Friday, November 24, 2017

Thanksgiving, turkeys and the Israel connection

    Well, as I'm traveling around the USA once again speaking to groups I have 'bumped' into Thanksgiving.  When I was growing up in New York City, I always appreciated Thanksgiving - it represented many things, the most important of which was being thankful for what we've all been blessed with.


     People struggle with that concept sometimes - but there are many, many things that we have been truly blessed to have and experience. The most precious of that is the love, support and caring of family and friends; although not always in that order, right?  ;-)

     As a kid, it also represented time off from school (yes!!) and a delicious meal that my mom, Of Blessed Memory would cook; Yummy...
    In the Bronx, in school we used to draw pics of turkeys, but mom's was always SO much better...
    But, wait a minute - isn't this a blog about Israel?!?   Isn't this called, 'A Good Report from the Land' ??  So, what's the connection with Israel?  Well, I could start comparing Thanksgiving with Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles,and that would be interesting.   But there's actually something else I wanted to bring to your attention regarding Israel, turkeys and Thanksgiving.

    Did you know that Israel is the world's leader in per capita consumption of turkey?!  Astounding, right?   Who knew?
    Based on statistics from the U.S.Department of Agriculture (from 1999, the last year those statistics were compiled), we Israeli's consumed a massive 28.9 pounds of turkey, per person!!   That same year, Americans ate only 17.6 pounds of turkey (much of which was probably gobbled down on Thanksgiving Day, right? LOL). 
       For those of you who've been to Israel, you know we serve turkey so many different ways.  Unlike the beef pastrami you're used to, our cold cuts are turkey.  Turkey pastrami, salami, bologna, you name it.  And of course - the delicious breaded, fried schnitzel and turkey schwarma - It's all turkey, just spiced differently.  We Israeli's are so clever, right?!   ;-)