Yes, I said Tachanun today. It isn’t a significant day in the Torah world. But it ought to be... at least for those of us who live in America... even if we say Tachanun on that day. We have much to be thankful to this country for. But, in fact many educational institutions (though not all) either completely ignore it or actively disparage it. And of course they actively discourage any participation in this holiday!
They liken eating a Turkey with family and friends on Thanksgiving to Chukas HaGoy. But it isn’t. I know there are Teshuvos about this by various Poskim, but Rav Moshe did not Assur it, although he did say it was a Minhag Garua. My Rebbe, Rav Aaron, did not agree. If I am not mistaken he actually had turkey on Thanksgiving. Or, at least he did not oppose it in any way. I never did ask him about it, nor did I ever observe him eating dinner on that day, but it was widely known and talked about back in my Yeshiva days... that he had a positive attitude toward Thanksgiving.
For many years my family had always participated in a big family meal on this day which included turkey. (...not my personal favorite and thankfully there was usually other main courses available.) We all appreciated what this great country offers and what it has done for us in so many ways. What better way to show appreciation than to participate in this custom.
Although I haven’t had a big turkey dinner on this day in many years, I always encourage those who want to do that, to go ahead and enjoy the day and to certainly not feel guilty about it in any way.
There was in fact no religious origin to the holiday except that the early pilgrims being very “old testament” oriented chose to emulate the Yom Tov of Sukkos and celebrate their final harvest with a seudah expressing hakaras hatov. But it was never a religious ritual. There is nothing Christian about it. There is no ritual associated with it. It was nothing more than a "seudas hoda’ah" based on an aspect of Sukkos (Shmini Atzeres) to thank God for the bounty of their harvest.
One of the brightest minds in the world of Orthodoxy today is Rabbi Michael Broyde, a law professor at Emory University and a dayan for the RCA Bet Din (The Beth Din of America)
He has written a lengthy treatise on this subject which was excerpted here. I wish to just post his conclusions with which I whole-heartedly agree:
1) Thanksgiving is a secular holiday with secular origins;
2) While some people celebrate Thanksgiving with religious rituals, the vast majority of Americans do not;
3) Halakhah permits one to celebrate secular holidays, so long as one avoids doing so with people who celebrate them through religious worship; and
4) So long as one avoids giving the celebration of Thanksgiving the appearance of a religious rite (either by occasionally missing a year or in some other manner making it clear that this is not a religious duty) the technical problems raised by Rabbi Feinstein and others are inapplicable.
"Thus, Halakhah permits one to have a private Thanksgiving celebration with one's Jewish or secular friends and family. For reasons related to citizenship and the gratitude we feel towards the United States government, I would even suggest that such conduct is wise and proper."
