November -- another opportunity to write about Thanksgiving, my favorite American Holiday. I love the images, mythic though they be: Pilgrims and Native Americans befriending each other, or farmers on the cold plains, the harvest gathered, preparing themselves for the challenges of a cold winter. Our contemporary images are also powerful -- families gathering for reunions, college students coming home. Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for family and friends. It is also a time to share what we have with others who are less fortunate. Thanksgiving means a time for generous giving to help those who have no home, no support, no love.

As I have grown older, I have come to wish that our nation used Thanksgiving as an opportunity to build a greater sense of national unity and purpose. I have what I think is a great idea. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every newspaper in the country on Thanksgiving Day included a national insert including stories, poems, and essays from Americas most gifted writers and thinkers, all on the theme of Thanksgiving? What a way to spend part of the weekend engrossed with such a treasure, something to talk about with your neighbors and visitors. We might share more than a football game and a meal. We could share and explore the substance of what it means to be a citizen in this great country.

As an American Jew, I am so grateful for the freedoms and opportunities this country provides us. And as a people, we have contributed so much in every field: science, the arts, education, business, medicine, law. Yet, even as we celebrate 350 years of American Jewish history, I feel there is so much more that we have to offer. We have a great tradition of tolerance, debate, disagreement and mutual respect. So much of Jewish literature, from the Talmud through to more contemporary responsa literature, is a record of multiple opinions on every issue, frequently with heated disagreements. The tradition of two Jews, three opinions is encoded in our literary past. Equally important, our debates were deep and complex, filled with nuance and subtlety -- not mere sound bites. They were grounded in a civilization of mutual respect: "both these words and those words are the words of the living God." How do we share this gift with America? That is a considerable challenge that is well worth considering.

A few reminders: Rabbi Frank DeWoskin, the director of Camp Harlam, will be with us Saturday afternoon Nov. 6 at 4:00 pm to meet prospective campers and their parents, as well as to see the old familiar faces. Support our Book Fair. Be sure tohear Joel Hoffman speak on his fascinating new book, A History of the Hebrew Language, at our Book Fair havdalah Nov. 20.

Details on both of these are in this Vine.

Finally -- a Happy Thanksgiving to all.