Dear Friends,

What Does Turkey Have To Do With India?

The answer, of course, is "Not much!" - unless you're a Hebrew speaker.

The colloquial Hebrew term for "turkey" -- the bird, that is -- is hodu, which refers to "India." (The Hebrew word "hodu" is related to the word "Hindu.") The full name for a turkey is tarnegol hodu, which means, "Indian chicken." Why and how did that come to be its Hebrew name? I'll answer that question with a question: If the early settlers in the New World could refer to its aboriginal inhabitants as "Indians," is it that farfetched that we should call their native fowl "Indian chickens"? (Incidentally, I have been told that in French, Polish, Russian, they also refer to turkey as "Indian chicken," whereas the Greeks call turkey "French chicken"! Go figure.)

Hodu means something else in Hebrew. It means to give thanks, as in the familiar verse: "Hodu la-shem ki tov, ki l'olam hasdo" - "Give thanks to the LORD, for the LORD is good; and God's kindness (hesed) endures forever and ever." (Psalm 136) It's this latter sense that I hope will rise to the fore on the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving.

Whether you eat turkey or not - and whatever you call it -- I hope that you will pause to give thanks. We have so much to be thankful for! First, of course, for the earth's bounty and our own prosperity -- which enables us to enjoy it. Second, for our good fortune to live in a country in which we feel at home, a country that honors rather than condemns differences. Yes, there have always been - and may continue to be -- tendencies in American politics that threaten American pluralism; nonetheless, never before in history have so many people of so many different races, ethnicities, religions and creeds been able to live together with mutual respect secured by the rule of law.

Giving thanks provides us with the opportunity to look around us and assume some responsibility. For not everyone shares our prosperity. Not everyone shares our remarkable freedom. What are we doing to address the needs of the almost one billion people who go to bed hungry? What are we doing to increase the freedom of those who don't live under the legal protections that we enjoy? Pausing to give thanks can encourage us to think about these questions - and come up with some answers. (If you are looking for a text to recite at the table, consider the one provided by the American Jewish World Service. 

I hope that all of us will get the chance to eat, drink, schmooze, express thanks -- and resolve to do more in the coming year to expand the circle of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,