Is Thanksgiving a Jewish Holiday?

I think even in the ultra-Orthodox community there are people who celebrate Thanksgiving.  I believe--though I have to check--that Moshe Feinstein wrote a responsa allowing Thanksgiving in general, but saying that there were certain ways of celebrating it that weren't advisable.  I know of at least one family that make sure to eat dairy every other year just to show that while they're thankful, they're not Puritans.  Or something.

There is a wonderful book I bought for my children years ago called Rivka's First Thanksgiving. 
It's by Elsa Okon Rael and you can still buy it on Amazon.com (I double
checked!).  It's a wonderful picture book about a little girl who
immigrated to America in the 1910s.  She comes home from school one day
excited about the new holiday she has learned about...Thanksgiving. 
"It sounds to me as though this is a party for Gentiles," her Mama
replies, "It's not for us."

Rivka argues that they are Americans, too, and that
Thanksgiving is an American holiday.  Well, the argument goes to the
Rabbi and he agrees with Rivka's Mama and Bubbeh, that Thanksgiving is
not for Jews.  Rivka thinks the Rabbi's decision is wrong.  Finally,
Rivka is summoned before a board of Rabbis to argue her case.  She
beautifully explains that, like the Pilgrims, the Jews came to America
to escape religious persecution:

"I was lucky to be born here, but my mother and
her parents came from Buchach.  My bubbeh says you also came from
Buchach, Rabbi, so you must know about the terrible pogroms there. 
They happened all the time, for no reason.  My mother was badly hurt in
a pogrom when she was twelve years old.  A cossack on a horse struck
her on the head because she was Jewish--for no other reason than that. 
No one thought she would live, but she did.  She can't remember
anything that happened to her before she was twelve.  Nothing.  Not a
single thing."

The Rabbis shook their heads sadly.

"So here we are now, safe in America.  God first
brought the Pilgrims and then He brought us, the Jews.  The Pilgrims
were the first to give thanks to Him, but I believe we also owe Him a
Thanksgiving.  As much as anybody, we owe Him thanks."

In the end, Rivka has her Thanksgiving and the Rabbi joins her
family for the celebration.  This year, while enjoying the wonderful
food, take the time to make Thanksgiving a little bit Jewish.  Our
children learn at school about our American forefathers coming over for
religious freedom, but teach them about when your family came over. 
Tell stories.  And, if you are fortunate enough to have grandparents or
great aunts and uncles at your table, ask them to tell stories.

We didn't come to Plymouth Rock nor were there any Jews at that
first Thanksgiving when they ate maize with the Native Americans.  And
we have different stories to tell about our journey.  Different
obstacles to overcome.  My mother's family name was lost because the
officer at Ellis Island couldn't spell my great-grandparent's name.  He
asked the man behind them what his name was.  When he replied
"Goldstein" the officer told my family that would now be their last
name, too.  We are fortunate enough to have records of my father's
family's journey to America from the Ukraine.  Two sons came over
first, right before the Bolshevik Revolution.  They worked until they
could send for their mother, Doba.  In France, her name was changed
from Lewit to Levit and then in America, from Levit to Levin. 

So, tell the stories of your family. 
And tell your children why it was important to come to America--how we
found a home here and why we are thankful.

In Canada, most Jews do not celebrate Thanksgiving.  

Our congregation's rabbi says that R' Shaul Lieberman at JTS had the practice of not saying tahanun on Thanksgiving or on Independence Day, as an expression of the particular gratitude that Jews feel toward the United States (and toward God as the ultimate agent of our having the privilege of living here).  On that basis, our shul's practice is also to omit tahanun on those days.

Love your comment, but wanted to let you know that your family's story about Ellis Island is probably apocryphal.  There were no name changes at Ellis Island.  Check out this article at ancestry.com about why these stories are almost always distortions of what the immigration process was like.

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3893 

Thanks Tamar!  I'm now planning on grilling my mother and aunts at our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night!