SEASONS - DID THANKSGIVING COME FROM SUKKOT?

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The Hebraic harvest celebration of Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles) is close to the time that Americans call Thanksgiving.   The two feasts have similar qualities.  We always hear the details of why we celebrate Thanksgiving in America, but why would anyone celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles, or as the Jewish people call it:  Sukkot?

There are many good reasons that compel both Christians and Jews to celebrate these Holy Days.  Part of the reasons pertain to the future and part of the reasons pertain to the past. 

                                  

 Jesus was very bold in going to The Feast of Tabernacles to teach.  There came a time when this actually meant risking His life to do so.  Most of the religious rulers of the day were not at all happy when He showed up.  He distracted from their personal glory, politics and profit margin.  The common people admired Jesus for His boldness, and His assurance of the ways of The Kingdom.  They drank in His every word.  His enemies, the rulers of the day, were not prepared for his boldness, his courage, or his lack of fear.  

On the last and greatest day of the feast the rabbi’s always held a water ceremony.  It was then that Jesus stood and loudly proclaimed that He was The Fountain of Living Water. (John 7:37-38).  The traditions that the common people had so rotely observed for years came alive when Jesus explained them at the feast.  The Feast of Tabernacles, as well as the other feasts and festivals all prophetically scream of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Savior of The World.  

As a Christian I celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles because I am following the example of Jesus Christ, The Messiah, and I know the feast speaks of God's people in the past as well as our future with Christ when He returns again.  



 
So what is most important, the past or the future?  Both are equally important when you consider the facts.   We know that the Feast of Tabernacles was a week long harvest festival.  God commanded it to be kept through out the generations of Israel.  This was to be a time to remember how God brought them out of the wilderness into a promised land.  It was much the same for the pilgrims coming to America.  They came from what they considered to be a wilderness of sin and hoped that the new land would be a place where they could worship God as they chose and that God would bless them for doing so.   


The ancient people built temporary dwellings to remind each other of how they dwelt in tents or temporary dwellings for 40 years in the wilderness.  Possibly the American pioneers did the same.  Have you ever examined the part of old log cabins called the "lean-to"?  It was often used as a temporary place to sleep for guests traveling through the area.  It might have been a pilgrim's design of a sukkah.   Most of the pilgrim settlements had these structures on the sides of their houses.  Not to mention the fact that they also had to dwell in "temporary dwellings" until they had the resources to build their permanent homes once they arrived in America; the land of the free.

The Israelites were poor slaves and had nothing, but God brought them to The Promised Land and provided them with great blessings.  The pilgrims had been slaves to their oppressive government and they had come to America to escape this.  They had come hoping to be able to achieve a better life full of blessings.



 
Much like the Jewish people, the pilgrims chose this time to remember that all blessings come from God.  The ancient Hebrews were to remember that God came down and dwelt among them in the tabernacle that He had them to design.   The pilgrims remembered how God led them safely across the ocean to another safe place where they could worship Him in freedom and peace.   

God journeyed with the Israelites through the hard times in the dessert. God journeyed with the pilgrims through the hard times of crossing the ocean and beginning to establish settlements in America.    

God fed the Israelites and clothed them and protected them from their enemies.  God did the same for the pilgrims as they settled in a new land with different customs.

God provided water for the Israelites from a rock.  He also provided water for these pilgrims.   

Both people groups experienced the physical and spiritual blessing of God because they stepped out on faith and obedience and moved in the direction that God was showing them.

On the eighth day of The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)  the Israelites would leave their temporary dwellings and go back to their houses in the promised land.  This would remind them of how God had kept His promises to provide for them and bless them as a nation.   They were told to keep the holiday before God in thankfulness for the year’s blessings and abundance.   In the same spirit of thankfulness the pilgrims offered up their thanks to God who had kept His promises to them and was beginning to bless them as a nation, and for the time and space that our nation honored God and kept His ways, we flourished in the land!


I think of this every year as I sit in my own temporary dwelling (my physical body as well as the physical sukkah we build as a family) and look at the evidence of the abundant blessings in my own home and my beautiful family who sit as a pleasant harvest all around me.  There are no words to properly describe my joy!   One cannot come to Sukkot without being thankful, nor to the American Thanksgiving.  I chose to keep them both and just let one be an extension of the other.  It is thankfulness multiplied by two!  How could that go wrong? 

