other poultry could be a “greener” alternative to coal power. But burning poultry excrement to combat climate change is a load of chicken poop. To fight climate change and protect our environment, we have…
As soon as George Washington proclaimed the first Thanksgiving holiday in 1789, some American Jews embraced the tradition right away. Gershom Mendes Seixas, considered by some to be American Judaism’s first public figure, was only 23 years old when he was appointed in 1768 as the cantor of New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel (at the…
This year, some Jewish leaders are applying the Passover Seder model to the Thanksgiving dinner. Joy Levitt (executive director of the JCC of Manhattan) has compiled a Haggadah for her family Thanksgiving meal — replete with her own set of Four Questions. Her Haggadah features patriotic songs (“This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is…
Thanksgiving and Black Friday come every year, in good economic times and bad. Forward editor-in-chief Jane Eisner explained in 2011 why Americans should not be cajoled into working on a day that’s supposed to be all about family. Macy’s flagship store in New York’s Herald Square and the more than 800 branches around the country…
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