Jews Talk Racial Justice - Ep 12: Jews Talk Thanksgiving Part 1
QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW
For Thanksgiving, April and Tracie talk a little about the holiday: the role it's played in Jewish American identity, those who work to make the day special for others, and the joys and pitfalls of getting together with extended family. (Stay tuned next week for more about the racial justice implications of a holiday that celebrates the relationship between European settlers and Native Americans without acknowledging the systemic violence and oppression that characterized much of that relationship.)
Content warning: In this episode we talk in general terms about emotional and psychological abuse.
All of our episodes have closed captioning.
Click here to access the audio version and transcript on Buzzsprout.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
At the beginning of the episode, April and Tracie recount their favorite Thanksgiving foods and the sense of nostalgia they can bring. If you celebrate the ‘traditional American Thanksgiving’ in this way, what are your favorite elements? What role does nostalgia play in this holiday and in other holidays or major events?
April and Tracie, of course, bring up the global pandemic as it relates to Thanksgiving. How has this holiday or other important days looked different this year? What might these adjustments change how you celebrate or are impacted by these important days?
Tracie tells us about how her Ashkenazi ancestors used Thanksgiving to signal their “American-ness,” as many immigrants to the United States likely have done. Does your family have a similar story? How might have you or your family assimilated into or rejected “American-ness” through how you acknowledge American holidays?
As a holiday traditionally centered around the practice of family gatherings, Thanksgiving is often difficult for many folks. Why might this be the case? How do you navigate family gatherings like Thanksgiving that might bring up conflict or trauma?
April talks about how getting together with family oftentimes “brings up healings that need to happen.” Have you experienced this? What are your experiences with this when you enter family or other spaces?
This Thanksgiving has been especially difficult for many given the recent presidential election. Do politics come up in your gatherings with family or loved ones? If so, how do you navigate these conversations? If conversations about politics are avoided or discouraged, why might that be?
When confronted with situations that bring up trauma or healing work that needs to be done, how and when might you set personal boundaries? How can we distinguish tough but necessary interaction versus abusive and harmful ones?
April invites us to extend gratitude to ourselves this year and Tracie highlights how this is often really hard to do. Do you regularly extend gratitude to yourself, whether in big or small ways? How? And, what are some practices and affirmations that might help us do this even more going forward?
And now for the classic American Thanksgiving question - right now, what are you grateful for?
INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
“I have this strong sense that Thanksgiving was one of the ways that my Ashkenazi ancestors, and I suspect many, signaled their Americanness - for American Jewish immigrants..., trying to hold both American and Jewish at the same time, in a country that though technically is not a Christian country, culturally really is.”
“Part of what makes Thanksgiving so explosive at times - not for everyone, but for certain folks - is because we’re having to confront what we avoid all year.”
“There are all kinds of things that are going on here. Some of it’s really straight forward, and just needs some good old conflict resolution. [When it’s] about intergenerational trauma and abuse, it’s really complicated. But it is, to me, worth just [having] awareness around the fact that there are certain things that we numb or ignore, and that at times, like at key family gatherings, [that] give us an opportunity to notice these things - and I think what’s hard.”
“I want to offer love to all of us, and specifically those of us who have people who we do want to be in relationship with, and it’s not easy. I really invite you to be present with yourself this holiday, whether you’re with people, or you’re by yourself, and recognize your inherent divinity, your inherent value; that if you find the practice of gratitude meaningful on this day, that you extend it to yourself.”
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?
Post in the comments below!