America's Fall Feast aka Turkey Day

If you came looking for the apocalyptic literature notes, Lectures 12-15 should be below this post as I have time to type them. For now I'd like to side step and focus on what all of you will be focusing on, at least til after you eat on thirsty day and then you will immediately be guilted/suckered into shopping/commercialism.

Over at Judaism 101:

Many Americans, upon seeing a decorated sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the sukkah (and the holiday generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. This may not be entirely coincidental: I was taught that our American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, borrowed the idea from Sukkot. The pilgrims were deeply religious people. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and found Sukkot. This is not the standard story taught in public schools today (that a Thanksgiving holiday is an English custom that the Pilgrims brought over), but the Sukkot explanation of Thanksgiving fits better with the meticulous research of Mayflower historian Caleb Johnson, who believes that the original Thanksgiving was a harvest festival (as is Sukkot), that it was observed in October (as Sukkot usually is), and that Pilgrims would not have celebrated a holiday that was not in the Bible (but Sukkot is in the Bible). Although Mr. Johnson claims that the first Thanksgiving was "not a religious holiday or observance," he apparently means this in a Christian sense, because he goes on to say that the first Thanksgiving was instead "a harvest festival that included feasts, sporting events, and other activities," concepts very much in keeping with the Jewish religious observance of Sukkot. See Religious Beliefs of the Pilgrims and Debunking a Popular Internet Lesson Plan.

Learn more:

Puritans/Pilgrims

Columbus


Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise unto the L-RD, all ye lands.
Serve the L-RD with gladness: come before His presence with singing
Know ye that the L-RD He is G-D: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the L-RD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.