There have been many wilderness experiences in life, but God has blessed us in every journey.  These two holidays are the time to notice and give thanks for the abundant ways that He always provides for us in every circumstance.    

Christians truly believe they should conform to the image of Christ.  That means doing the same things that Jesus did, and living as much like Him as possible.  Imitating Jesus would mean keeping The Feast of Tabernacles.  Imitating Jesus would mean being thankful such as we are at Thanksgiving.   Perhaps all of this is part of the reason we call The Holy Eucharist The Great Thanksgiving.  God's blessings are so great in our land and they tend to multiply when we take notice of them and thank God for them.  

It is a well known fact that Jesus Christ celebrated Sukkot.   Scriptures clearly state that Jesus taught from the Temple on The Feast of Tabernacles.  People looked forward to hearing from Him.  They wanted to know His teachings.  They gathered around him eagerly, especially on feast days.  Some of the pilgrims to Jerusalem had come from miles away, just hoping to get to see Jesus, to touch Him, to hear His words, to be near Him.  He did not disappoint them.  He taught on Solomon’s Porch and in other areas around the Temple. 

So why do the Jewish people celebrate?  They do not yet recognize Christ as the Messiah.

While we Christians are more focused on the future, the Jewish people are more focused on remembering the past and the lessons God showed them through history.  They bring these lessons into the present by remembering and honoring God on the days He has proclaimed.    Sukkot for them is a week long harvest festival.  It is a time for giving thanks to God for his abundant blessings.   They recognize that God commanded these days to be kept through out all their generations. This was to be a time to remember how God brought them out of the wilderness into a promised land. They were told to build sukkahs, or temporary dwellings, to remind each other of how they dwelt in tents or temporary dwellings for 40 years in the wilderness. They were poor and had nothing and God brought them to The Promised Land and provided them with great blessings. 

This is a time to remember that all blessings come from God. 

They remember that God came down and dwelt among them in the tabernacle that He had them to design. 

He journeyed with them through the hard times in the dessert. 

He fed them and clothed them and protected them from their enemies. 

He provided water for them from a rock. 

On the eighth day of the feast they would leave their temporary dwellings and go back to their houses in the promised land. This would remind them of how God had kept His promises to provide for them and bless them as a nation. They were told to keep the holiday before God in thankfulness for the year’s blessings and abundance.

As Christians watching the Jewish people celebrate the past and learning from it, we can clearly see that God was showing them the future by commanding them to remember the past.  God is like that!  He shows up in unexpected ways and speaks without speaking.

All believers of God have much in common on this feast day.   When we study the scriptures with open hearts, the balance comes.  We begin to realize that all of God's people have a lot to learn from each other. 

Israel and America are both great nations with so many of their native people being servants of God.    Long ago the natives of Israel wanted to please God with all their hearts.  They wanted this enough to leave all that they found familiar.  They were willing to cross the sea and go out into a strange and dessert land in order to worship Him in the way that He chose to be worshiped. 

In such a similar way, the pilgrims in coming to America wanted to imitate Christ as much as possible and they loved Him with all their hearts.  They wanted this so much that they were willing to leave all that was familiar to them and cross a sea and go to live in an unknown wilderness-like place.  

Perhaps those early pilgrims who crossed the sea to come to America chose to celebrate the first Thanksgiving because they too had read about a great God who commanded His people to honor Him annually with their harvest. 

 More and more people are beginning to realize that our traditional American Thanksgiving very likely had its origins in this historical fall festival called Sukkot.  

In that first American Thanksgiving the very religious puritan pilgrims came before God to give thanks for helping them to survive their first very hard year in America.  Don’t you know they thanked God for the fact that they had food, had shelter and had been able to survive the very harsh conditions of the pioneer life that they had needed to live when they arrived on those golden shores?  It seems a lot like the children of God remembering their time in the wilderness and giving thanks for the Promised land.  As they were giving thanks for the first year of survival it is quite possible that one pilgrim might have pulled out a bible and read Leviticus 23: 39 and had a lot of heads nodding around the table and thinking they would follow the example of those brave Israelites and give God the glory for bringing them to the day of thanks and for furnishing a harvest from a harsh year in the wilderness that was America.

