I have written many times of the effort that The Pew makes to simply share the gospel and avoid the rhetoric of politics, church and social agendas. There are times that things happen and this becomes difficult but we try. There is no excuse for what has happened in Gaza and for the violence that takes innocent lives to advance an evil goal. There are many same things Between Christians and Jews, the most important is that we believe in the same God… we as Christians have been adopted into the family of God Through the blood of Christ, who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins… For all our differences there are some things that are remarkable. Today’s blog addresses one such thing.

Sukkot is a Jewish harvest holiday, Christians celebrate Thanksgiving. The arrival of Sukkot ushers in the autumn season; Sukkot foods are inspired by the bounty of the harvest. (toriavey.com) 

There is a better than average possibility that our Thanksgiving tradition in many ways could have been indirectly inspired by the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. So here in lies the possibility that “The Difference between the Difference is Relative to the Likeness Thereof”. Without getting to deep the simple facts are. Both the Pilgrims and the Jews were victims of religious persecution. This persecution led to an early Diaspora of certain Jews from Spain in 1492. Some made their way to different parts of Europe and the Middle East. The pilgrims escaped England in 1608 because of the increasing intolerance of their views by the Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of York.Then somehow a small group Jews who had settled in Holland were joined by the Pilgrims because of the country’s religious tolerance. The time the pilgrims spent in Holland, about a decade, provided enough time to interact with each other and witness Sukkot celebrations. There are a list of similarities between Thanksgiving and Sukkot.  The first Thanksgiving meal is said to have been eaten out-of-doors, that corresponds to the Sukkot tradition of dining outside in the sukkah. Sukkot and Thanksgiving, are holidays of welcoming; the Pilgrims would welcome Native Americans to the original Thanksgiving table and Jews are encouraged to welcome friends and extended family to dine in the sukkah. Another common factor would be the food of course. Sukkot and Thanksgiving feature bountiful menus of delicious, seasonally-inspired foods.

These few things give us something  to think about…one being that the difference is not all that great between us. I pray that on this day when there are so many differences that keep us separated we can at least come together in truly seeking peace, tolerance and respect for our differences, which oddly enough have a relative nature somewhere in the Difference.

Life is Good

jk