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Thanksgiving and Partition

The document discusses giving thanks during Thanksgiving even when not completely satisfied. It notes that Jewish law teaches one should say grace after eating even a small amount. It also discusses the 1947 UN partition plan that led to Israel's establishment, and how making concessions can help achieve peace, even if not the ideal solution, in line with Zionist and Jewish teachings to appreciate what is achievable now.

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Calev Ben-Dor
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52 views2 pages

Thanksgiving and Partition

The document discusses giving thanks during Thanksgiving even when not completely satisfied. It notes that Jewish law teaches one should say grace after eating even a small amount. It also discusses the 1947 UN partition plan that led to Israel's establishment, and how making concessions can help achieve peace, even if not the ideal solution, in line with Zionist and Jewish teachings to appreciate what is achievable now.

Uploaded by

Calev Ben-Dor
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tonight I'm off to my maiden Thanksgiving Party courtesy of the lovely Maayan and Susi.

Meriting as I did to grow up in the north-western suburbs of London, the Thanksgiving experience is new to me. Yet no one needs an excuse for a party. And giving thanks is something we probably don't do often enough. In fact, the Talmudic Rabbis teach us an important lesson on this issue in a discussion over how much one needs to eat before reciting grace after meals. Whereas the Torah in Devarim suggests we only need to 'Bensch' after being satisfied ( ) the Rabbis conclude that Jews should say 'grace' after only eating a Kezayit (about 30 grams.) In other words, one doesnt need to be full to express thanks for food. Falling as it does on the 4th Thursday of November, Thanksgiving weekend always comes around the same time as the anniversary of the UN Partition Plan that promised a sovereign part of Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish people for the first time in two millenia. Next week on the 29th November we mark its 60th anniversary. And like the declaration of independence, the words 'The Temple Mount is in our hands' or Hatikva sung in a full football stadium, hearing the British accent announcing how those votes were cast in the UN General Assembly is one of those things that send shivers down my spine; "Afghanistanno. ArgentinaArgentina? abstention. Australiayes. Belgiumyes. Boliviayes Yugoslaviaabstain. The resolution was adopted for 33 votes 13 against with 10 abstentions". As I wrote last year, the Partition Plan wasnt ideal by any means - it didnt even include Jerusalem as part of the proposed State. But in many ways, I think its acceptance by the Yishuv is what Zionism is about being satisfied with something less than our dreams and making reasoned decisions of what is achievable at any particular time given the circumstances. At its core, Zionism and Rabbinic Judaism teach us that life is about giving thanks even when we aren't completely satisfied, when we eat yet aren't full, when we dream yet experience only partial ful-fillment. At last years Thanksgiving, President Bush declared that "We give thanks to the Author of Life who granted our forefathers safe passage to this land, who

gives every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth the gift of freedom, and who watches over our nation every day." We celebrate this year in the lead up to a peace Summit in Annapolis that will inevitably lead to concessions over what many Israelis believe is rightfully theirs. Yet perhaps we should be happy for the sovereign recognized State we do have, for the safe passage to places generations of Jews could only dream; give thanks, even if the compromises we will need to make (to provide another people their freedom) aren't necessarily what we would have ideally wanted. And pray that the Author of Life continues to watch over our nation every day.

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