And so we come to The Season of Joy to begin our Thanksgiving.  We will worship God with all of our hearts and this will carry over to the time of thankfulness that our nation calls Thanksgiving.  It is an American holiday.  It is a good holiday.  It is a time to confirm all that God has shown us at The Feast of Tabernacles.  

SEASONS - HOW HISTORY AND THANKSGIVING ARE CONSTANTLY RELIVED

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

As we go through the calendar months of October and November in America, I find myself in a continuous pattern of thankfulness.

The joyous season starts with the Hebrew Festival called The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, which has already come and gone for this year.  

America’s Thanksgiving Holiday follows this bringing more reminders of thankfulness. 

I’ve often considered that Sukkot was probably the first original form of Thanksgiving.  During this whole season my eyes are constantly being opened to the fact that the Christians of America have been so blessed to have a God that perfectly orchestrated both the history of His people Israel and the history of His church in America.   One could never replace the other, but both complement each other as a living testimony to God at work in the history of all nations.

The Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after the crops are all gathered in for the winter.  So  we see a similar pattern between the two celebrations in that both occasions are a part of the fall harvest activity.  The harvest  celebration called Sukkot is very much of the same nature as The American Thanksgiving holiday.   

God instructed the Israelites to observe the Feast of Tabernacles by building and living in temporary booths for seven days so that they would always remember the exodus from Egypt when they lived in tents, or booths, in the wilderness and realize how God brought them to a promised land.  It was to help them to remember how God dwelt among them and tabernacled with them as they sojourned to a new land.  In other words; it was a time to remember all the good and great things that God had done for them in bringing them out to a better place; just as we Americans remember God leading the pilgrims to a new land at Thanksgiving. 

Exodus 25:8 speaks of the commandment to the Israelites:   “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.  Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (NIV)

The booths were temporary tabernacles until this real and permanent tabernacle was built.  This foreshadowed the building of the permanent Temple.  Now, so many years later, even with the Temple destroyed; we once again find ourselves dwelling in the temporary tabernacles of our bodies and building our sukkas to celebrate the feasts.  We so often take comfort in knowing that God still dwells with us - everywhere we go.  The pilgrims had a great grasp of this truth and they lived it out.  They spoke of these things in their Thanksgiving celebrations.

Back in the pre-tabernacle days of Israel, and pre-temple days, there were also other reasons for dwelling in booths near the threshing floors.  Threshing floors were the place of the harvest.  The harvest was a chief source of income for the people.  The threshing floors were always in danger of being robbed.  This was less likely to happen if someone was sleeping in a temporary booth in the fields until all the grain was removed.  It was customary for the family to move out to the vicinity of the threshing floor in order to work together as well as to protect the harvest.  

The mother would prepare meals there in the shade of any nearby trees and she would take her turn with the father and the children to ride on the sledge.  

This was what was going on when Ruth approached Boaz.  He was sleeping in a Sukkah near the threshing floor guarding the grain of the harvest.

In the days beyond Ruth and Boaz, the ancient people gladly added God’s commanded instructions for the Holy Days to this tradition, and they turned this time into a joyous celebration full of Thanksgiving.    Isn’t that just like our Great God to turn a time of dread and fear into a time of celebration and joy?  He is a God of great reversals. Instead of fearing that their hard worked harvest would be robbed and taken away from them, they stayed in the fields and lived there temporarily, guarding their bounty and celebrating their blessings until it was all gathered safely home.  They lived in temporary dwellings.

We look at the Hebrew people dwelling in booths during The Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot and welcoming strangers into their sukkahs  and we can't help but think of the lean-tos on the sides of the first log cabins that the settlers built.  They were temporary dwellings with three sides and a door, much like a sukkah.   They were often the shelter offered with genuine hospitality to strangers passing through.  The stranger would spend the night in the lean-to much like a sukkah was used for sleep-over guests in The Feast of Tabernacles.  The lean-to was an extended temporary room.  They were a form of extended hospitality, just like a sukkah in today's festival of The Feast of Tabernacles.

