by Rabbi David Woznica
The Pilgrims, whom we acknowledge as the precursors to Thanksgiving, crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1620. They came from Holland, having fled religious persecution in England in 1608. Holland, the most tolerant country on the continent at the time, afforded them great liberty. Why, then, did they risk a dangerous journey to the New World?
William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth Colony, wrote of their desire for “a better, and easier place of living” and that their children were being “drawn away by evil examples into extravagance and dangerous courses”. In other words they were driven by economic problems and the fear of the influence of materialism. They came here to build a society based on Christian ideals.
The first Thanksgiving was a three-day harvest festival likely inspired by the Biblical holiday, Sukkot. Both Pilgrims and indigenous Indians celebrated it together as a sign of gratitude for the new life they achieved.
When President Washington declared a Thanksgiving holiday he intended it to be a “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or will be.”
Some of you had great-great grandparents who immigrated to America. For others it may have been grandparents or parents. And some of you made the “voyage” yourselves. This Thanksgiving, when you contemplate that for which you are grateful, in addition to thanking God, remember those in your family who first made the journey to America. At one point during the holiday, consider taking them aside to thank them as well. Were it not for them, we wouldn’t be here.