I am really thankful for Thanksgiving this year. It is not celebrated in Israel, so this is my last real turkey dinner for a while. In fact, I had difficulty finding turkey any time of the year in the Israeli markets where I shopped. I was told that some Jews don't consider turkey to be kosher ONLY because it wasn't specifically mentioned by name in the Torah. It fits the kosher criteria, but there are always those who will take things to that "outer fence" level of Torah observance.
One day, though, I was walking by the heated display case in the market with all the cooked meat choices. Mostly chicken....at about 35-45 shekels per package. I was about to walk away when I saw a price tag of 5 shekels on something......what? Oh My Gosh!! It's turkey!! 2 huge turkey wings (I prefer white meat anyway!) for only 5 shekels! That was about $1.50 at the time. SCORE!! I asked my friends why it was priced so much less than chicken, and they told me it's just not that popular. If that's what keeps the price down, I hope the Israelis NEVER catch on how good it is! :)
I did see on a website within the last week that a group of new Olim were invited to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner down in Tel Aviv. I smiled. There are a few things that are part of our American culture that are worthy of import to any country, and I think Thanksgiving qualifies as one of them. Not that we need a day set aside to remind us to be thankful...but rather a special day to celebrate life and love with our family and friends.
Oh wait, there already is a Jewish Thanksgiving! It's our weekly holiday known as Shabbat. Now we just need to add turkey to the meal! :)
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