Historians now note that the first Jews arrived in America with Christopher Columbus in 1492.  Jews, newly converted to Christianity, were also among the first Spaniards to live in Mexico with Conquistador Hernando Cortez in 1519.  In North America in 1654 Jews arrived in New Amsterdam which later came to be known as New York.  There were 23 Jewish refugees from Recif, Brazil.  Hebraic thought and customs were well known to the settlers and pilgrims in America.    

It is extremely clear that the laws of the first colonies were based on biblical principals from the scriptures.  The New Haven legislators adopted a legal code called the Code of 1655 that contained 79 statutes.  Half of these 79 statutes included biblical references, and it is very clear that they came from the Hebrew bible.  The Plymouth Colony had a similar law code, and so did the Massachusetts Colony.  In 1641 the Massachusetts Colony adopted The Capital Laws of New England.  These laws were based almost entirely on the Mosaic law. 

It is highly possible that some of our American heroes might have been from people of Jewish roots who had come to the shores of America long before the Mayflower ever sailed.   Already living in the land at the time, they may have been among those who came to the aid of the pilgrims that first year.  Many wanted to turn these Jewish brothers away and chase them out of the area, but The Dutch West Indies Company depended heavily on their investments and helped them to stay.  

By the time of The War of Independence, there was an estimated 2,000, mostly Sephardic Jews living in America.  Their contributions to the causes of the country were very significant.  Not only did they fight alongside of the Patriots, but these Jews provided great financial contributions in the years after the first colonies arrived.  One of the greatest among them was Haym Salomon, who lent a great deal of money to The Continental Congress in the last days of the war.  He was never paid back a dime and died bankrupt.

There was also a well known metallurgist named Gaunse who had come to America with a Spanish expedition from the Queen of England.  Jews were not allowed to go to the colonies at that time, but this man was so knowledgeable about copper that an exception was allowed in his case. 

So it is highly possible that some Jewish thoughts were floating around among the colonies.  This coupled with the strict interpretations and emphasis on the scriptures might have contributed to the first
American Thanksgiving celebration.

Their feast was held after their fall harvest, just as the Hebrew’s feasts were held.  

The chain of events leading up to the first Thanksgiving in America is amazing when you think about it.  The Pilgrims too had made a great exodus to come to a new place where they would be allowed to worship God as they chose to do, in the way that they thought God intended.  

The Israelites crossed the Red Sea; the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean.  

Both journeys were filled with dangers and perils.  Upon arriving at their destination both groups experienced apprehension and adjustments.  They had to gather their courage to be brave in an unfamiliar land, and they had to learn to get along with strange people who had totally different cultures.  

Both brave groups of people had to learn how to live in peace and harmony with those around them even if they had great differences in lifestyles.  

For these Pilgrims America had become The Promised Land.   

So it was that they recognized and followed the customs of the Israelites who had for many years given thanks for abundant harvests in the eight day celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. 

The land of England from which the colonist hailed also had a traditional custom of observing a Harvest Festival, but the Pilgrims chose not to associate themselves with their homeland’s festivals because of the many pagan customs their homeland had incorporated into this day.  No mention was made of God in the traditional festival of old England.     So the brave pilgrims chose to follow a nation to whom God had dictated customs and traditions.  Once they arrived in America, they made every effort to observe things in their days that were accurately associated with God.  They were much more concerned with religious matters than politics or social issues.  

It is also thought that the early settlers adopted a Sabbatarian view of observing the Sabbath from sunset on Friday till sunset on Saturday, similar to the custom of Israel.  They were heavily influenced by preaching and teachings on millennialism.  They believed there would be a “Golden Age” or “Paradise on Earth” in which Christ will reign for 1000 years prior to the final judgment of mankind.  This reign and rule of Christ is recognized today by Christians who keep The Feast of Tabernacles.

All of these historical celebrations play into the theology and the Christian symbolism in the celebration of Sukkot, which many Christians today live out once a year in sort of a “dress rehearsal” of The Millennial Kingdom of Christ.  These fundamentals of Hebraic/Christian doctrine are now more and more being commonly taught practices and observances in most evangelical based modern day churches. 

