Thanksgiv-ukkah? Being yourself takes a lot of courage!
There's a lot of excitement about the unprecedented overlap of Chanukah and Thanksgiving. Interestingly, the two celebrations have far more in common than meets the eye.
Chanukah was unique from any other war our people have ever needed to defend themselves from. 2200 years ago, the Greeks attacked our ancestors and their Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Amazingly, they were not trying to kill our people. Being the most educated and intellectual enemy we've ever faced, they weren't trying to kill us. They wanted us to simply be like them!
As long as we would assimilate into their culture, abandon our Torah study and observance of the Mitzvos, they'd gladly tolerate us.
Our Founding Fathers too made it this country by the skin of their teeth. They ran for their lives to get here in order to escape the religious persecution and social intolerance that they gladly left behind in Europe.
George Washington declared Thanksgiving as 'a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God'. Having the succesful harvest in their new homeland with North American crops, the pilgrims were able to see that their future in this land was secure. They had successfully managed to stand up for themselves against those who had tried to persecute them.
When Thanksgiving and Chanukah coincide, it's a double reason for us to think deeply into who we are and who we should be.
What values are others trying to force down our throats and which values are so absolute that they must be maintained against all odds.
This is why the Maccabees were the Founding Fathers of Judaism in foreign cultures.
This is why the Pilgrims were the founders of this Great American People.
Let us draw courage and inspiration from these Founding Fathers, to stand up and be proud of our Jewish identities. Let us realise once and for all that history has proven that those who respect themselves, are respected by those around them as well!