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Is celebrating Thanksgiving with a formal sit down meal against Halacha?

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You might want to be more specific: celebrating how? – msh210♦ Nov 23 '10 at 7:31
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Right. If you were to attend mass beforehand and recite a Christian benediction at the start of the meal, one would be hard pressed to say that this is not against Halacha. However, there are many who have asserted that it is entirely permissible, and even a good thing, to celebrate Thanksgiving as a real holiday, including with a meal. Alex's answer below seems a good place to start as far as sources are concerned, but there are others. Unfortunately I need more time to compile something. – Seth J Nov 23 '10 at 17:25
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3 Answers

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There is a good summary of the pros and cons, and the various halachic opinions, here. In a nutshell: R' Moshe Feinstein and R' J.B. Soloveitchik seem to have little or no problem with such a meal, while R' Yitzchak Hutner (all three zt"l) argues that it is prohibited as a gentile custom.

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From the conclusions: "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." I've made it my informal practice to make sure to not have turkey at least once every few years. I made a roast last year, and no one complained! – Isaac Moses♦ Nov 23 '10 at 15:32
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up vote 3 down vote

Not to replace, but to add to, Alex's link and synopsis, R' Mordechai Willig gave a great Shi'ur about xmas in which he touched on other holidays, including Thanksgiving. I listened to it about a year ago, so I don't remember everything he said, but I remember that he addressed it.

Here is the link to the Shi'ur (audio): http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/721164/Rabbi_Mordechai_I._Willig/Is_it_the_Season_to_be_Jolly?

Here is the link just to the sources (Hebrew): http://www.yutorah.org/_materials/RWillig_122307.pdf

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up vote 2 down vote

VERY interesting blog post here on the subject, by Rabbi Marc Angel of Shearith Israel in NYC: http://www.jewishideas.org/angel-shabbat/thoughts-thanksgiving

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