The Puritans chose to separate themselves from The Church of England based on the following scripture passage:  “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:22-23). 

These Puritans/Pilgrims did everything according to the truth they found in the scriptures.  They followed The Word of God in a strict and detailed manner.  In other words they believed in living out the scriptures in their daily lives.  

The passage of God’s Holy Word they read said to “flee” when you are persecuted for worshiping God; and so they did, in a ship called The Mayflower.  102 passengers began the long voyage.  Though the mast of their ship broke in a severe storm, they were able to repair it and eventually found themselves on the shores of Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts.  

When the mast was broken there was discussion of turning back.  Everyone decided to take the risk and keep going forward.

The first use of the word “Pilgrims” appeared in William Bradford’s writings ‘Of Plymouth Plantation.’  In his writings he used the imagery of Hebrews 11:13-16 for those who had an opportunity to return to their homelands but instead longed for a better, heavenly country.   “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13.

These pilgrims were highly educated.  There was nothing in this new land that required the education of the founder’s children.  Yet, these brave people felt education was very important and established their own unique system of studies.  John Winthrop declared that their schools should be the beginning of “A City Upon A Hill” that all the people turned to for education and learning.  The founders were not amateurs; most of them had attended either Oxford or Cambridge and before coming to the new land they had communicated with intellectuals throughout Europe.  Eventually the school they established became known as Harvard University.  

My point in explaining this is to express that these were well educated men, highly capable of discerning mistakes and blunders of bad choices and totally capable of interpreting the scriptures with great intellect.  They had something special that many others did not, however; they had heart and passion for the fruit of their intellectual endeavors.  Their studies confirmed the truth of God.  Oh that Harvard would return to its original roots.

So we see that even in the field of education, these very educated and knowledgeable men –patterned their lives after the culture of The Hebrew people and their stories that are played out in our Bibles.  

Just think of all the similarities we have discussed so far.  Both the Israelites and The Pilgrims  were people who set themselves apart in order to worship God in the way they thought He desired to be worshipped.  The Pilgrims considered the scriptures found in Deuteronomy 14:2: 

"For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." (Deuteronomy 14:2)

The Pilgrims chose to pattern themselves after the nation that God chose and put His name upon; The Nation of Israel.  This being true, it is highly possible that these well learned men studied and followed the feast and festivals of God found in our Old Testament scriptures.  Perhaps they had read and understood the significance of Deuteronomy 6:3: 

"Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you - ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’" 

That first winter proved harsh and forbidding.  There were many illnesses and they were to the point of starvation in the first settlement.  They found the Hand of God was with them as they learned to get along with an unusual culture of people who were already living on the continent.  They cooperated with these Indians and combined their resources.  This is how they were able to rise above their problems.  This is how they were so different from other settlers in the land.  They were humble before God and were willing to learn new things, and most of all they were willing to reach out and receive and return love from those that were not familiar to them. 

As we keep looking at the patterns of that first Feast of Tabernacles of the Hebrews and also observing our national ancestors, we see so many parallels.  It has been discovered that some of the Jewish New “Englanders kept track of these historical parallels too; that both people groups were persecuted for their beliefs, left their homes and came to a new land, survived the first year and celebrated a time of Thanksgiving before God after their Fall Harvest. It seems that William Bradford, who was the first governor of the Pilgrims proclaimed the first Thanksgiving by using the Scriptures – both from the Old and New Testaments for guidance in governing the colony. 

So we conclude that the hard and dangerous journey that led to Plymouth Rock, in a very real sense began with that earlier migration from Egyptian slavery toward Mount Sinai and led onward toward Ellis Island, and every other landing place where the later generations of pilgrims arrived at on these shores.

Today, as we approach Thanksgiving 2016, the journey continues for America, for each of us, in our own lives and for all the people of our country as a whole. The Pilgrims were the first to sense that America had a unique destiny in human history.  Governor Bradford wrote, ‘just as one small candle may light a thousand others, and lose none of it’s own light, so too will we — but few in number — become a beacon for all people!”

