The Art of the Silent Thank-You

Longterm readers of this email/blog know that I have written almost every year about the numerous Jewish connections to Thanksgiving.

Brush up on the connection to Columbus and turkey with my 2012 message.

(Last year T'giving happened to occur on Channuka so I wrote "The Channuka-Thanksgiving Myth".)

For this year, let's begin with this question for your table:

Question 1: What is the etymology of "Jewish"?

Answer: "Jewish" comes from "Judah" which comes from "Yehuda" which means "be thankful".

The essence of Jewishness is thankfulness.

Every day.

Isn't it wonderful that there is a country — not just any country, but the world's richest, most cuturally influential country and moreover home to half the Jewish People — that has made a national holiday of being thankful?

I'm thankful for that, how about you?

Question #2 for the table: How can you show gratitude to someone without saying or writing a single word?

(Hint - refer to the graphic above!)


Happy Thanksgiving and

Shabbat Shalom

PS - Have you thanked your children's current or past teachers lately? Show your gratitude by sending them a subscription to the Amazing Nature for Teachers program - AmazingNature4Teachers.com. Or using our searchable index to find a meaningful Hannuka present for your favorite teachers - BestJewishKidsBooks.com includes a section for adults.

PPS - You will enjoy this extremely creative use of those leftover Thanksgiving vegetables:



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