What’s my opinion of Jews going to church on Thanksgiving? I consulted three encyclopedias—they’re not written by Gedolei Yisroel, but they weren’t written by kana’im either. They were written by goyim. And each one states as follows: “Thanksgiving is a church holiday”. Forget about a legal holiday; forget about an American holiday. It’s a church holiday! And it’s made for the purpose of going to church and holding services.
Now, when Jews say, “Well, what’s wrong with us doing it?” so you have to know that in the Torah it says that if you’ll say How do these nations serve their gods and let me do likewise. So, the Gemara says it means not likewise to serve idols. Likewise means to serve Hashem the way they serve their gods. Oh no! That’s forbidden.
We should serve Hashem like they do?! To hold Thanksgiving services, that’s abizrayhu d’avodah zarah, it’s something like avodah zarah. And therefore, any symbol of that day, like eating turkey, is abizrayhu d’avodah zarah. And a person should do everything in his power to avoid such things. The fact that in America you have butchers or restaurants that sell and serve kosher turkey on Thanksgiving or even Modern Orthodox rabbis who give a hechsher on eating turkey and celebrating Thanksgiving, they are the victims of ignorance.
Even an old talmid chochom, he doesn’t know what Thanksgiving is all about. So, when the question comes to him, he asks his grandchild, “Chaim’l, vus iz Tenksgiving?” So, the little boy says, “It’s just an American holiday, that’s all. It’s like Election Day.” I don’t ask old talmidei chachomim about Thanksgiving. I ask goyim what Thanksgiving is. And three kosher goyim wrote in encyclopedias that Thanksgiving is a church holiday! They’re my poskim.
November 22, 1984
Reprinted from a recent email of Torah Avigdor based on a lecture delivered by Rav Miller on November 22, 1984.