May Governor Bradford’s words once again be so.  We Americans stand at a critical crossroad in our nation’s life. The challenge of keeping our freedom and liberty, of being able to work to provide for our families and the fight for living and raising our children in a godly manner and worshiping in a land that provides freedom and justice for all people to pursue and fulfill their dreams is still unrealized, even after 397 years since the Mayflower found its way to a safe harbor.  

We too, may well have some dangerous seas and painful trials ahead of us, before we can gather with all our neighbors in a pure celebration of Thanksgiving once more.  But the example of our Pilgrim ancestors can continue to inspire and guide us as we reaffirm the freedom of conscience and independent spirit they stood for.  Let us all strive to again be “one nation under God” and continue our quest for peace on earth, good will to man.

SEASONS - REMEMBERING THE BEGINNINGS OF THANKSGIVING

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I find myself in a continuous pattern of thankfulness as we go through the calendar months of October, November and December in America. 

It all starts with the Hebrew Festival called The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, which has already come and gone for this year.  Each year at this festival my heart is overwhelmed with Thanksgiving, then follows America’s Thanksgiving Holiday bringing more reminders of thankfulness.  I’m often reminded that Sukkot probably was the first original form of a Thanksgiving celebration. 

Among the many, many things I am grateful for this year is the fact that we have a God Who has perfectly orchestrated the history of our country, making our American roots beautiful and unique.  My eyes are opened to this fact every time I look at the similarities between Sukkot and The American Holiday of Thanksgiving. 

The Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles or Booths begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after the crops are all gathered in for the winter.  So  we see this similar pattern already in that this too  is a fall harvest activity, very much in the nature of The American Thanksgiving holiday.   

God instructed the Israelites to observe the Feast of Tabernacles by building and living in temporary booths for seven days so that they would remember the exodus from Egypt when they lived in tents, or booths, in the dessert.  It was to help them to remember how God dwelt among them and tabernacled with them as they sojourned to a new land.  In other words it was a time to remember all the good and great things that God had done for them. 

Exodus 25:8 speaks of this:   “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (NIV)

There were also other reasons for dwelling in booths near the threshing floors.  Threshing floors were the place of the harvest.  The harvest was income.  The threshing floors were always in danger of being robbed.  This was less likely to happen if someone was sleeping in a temporary booth in the fields until all the 
grain was removed.  It was customary for the family to move out to the vicinity of the threshing floor in order to work together as well as to protect the harvest.  

The mother would prepare meals there in the shade and she would take her turn with the father and the children to ride on the sledge.  

This was what was going on when Ruth approached Boaz.  He was sleeping in a Sukkah near the threshing floor guarding the grain.  

The ancient people gladly added God’s instructions for the Holy Days to this tradition, and they turned this time into a joyous celebration full of Thanksgiving. 

 Isn’t that just like our Great God to turn dread and fear into a time of celebration and joy?  He is a God of great reversals. 

We look at the Hebrew people dwelling in booths during The Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot and we can't help but think of the lean-tos on the sides of the first log cabins that the settlers built.  They were temperory dwellings with three sides and a door.  They were often the shelter offereed to strangers passing through to spend the night.  They were a form of exteneded hospitality, just like a sukkah has come to be in today's celebrations.

Historians now note that the first Jews arrived in America with Christopher Columbus in 1492.  Jews newly converted to Christianity were also among the first Spaniards to live in Mexico with Conquistador Hernando Cortez in 1519.  In North America in 1654 Jews arrived in New Amsterdam which later came to be known as New York.  There were 23 Jewish refugees from Recif, Brazil. 
 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

The Hebrew feast is celebrated by a full week of rejoicing, dancing, singing and feasting and is called “The Season of our Joy”.  Many of us gathering for Thanksgiving in America find ourselves doing the same things with all the same intentions in our hearts.  We too find our year coming to a close and are looking at the harvests of our lives for this season.  We are thankful for the ways that God has chosen to bless us. 

