Twice during the American Revolutionary War, Jews combined stories of the Maccabees’ defeat of the Greeks with thanks for their nascent country’s victories against the British.

For many American Jews, observance of Thanksgiving is more than merely permissible; it has evolved into something quasi-sacred. (2012)

On Thanksgiving 1789, Rabbi Gershom Mendes Seixas called upon Jews to thank God for the gift of life in a country “where no exception is. . .