Solly’s Special: Thanksgiving and Its Jewish Roots

For this special Thanksgiving episode, Chris is joined by Meir Soloveichik, the Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel (the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States) and the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. They discuss the Jewish origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, the history of Jews in America, and the current plight of antisemitism in American politics. Show notes:

• For Solly’s writing about Thanksgiving, see here and here.
• Solly’s recent essay for Mosaic, “The Christian-Jewish Alliance and Its Enemies”
• The recent volume to which Solly contributed, Jewish Roots of American Liberty
• George Washington's letters to the Hebrew congregations in Newport and Savannah
• Get Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), here.

Time stamps:

1:41 – Origins of Thanksgiving and the history of Solly’s congregation

12:22 – The significance of religious liberty for early Jewish Americans

23:33 – Hebraic roots of the American founding

40:05 – Antisemitism on the American left and right

53:12 – Maintaining gratitude in the face of hardship

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Produced by Sean Doolan.