Secular Holidays

The author's Great-Great-Uncle Louie Sinykin posing with men in Dakota garb in South Dakota's Black Hills. Date unknown.
Secular Holidays

The Cost of Free Land

Rebecca Clarren
When I was a child growing up in the 1980s, the story I learned about Thanksgiving followed the classic script: it highlighted amity between the Pilgrims and their Indigenous neighbors. Due to this connection, the hunger of the European settlers was met with squash and turkey.
Photo of two people at Camp George on Canada Day
Reform Jewish Community of Canada

What Canada Day Means to Me

Corinne Krepel
I have always considered myself to be a Jewish Canadian, rather than a Canadian Jew. I couldn't tell you why I have always chosen to primarily identify by my religion first and then my citizenship; there is no defining moment in my life that explains that one way or the other. Being Jewish has always been my primary identity.
a soldier standing next to an air field with planes behind him while holding a shofar
Secular Holidays

No, Thank *You* For Your Service

Rabbi Lawrence Freedman
It wasn't because of 9/11. It wasn't because I had a tradition of military service in my family. And while the pay and benefits are nice, it wasn't for those reasons, either. That wasn't why I joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 2003 and later switched to the Air National Guard. I joined for the same reason I became a rabbi: I have a desire to serve others and be part of something larger than myself.