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Video: Rabbi Talks Turkey in ‘Thanksgivukah’ Interview

It hasn’t happened in more than a century and won’t again for another 79,000 years. No, it’s not a rare convergence of planets or some other wildly unique astronomical event … it’s Thanksgivukah!

Yes, once every 80,000 years or so, the Jewish calendar and the Gregorian calendar meet in such a way that Chanukah and Thanksgiving overlap. There are any number of ways to celebrate this rare amalgamation of days. For instance, there’s the turkey-shaped menorah, called the Menurkey; or the special Thanksgivukah confections at a NYC bakery, including spiced pumpkin doughnuts with turkey and gravy filling and sweet potato doughnuts with toasted marshmallow cream filling. The holiday even has its own Facebook page.

But to take it to a more spiritual level, Rabbi Anchelle Perl, Chabad director to Mineola, Long Island, suggests combining the two by buying a kosher turkey and making a completely kosher Thanksgiving Hanukah party. He goes on to interview a turkey, who reveals his sense of humor when he (the turkey) notes how meaningful Thanksgivukah could be. “Just think of the taste of turkey now lingering on for at least eight days, especially if I was deep-fried in pure Chanukah olive oil! Haha … that was a joke,” he clucks.

For more advice, Rabbi Perl asks the turkey for some tips on how to make Hanukah more fulfilling by marrying it with a Thanksgiving turkey.

To which the turkey replied:

1.​ First make sure the turkey you are eating is kosher!

2.​ Then check to be sure to make the proper blessings before and after eating the Thanksgiving meal.

3.​ Also remember that the turkey may just be a reincarnation of a human ​being, sent back into this world as this animal, only waiting to be elevated and ​rectified by your efforts to be sure it’s kosher and your pronouncement of the ​correct blessing before eating.

4. ​Finally don’t forget while you are eating the turkey, look at the Hanukah ​lights burning brightly in your home. Express gratitude to our creator; give ​thanks to those who protect us, for the past benefits from schools and ​jobs, for being judged favorably by others, for being able transform a worry ​into gratitude and to always speak in tones of appreciation and thanks!

So there you have it, the turkey has spoken. Now get those turkey donuts and the Menurkey ready, and give enough thanks to last another 80,000 years.

6 Comments

  • Balogna

    He’s talking bologna, not turkey. It happens much more often than every 80,000 years, and the world in any event is only 5,774 years old.

  • Detroiter

    Why do people keep spreading this meme? Everyone seems to forget that Chanuka starts at night, and the first night can also fall on Thanksgiving, as it did in 1918. In addition, until 1942, Thanksgiving was on the last Thursday in November rather than the fourth. So, this year is not even the first time that the Thanksgiving coincides with the second night, as this happened once before in 1888.

  • so what?

    what’s the difference when or where? if it creates awareness of Chanukah and causes that more people will light a Menorah and perhaps eat Kosher food, then mission accomplished.

  • Chanah Ariella Rosencrantz

    B”H
    when other yidden ask why my family celebrate Thanksgiving, I respond by telling them any family that has lived through the Holocaust is grateful to live in America. We celebrate the fact that we live in a safe land.