Passover and Thanksgiving holidays really should be merged. Passover got its name because the Angel of the Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites and spared them from the unimaginable plagues endured by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. But God didnt stop there. Through a series of spectacular miracles, he arranged for Moses to lead the Jews out of Egypt, through the desert, to eventual safety and survival. Each year, Jews marvel at this deliverance and symbolically recount it. We pray for those who are still in bondage and invite those less fortunate to share our Passover meal. Its a political statement as well as a religious one.

Thanksgiving likewise re-enacts an historical and even political event of gratitude. Paradoxically, it commemorates a joining of two peoples, white and Native American, which eventually became the latters undoing. While Passover celebrates the ending of the disentanglement of Jews from Egyptian oppression, Thanksgiving heralds the beginning of an entanglement.

Nevertheless, on both holidays we express appreciation for what we have and the abundance in our lives today. Matzoh sustained the Jewish people in the desert, our new home. Life-giving corn seeds from Native Americans ensured the survival of European settlers in the new land. In both cases, we received just enough. Just enough to live. Perhaps in these times of terrorism and rising anti-Semitism, we should have a larger perspective. We should redefine abundance to mean just enough. Just enough may be all we have one day. And we should be grateful for all that we have, grateful to be alive. Beyond religious significance, cultural rituals, and historical observances, we are all the same. Perhaps all holidays should add the word Thanksgiving after them.