America's Table: A Thanksgiving Haggadah

Prayers, activities, and more to share at the Thanksgiving table.

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Prayer for Our Country
Our God and God of our ancestors: We ask Your blessing for our country, for its government, for its leaders and advisors, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority... May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish all hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country.
--Siddur Sim Shalom

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.
--Leviticus 19:9-10

For Children
Four Questions:
What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

How do you think living in America is different from living in other countries?

Who are your heroes?

What would you like to be thankful for next year?

Activity:
Think of ways to share our good fortune.

The nation mobilized quickly. Americans of all backgrounds and from every region showed the way forward with acts of bravery, acts of lovingkindness, acts of charity, and with voices of compassion and clarity.

Life has changed. Our openness is moderated by caution. Hope struggles with fear. Nothing is routine.Yet we resist returning to normal because in this intensity everyday events, like a phone call from an old friend or the unexpected courtesy of a stranger, are experienced as miracles. We understand that every moment is sanctified.

"All the world is a narrow bridge. But the essential principle is to fear nothing at all." --Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav

We are thankful that we live in this American community, which derives its awesome creativity and energy from the diversity of its people, the freedoms they enjoy, and their fervent pursuit of justice.

Let us express our gratitude using these written words or our own.

We are thankful for the freedom from hunger.

We are thankful for the freedom to worship.

We are thankful for the freedom to challenge our minds.

We are thankful for the freedom to change our minds.

We are thankful for the freedom to chart our lives.

We are thankful for the freedom to work for a better world.

We are thankful for the freedom to celebrate this day.

We pray for our country, for the men and women who today are protecting our freedom, and for the day when this nation and the entire world will know peace.

"We cannot merely pray to God to end war;
For the world was made in such a way
That we must find our own path of peace
Within ourselves and with our neighbor...
Therefore we pray instead
For strength, determination, and will power,
To do instead of merely to pray
To become instead of merely to wish;
That our world may be safe,
And that our lives may be blessed."
--Rabbi Jack Riemer

Oseh shalom bi-m'romav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu v'al kol yisrael, v'imru amen.

God who brings peace to the universe will bring peace to us and to all the people Israel, and to all the inhabitants of the earth. And let us say, Amen.

We thank God for the bread on our table by sharing our good fortune with others.

Barukh atah adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, ha-motzi lehem min ha-aretz.

Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.