There seems to be a widely held opinion that The Pilgrim/Puritans based Thanksgiving on their knowledge of The Feast of Tabernacles.  The Puritans were great followers of the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Bible was the Puritan’s most important guide to living.  They could have noticed the description of The Feast of Tabernacles found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and followed this pattern for their own celebration.  Also, there could have been some Jewish believers among these first settlers who might have been keeping these traditional feasts all along.  There was a group that moved to the Netherlands before joining the pilgrims from England as they began their journey across the sea.  These had lived among the Dutch and had associated with Jewish believers in that land who would have kept the festival of Sukkot. 

It is extremely clear that the laws of the first colonies were based on biblical principals from the scriptures.  The New Haven legislators adopted a legal code called the Code of 1655 that contained 79 statutes.  Half of these 79 statutes included biblical references, and it is very clear that they came from the Hebrew bible.  The Plymouth Colony had a similar law code, and so did the Massachusetts Colony.  In 1641 the Massachusetts Colony adopted The Capital Laws of New England.  These laws were based almost entirely on the Mosaic law. 

It is highly possible that some of our American heroes might have been from people of Jewish roots who had come to the shores of America long before the Mayflower ever sailed.   

Already living in the land at the time, they may have been among those who came to the aid of the pilgrims that first year.  Many wanted to turn these Jewish brothers away and chase them out of the area, but The Dutch West Indian Company depended heavily on their investments and helped them to stay.  By the time of The War of Independence, there was an estimated 2,000, mostly Sephardic Jews living in America.  Their contributions to the causes of the country were very significant.  Not only did they fight alongside of the Patriots, but these Jews provided great financial contributions in the years after the first colonies arrived.  One of the greatest among them was Haym Salomon, who lent a great deal of money to The Continental Congress in the last days of the war.  He was never paid back a dime and died bankrupt.

There was also a well known metallurgist named Gaunse who had come to America with a Spanish expedition from the Queen of England.  Jews were not allowed to go to the colonies at that time, but this man was so knowledgeable about copper that an exception was allowed in his case. 

So it is highly possible that some Jewish thoughts were floating around among the colonies.  This coupled with the strict interpretations and emphasis on the scriptures might have contributed to the first Thanksgiving celebration.

Their feast was held after their fall harvest, just as the one the Hebrews held.  

The chain of events leading up to the first Thanksgiving in America is amazing when you think about it.  The Pilgrims too had made a great exodus to come to a new place where they would be allowed to worship God as they chose to do, in the way that they thought God intended.  The Israelites crossed the Red Sea; the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean.  Both journeys were filled with dangers and perils.  Upon arriving at their destination both groups experienced apprehension and adjustments.  They had to gather their courage to be brave in an unfamiliar land, and they had to learn to get along with strange people who had totally different cultures.  Both brave groups of people had to learn how to live in peace and harmony with those around them even if they had great differences in lifestyles.  For these Pilgrims America had become The Promised Land.   So it was that they recognized and followed the customs of the Israelites who had for many years given thanks for abundant harvests in the eight day celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. 

The land of England where the colonist hailed from originally had a custom to observe a Harvest Festival, but the Pilgrims had not associated themselves with their homeland’s festivals because of their many pagan customs.  Once they arrived in America, they made every effort to observe things in their days that were accurately associated with God.  They were more concerned with religious matters than politics or social issues.  It is also thought that they adopted a Sabbatarian view of observing the Sabbath from sunset on Friday till sunset on Saturday.  They were heavily influenced by preaching and teachings on Millennialism.  They believed there would be a “Golden Age” or “Paradise on Earth” in which Christ will reign for 1000 years prior to the final judgment of mankind.  This all plays into the theology of the Christian symbolism in the celebration of Sukkot, which many Christians today live out once a year in sort of a “dress rehearsal” of The Millennial Kingdom of Christ.  These fundamentals of Christian doctrine are now commonly taught practices and observances in most evangelical based churches of faith today. 

The Puritans chose to separate themselves from The Church of England based on the following scripture passage:  “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:22-23). 

