"God is inscrutable, mysterious and unknowable. We do not understand what life is about, what it means, why we are here and what will happen after our brief sojourn on the planet ends. We are saved, in the end, by faith--faith that life is not meaningless and random, that there is a purpose to human existence, and that in the midst of this morally neutral universe the tiny, seemingly insignificant acts of compassion and...human kindness...sustain the divine spark..."

Those words touched me deeply as I read them in Chris Hedges' wonderful book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. I read those words and I was hooked. His is a beautiful definition of religion. So beautiful it might move a reader to say: "I would really like to meet the fellow who wrote that." I was therefore ecstatic when Mr. Hedges agreed to come spend a late Saturday afternoon with us at Temple Micah. We are ratcheting up our Book Fair a bit this year. We hope to get many of you to read the Hedges book and then come hear him speak at the temple on Shabbat afternoon, Dec. 15. His book will be one of those featured at Politics & Prose on Nov. 18. Purchase it there, you get almost a full month to read it and Temple Micah shares in the profits. Talk about win, win, win!

Hedges depicts a powerful Christian Right motivated by a claim of exclusivity in living and preaching God's word. He challenges religious liberals to actively live their faith and speak with equal passion in the name of a God who embraces many voices. His challenge is our own. Our afternoon with him in December should be fascinating.

Our Book Fair will be great for reasons closer to home as well. I am so grateful to Micah authors Claire Rubin, Maureen Corrigan, Deborah and Alan Kraut and Richard Harwood for agreeing to speak at our Friday evening "Micah authors" series, two each in October and November. Their participation makes our celebration of Jewish Book Month especially worthwhile and personal.

So, it is November and I am thinking about Thanksgiving. How many of us love Thanksgiving? I wonder if our love for Thanksgiving has a uniquely Jewish quality. Thanksgiving ends and Christmas season is in full bore--so aptly symbolized by Santa bringing up the rear at the Macy's Parade. But Thanksgiving is for all of us. That is its beauty. It brings us all together in its symbols of home and its mythic message of Pilgrim refugees' historic escape from persecution. Its story is one we can all share and I think that we as Jews sense that and have a special appreciation. at this season, kosher turkeys fill the bins at kosher markets--even they urge our participation. This is what myths do. They beckon us with their images and stories. Thanksgiving enables us to feel simultaneously fully American and fully Jewish. Thanksgiving gives our own Jewish saga of coming to these shores an American "feel."

Then, we are, perhaps, sorry to see Thanksgiving leave. We are mentally prepared for the onrush of Christmas "everything." Now we stand outside the American narrative and reassure ourselves that Christmas is really a Christian holiday--even as its secularization is all-engulfing. Some of us delight in the joy of our friends and neighbors. Some of us feel overwhelmed. a few of us probably somehow manage to ignore the hullabaloo. We are, perhaps, grateful for Hanukkah, which serves as a welcome light, even as we tell ourselves that it is anything but the "Jewish Christmas." The "holiday" season can cause us all kinds of confusion. But Thanksgiving we savor and love. Have a great one!!