The second Monday in October holds a special place in my heart. After all, it’s my wedding day (October 13th, 2003)! It’s also a day when the Mets have occasionally won big playoff games, but that’s a story for another time…Of course, this Monday has historically been known in the U.S. as Columbus Day, marking the day when the controversial Italian explorer/exploiter first landed in the Americas, on October 12th, 1492. Tammany Hall celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in 1792, and 100 years later President Benjamin Harrison declared a national Columbus Day celebration, largely in response to growing anti-Italian sentiment, including the lynching of 10 Italian immigrants in New Orleans. There were also efforts to recognize Columbus as a symbol of Italian pride in response to the suspicion and even internment of Italian Americans during WWII. But it wasn’t until around 50 years ago that Columbus Day was officially designated as a Federal Holiday.
The 500th anniversary of Columbus’ landing was marked in a very different way, at least in Berkeley, California, who declared the first-ever Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This alternative holiday has grown in popularity since the early 90’s, and in the last ten years, nearly half the U.S. states officially celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, either alongside Columbus Day, or even in place of it. New York first recognized it in 2021, and there is legislation (not yet with enough support) to make it a Federal Holiday. The “competition” between the two holidays has caused a fair amount of controversy, as people express concern with revisionist history, discomfort with the ongoing celebration of a genocidal colonialist, and strong desires to honor the heritage of Italian Americans and Native Americans alike.
Sopranos fans will recall that in Season 4, there was an episode which dealt with the controversy in typically dark, yet brilliant fashion. In one famous scene (trigger warning – profanity, racist dialogue), Tony and Carmella’s son Anthony sits at the breakfast bar reading A People’s History of the United States (written by influential historian and Jewish leftist Howard Zinn), and tells his parents that his (Jewish) history teacher has taught them that Columbus was no better than Slobodan Milosovic. His appalled parents launch into a defense of Columbus as a source of Italian pride and a victim of his time. In another scene (same trigger warnings!), a group of Italian mobsters debate the privilege vs. suffering of Italians vs. Native Americans, and the one Italian-born participant says he hates Columbus because Northern Italians like Columbus always looked down at southern Italians as peasants!
Does Tony and his buddies’ bigotry have any place in our national reckoning with our imperfect past? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t feel empathy for the desire to share pride in a communal heritage, and the vulnerability that is felt when a people’s heroes are vilified, even if their behavior merits deep scrutiny. In the Jewish calendar, this day often coincides with Sukkot, Simhat Torah, or even Yom Kippur. This, to me, seems like a serendipitous invitation to view the day through the lens of these important Jewish holidays. As on Sukkot, we recognize the vulnerability all immigrants face as sojourners in a new land, and fragile sense of security that our communal structures can provide, no matter how established they may seem. Yet as on Yom Kippur, we know that it is only by reckoning with our past, and reconciling with our neighbors that we can truly build a society that has room enough for all.
I wish us all luck on our voyage of discovery, happy Sukkot in the days ahead, happy anniversary to my wife Sarah, and Let’s Go Mets to all who celebrate!
Cantor Eric Schulmiller
