Thanksgivukkah
– American and Jewish holidays coinciding in 2013
Calendar experts
describe this as the first such occurrence. Although the holidays would have
fallen on the same date in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln would not formally
establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday until 1863.
I saw a few cute ideas
for cards and Hanukkah menorahs online. Imagine a drawing or a clay model of a
turkey with eight tail feathers, and an extra space for the shamash, helper candle, on top of the
turkey’s head, or on a taller tail feather. This would serve as a Thanksgiving
decoration or as a Hanukkiah (Hanukkah menorah with 9 branches) if made in a
fire-proof material.
It looks like the next
time people will sit at a Thanksgiving dinner and light the Hanukkah candles
will be on the evening of November 27, 2070.
I hope that the children now alive who will be present at that next
combined holiday celebration will be able to give thanks for improved
cooperation between nations, a highly developed system of renewable energy
methods, and a sense of interconnectedness among people in their communities. But
some experts, like Jewish physicist and calendar expert Jonathan Mizrahi,
say it won’t repeat itself until 79,811.
Either way, for most of
us, Thanksgivukkah will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. I am thinking about that as I prepare to
participate in our annual Interfaith Thanksgiving service along with clergy from
about a dozen churches and spiritual centers in Sedona. The theme this year is
“Gratitude in Action” with special readings offered by all the participating
religious institutions.
It occurs to me that
both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah share not only themes of freedom from oppression
and gratitude, but a deeper historical source:
the Festival of Sukkot! The
Pilgrims were devout Protestants who read the Hebrew Bible and knew about the
harvest festival of Sukkot in the fall.
They patterned the first Thanksgiving in some way after that holiday of
giving thanks to God for the bounty of the harvest. And the Maccabees and their followers out
fighting in the hills couldn’t celebrate Sukkot, considered “The” Holiday at
that time, and so celebrated it a couple of months later as a week-long rededication
ceremony of the Temple in Jerusalem after their victory over the Greek-Syrian
army.
Let us each make a special blessing
at our Thanksgiving/Hanukkah dinner on Thursday, November 28, as well as
enjoying the fun of serving that turkey with a side of potato
latkes, and spinning those dreidles this Thanksgivukkah!
