The Noahide Laws were featured in two Thanksgiving parades this year in America.
Float with huge menorah, dreidel brings special light to Thanksgiving Day parade
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Chabad Outreach’s “Happy Chanukah” float in the 2024 Houston Thanksgiving Day Parade. |
Thu, Dec 05, 2024 |
It’s Thanksgiving morning and the family is gathered at our house. In the kitchen, the turkey is roasting. I’m taking a break from food prep by watching the Annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade on the living room television.
In between the drill teams, the marching bands and the song performances, a float appears carrying a huge menorah and a dreidel embossed with the message, “Happy Chanukah from Chabad Lubavitch.” Three adults and 10 kids dance on the float to Chanukah songs.
I recognize Rabbi Moishe Traxler, director of Chabad Outreach of Houston, and Rabbi Mendy Traxler, Chabad Outreach program director.
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The first time Houston Chabad participated in the H-E-B Thanksgiving Parade was in 2013. That’s the year when Chanukah and Thanksgiving overlapped, an event that won’t happen again until 2070.
“It was the wildest idea – maybe we could bring Chanukah to the Houston parade,” Rabbi Mendy Traxler told the JHV. “After the first parade, the city reached out to us. It’s a good time to raise this universal message of thanks.
“Gratitude is a powerful first thing we express in the morning when we wake up,” said the rabbi. “Reciting the ‘Modeh Ani’ animates us to remember that we didn’t use all our opportunities and abilities the previous day. We say ‘thank you’ that this new day will give us an opportunity to be more productive and meaningful.
“This year, we added another touch to the float. We put up a banner announcing the Seven Points of Light. It’s the Divine code that G-d gave to all mankind to live a life that’s civil and respectful. The Noahide laws are for everybody, not one particular religion.
“The goal of Chabad Outreach is to inspire people to be better human beings. Gratitude coupled with the Seven Points of Lights are crucial to building a better society.
“G-d created every human being in His image. To see people of all ages, religions and creeds along the parade route, and the smiles they brought to us, was very powerful.”
The Lubavitcher Rebbe (of righteous memory) often pointed to the story of the Pilgrims when speaking about the United States, said Rabbi Moishe Traxler.
“Unlike the other superpower founded on Communist ideals that rejected the existence of a Supreme Being, American society was founded with a deep belief in Hashem,” he said.
“America was born out of a desire to serve Him freely, according to each person’s conscience. The Rebbe spoke highly of the fact that one of the country’s most cherished traditions was for families to gather each year to give thanks to Hashem.
“Some societies profess belief in a Creator, but ignore the fact that Hashem pays close attention to every detail of their lives. Thanksgiving, however, as the Rebbe pointed out, is a holiday that recognizes Hashem’s active presence in world events.”
Immediately after the Chabad float completed the downtown parade route, Rabbi Moishe Traxler headed to the airport. He was booked for a flight to New York to attend the annual Global Chabad Emissaries Conference (Kinus Hashluchim). The five-day conference draws 6,500 shluchim (emissaries) from around the world. This year’s gathering took place amid a significant rise in antisemitism worldwide and the recent murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary, in the United Arab Emirates.
“It was difficult to participate in the Houston parade knowing the conference was going on,” said Rabbi Moishe Traxler. “I’ve been to 40 conferences. Thousands of shluchim around the world get together to discuss the challenges they face. This year was more difficult with the loss of Rabbi Kogan.”
Chabad of Fountain Hills participates in Thanksgiving Day Parade
Chabad float featured Noahide Laws
Members of the Chabad of Fountain Hills participated in the 40th Annual Fountain Hills Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday Nov. 28.
The Chabad float featured a globe of the world and signs displaying the Noahide Laws - the seven laws given by God to all humanity for a united and peaceful world - along with inspiring Jewish music, to help spread the universal message of goodness and kindness to the thousands on the parade route, according to a press release.
At the parade, volunteers from the synagogue gave out The Good Card, a “spiritual credit card” listing the Noahide laws to encourage everyone to fill their lives with good deeds and observe God’s basic laws for mankind attached to kosher candy.
Although the Noahide laws were long recorded in sacred Jewish texts, Jews were for many centuries unable to speak about them to the people they lived amongst.
But in recent times one of the foremost rabbis of the 20th century, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson of the Chabad movement, encouraged Jews to publicize these teachings so the world could prepare for the coming times of peace and wisdom called the “Redemption.”
For further information on the Seven Noahide Laws, visit AskNoah.org.
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