These Puritans/Pilgrims did everything according to the truth they found in the scriptures.  They followed The Word of God in a strict and detailed manner.  In other words they believed in living out the scriptures in their daily lives.  The passage said to “flee” when you are persecuted for worshiping God; and so they did.  On a ship called The Mayflower.  102 passengers began the long voyage.  Though the mast of their ship broke in a severe storm, they were able to repair it and eventually found themselves on the shores of Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts.  When the mast was broken there was discussion of turning back.  Everyone decided to take the risk and keep going forward. The first use of the word “Pilgrims” appeared in William Bradford’s writings ‘Of Plymouth Plantation.’  In his writings he used the imagery of Hebrews 11:13-16 for those who had an opportunity to return to their homelands but instead longed for a better, heavenly country. 

There was nothing in this new land that required the education of the founder’s children.  Yet, these brave people felt education was very important and established their own unique system of studies.  John Winthrop declared that their schools should be the beginning of “A City Upon A Hill” that all the people turned to for education and learning.  The founders were not amateurs; most of them had attended either Oxford or Cambridge and before coming to the new land they had communicated with intellectuals throughout Europe.  Eventually the school they established became known as Harvard University.  My point in explaining this is to express that these were well educated men, highly capable of discerning mistakes and blunders of bad choices and totally capable of interpreting the scriptures with great intellect.  They had something special that many others did not, however; they had heart and passion for the fruit of their intellectual endeavors.  Oh that Harvard would return to its original roots.

So we see that even in the field of education, these very educated and knowledgeable men –patterned their lives after the culture of The Hebrew people and their stories that are played out in our Bibles.  Think of the similarities that we have discussed so far.  They both were people who set themselves apart in order to worship God in the way they thought He desired to be worshipped.  The Pilgrims considered the scriptures found in Deuteronomy 14:2: 

"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." (Deuteronomy 14:2)

The Pilgrims chose to pattern themselves after the nation that God chose and put His name upon; The Nation of Israel.  This being true, it is highly possible that these well learned men studied and followed the feast and festivals of God found in our Old Testament scriptures.  Perhaps they had read and understood the significance of Deuteronomy 6:3: 

"Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you - ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’" 

That first winter proved harsh and forbidding.  There were many illnesses and they were to the point of starvation in the first settlement.  They found the Hand of God was with them as they learned to get along with an unusual culture of people who were already living on the continent.  They cooperated with these Indians and combined their resources.  This is how they were able to rise above their problems.  They were humble before God and were willing to learn new things, and most of all they were willing to reach out and receive and return love from those that were not familiar to them. 

As we keep looking at the patterns of that first Feast of Tabernacles of the Hebrews and also observing our national ancestors, we see so many parallels.  It has been discovered that some of the Jewish New “Englanders kept track of these historical parallels too; that both people groups were persecuted for their beliefs, left their homes and came to a new land, survived the first year and celebrated a time of Thanksgiving before God after their Fall Harvest. It seems that William Bradford, who was the first governor of the Pilgrims proclaimed the first Thanksgiving by using the Scriptures – both from the Old and New Testaments for guidance in governing the colony. 

So we conclude that the hard and dangerous journey that led to Plymouth Rock, in a very real sense began with that earlier migration from Egyptian slavery toward Mount Sinai and led onward toward Ellis Island, and every other landing place where the later generations of pilgrims arrived at on these shores.

Today, as we approach Thanksgiving once more, the journey continues for America, for each of us, in our own lives and for all the people of our country as a whole. The Pilgrims were the first to sense that America had a unique destiny in human history.  Governor Bradford wrote, ‘just as one small candle may light a thousand others, and loose none of it’s own light, so too will we — but few in number — become a beacon for all people!”

May Governor Bradford’s words once again be so.  We Americans stand at a critical crossroad in our nation’s life. The challenge of keeping our freedom and liberty, of being able to work to provide for our families and the fight for living and raising our children in a godly manner and worshiping in a land that provides freedom and justice for all people to pursue and fulfill their dreams is still unrealized, even after 393 years since the Mayflower found its way to a safe harbor.  We too, may well have some dangerous seas and painful trials ahead of us, before we can gather with all our neighbors in a pure celebration of Thanksgiving once more.  But the example of our Pilgrim ancestors can continue to inspire and guide us as we reaffirm the freedom of conscience and independent spirit they stood for.  Let us all strive to again be “one nation under God” and  continue our quest for peace on earth, good will to man.