I know its origins aren't very "Jewish," but I'm worried that my kids will feel left out if they can't go trick-n-treating in the neighborhood...
247 Comments Posted
my name is jimmy my hebrew name is chaviv im 13 years old and i had my bar mitzvah about a month ago i went in a jewish shcool a few times but mostly public school all my cousins are not religious they all have a family get together every halloween and i never get to go all my cousin make fun of me because my mom is religious my parents are divorced my father is less religious than my mom but he keeps shabat and doesnt eat non kosher meat that i agrre with but i wish i can go trick or treating instead of purim because purim my family and friends are not with me thats why i disagree.
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Thank you. You have made the job easier this Halloween for parents. They have the tools need i.e. info and can feel confident when the time comes to explain to the children why they shouldn't go out trick or treating. Children won't feel disadvantaged but rather privileged to be different.
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Jimmy/Chaviv is in a tough situation. I can sympathize--I went to public school, myself. I'm hoping some readers will leave a few comments that will speak to Jimmy.
Of course, the best thing would be if his mom could send him to a good Jewish school--but I don't know the situation there and I can't judge.
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Hi chaviv, my name is Teddy and my hebrew name is Chaim.
I understand your concern about not being able to go to a halloween party and not seeing all your friends and family. Yes, it is hard and it must suck because all your cousins make fun of you but let me tell you something.. I am 19 years old and when you wrote that you dont go to these parties it also inpired me to go against the grain and do what is right. I give you alot of respect for not going to the halloween party and remaining true to yourself. Besides, you can always see your family and friends at other occasions such as birthdays and upcomming holidays..
What makes us jewish people unique is that we don't act like other people... we are what we are... Jewish. By the way, when we celebrate purim we celebrate something real and relevant to ourselves..
Halloween in a holiday that was very commercialized and turned into a candy selling market and pumpkin season. It has no fundamental meaning to it. Most people dont know its origins
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hey, Chaviv? you got a Chabad round you? all the family you need!
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Apparently, the custom of going door to door to "beg" for candy began as a campaign to request food for the poor who were too embarassed to ask for themselves. I don't know how the custom changed to be one of candy collecting. What if Jimmy's family collected food for the local food bank? Then they could have a family celebration and do a mitzvah at the same time. Of course it would be even better if the family could be encouraged to celebrate Purim too!
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Hey Chaviv, BE STRONG! Listen to Matisyahu's song YOUTH: "Young man, the power's in your hand, slam your fist on the table and make your demands, you better make the right move..." Don't be a follower, you're better than that!
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Chaviv, when you do something difficult like not going with your cousins trick or treating, because you are a Jew, you put such a big smile on HaShem's face. It's a big shame that your cousins don't celebrate Purim because that's 100 times more fun. You should feel sad for them. Know that often, when people make fun of you - it is because they wish they were like you. You're doing the right thing and they know it, even if they won't admit it.
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We can't celebrate Halloween since we're Jewish, but what if we're living in America and have American children? What if I'm an American? What if we've adopted our American childrens' culture? Sorry if this is too much of a mess...
(see previous article on <Intercultural Adoption & You> by Yisrael Rice)
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My name is Emmanuel my hebrew name is Yehuda. I think that was a good and bad way to say the answer. Beacause i know you want to keep our fellow Jews traditional but i dont know i thinks it should be their choice. But i know why you think that because im orthodox. Thanks for posting the question and answer....
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This also reminds me of the infamous December dilemma: Is it OK for Jews to celebrate Christmas? I fail to understand what is the problem here fellow Jews. Jews do not, and are not supposed to, celebrate any holidays other than our own; why is this difficult to understand?
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Jimmy,
I don't have anything smart to tell you just that I understand you and sympathize with you too. I think it's very important to respect the way your Mom has decided to bring you up. Although it's not the easiest way it's certainly the the one with most values. When you'll be older you will choose for yourself and for your children, if you have any, the best path as you understand it. Your Mom's teaching will enable you all the tools and give you understanding of the entire picture when you do so.
