The rare combination of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah raises halachic questions. Rabbi Ari Shvat who answers at Ask the Rabbi Yeshiva.co was asked how Judaism sees the celebration of both of the holidays together.
In a long and reasoned response, Rabbi Shvat replied that we should remember that the basis of Thanksgiving is not Jewish. "The issue of Jews celebrating Thanksgiving at all, is a problematic one. We must remember that our presence in exile, even comfortable and relatively hospitable galuyot like America, are a punishment and no reason to party. Even if one wants to thank God for the temporary relatively-safe haven in America, it definitely shouldn’t be seen as a Jewish holiday, and how much more so, there is absolutely no significance to the fact that a holiday of some other nationality may coincidentally and rarely fall on the holiday of our nationality/religion".
As a conclusion, rabbi Shavat added that the good Jewish alternative for Thanksgiving is the day of Independence - Yom HaAtzmaut, when God expressly gave the Jewish nation our real and permanent homeland..
For the full answer: http://www.yeshiva.co/
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