In New York City, on October 3, 1789, George Washington, President of the United States for just five months, proclaimed, by the request of Congress, a day dedicated to thanking God for the blessings He had bestowed on the nation. Among other things, Washington said the following.

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Some 200 years later, Donna Shalala, just before becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services in the administration of Bill Clinton, gave a speech in which she described how America's Thanksgiving Day celebration would be for a typical four-year-old kindergarten student in 2004 if only the United States would do as she wished and make it a "top priority in our communities and in our Congress" to make this child think of herself as "being part of the world--not just her town or the United States."

The teacher will tell the little girl, Shalala said, a story about how "people from Europe came to the United States, where the Indians lived." She will say, "It was just the same as if someone had come into your yard and taken all your toys and told you they weren't yours anymore." The little girl, Shalala said, will "feel sad, but she will be glad to have a day off to play at home and get together with her neighbors. Her favorite story about holidays at school will be the Chinese New Year, when Chang's mother brings a dragon puppet to school."

So you see, aside from all of the other wonderful things for which we, as a nation and as individuals, can be thankful this year, here is another, namely that Ms. Shalala and her ilk are gone now from Washington, and the nation is once again governed by a group of men and women who are proud of their national heritage and exuberant in their thankfulness to the God of Abraham for the blessings he has bestowed on this great nation.

I considered several Thanksgiving poems for this week, including, of course, Lydia Maria Child's "Thanksgiving Day" ("Over the river and through the wood, to grandfather's house we go . . ."), but decided instead to present one of the greatest poems of thanksgiving ever written; one that is in keeping with the intentions of Washington and the first Congress, as they considered the establishment of a national day of thanksgiving; one that is some 2,500 years old, dating to the early post-exilic, or Second Temple period of Israel's history; one that is loved by Jews and Christians alike; one that would be appropriate at any traditional Thanksgiving Day table in America next Thursday.