Reply To: Thanksgiving: Church Holiday

R’ Moshe definitely did forbid celebrating Thanksgiving, because of his opinion that there is a general prohibition to add any set day to the calendar that wasn’t put there by the Tora or Chazal. R’ Moshe’s issur was even with the assumption that Thanksgiving was NOT a church holiday, per se`. Rav Avigdor Miller paskened, though, that based on historical fact, Thanksgiving IS a church holiday – the PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH announced in 1789 (much before Lincoln) that Thursday in November would be set aside YEARLY for giving thanks – and is therefore a complete issur to celebrate. Rav Miller got the info from an Encyclopedia…