Good luck and be strong.
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My name is Denisse, I'm 17 years old. This all new to me, I want to be Jewish. I love Halloween, and Purim sounds like fun. Halloween is always such a dull, and not to mention hassel. I use to go trick-or treating every year. I don't anymore, I just like dressing up. My family isn't too happy about the fact that I want to go in the Jewish religion, so I get made fun of and picked.. I wish I could go to a Jewish School.. I so agree with Purim!!
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It is too bad I read this artickle after Haloween. This year was the last "Trick or treat" for tmy children!! We ldo not live in Jewish comunity, so I felt like my kids will be excluded. But now you gave me the confidence. We can change the world!
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Why not let the kids participate in the fun of Halloween. Big Deal. It's not a religious holiday. It's not even a holiday. People work.
It's a silly event that has lost all pagan meaning and relevance. It's a totally fun thing for little kids. It does not diminish or erode any religious beliefs.
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Halloween as itself is not a Jewish holiday, but it should not be discarded, because "shalom bayit" (peace in the home) extends beyond four walls....
Judaism has the following connections to Halloween: Witch of Endor; The Golem; Dybbuks; Ezekiel and the dry bones; Second Maccabees and the resurrection; Lillith; Yizkor; Mourner's Kaddish; Kiddush Levanah....
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If Jewish parents want their children to have a happy Jewish experience they should seek a mostly Jewish community to live in so the child does not develop lifelong negative feelings. As a Jewish child growing up in the 50s in a largely Christian community, I always felt different and alone (not to mention the antisemitism I experienced). There was no "official sensitivity" to other religions back then, so I felt totally deprived at Halloween and especially at Christmas. It would have been different if we lived in a Jewish-dominated community, but I felt very lonely as a child. One result was, I associated Jewishness with loneliness and conflict, and wound up rejecting the religion as a young adult. Now, in my 60s, I recognize the value of the traditions but only take part in some select ones and still don't really identify as a Jew except culturally.
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Aren't you a bit over the edge? So what if our kids join in the fun? There's really no connection to Christianity -- and as for ghosts, goblins, vampires, etc., THEY ARE NOT REAL!!!
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Hold on guys and girls; get a grip.
This is not an either/or situation, and don't lionize Halloween. Halloween is a harmless, and very much fun, American pastime. We are Americans here, so please take it lightly when you try to erode American culture and identity.
The kids get to dress-up in colorful, and/or frightening [if you can call it that] costumes; go out with the family, have some fun and eat some candy. The phrase, "trick or treat," is hardly a demand.
Don't make more out of it than it really is.
You see, to the kids it's no more than that; a pleasent diversion. It's the big people drawing all the restrictions around it.
My granddaughter [24 months] will be a little snow queen this year [in Pennsylvania]; she's going to have a great time. She likes punkins'.
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Randy from Fliont, MI, has obviously written his/her comment on purim night, after goodly number of 'lechaim's. How otherwise explain a brain-state that sees connection between "Lilith" and "Yizkor" and between "Mourners Kaddish" and "Kiddush Levanah"....????
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True enough, Haloween had its origins as a pagan festival. But today it is a time for parties, doing scary things, and having fun. I see no harm in letting the childern go out for trick or treat. Just make sure they say THANK YOU
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As a young child our entire neighborhood (which was predominantly Jewish) would dress up and go out Trick-or-Treating. It was a fun evening and we all enjoyed the treat of candy.
In today's world I think that we have to rethink what we are doing. First of all, we instruct our children never to take candy from strangers. Then we send them door to door to do just that....take candy from strangers.
We, as Jews, have our own holidays and times for festivities and it is very important to instill in our children the fact that we have our own heritage to be proud of.
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To be jewish is to love G-d and live a moral, jewish life. This is not an us vs. them religion (as much as other religions have tried to make into that). My children will celebrated Halloween on Tuesday and Shabbat on Friday. And yes, they love Purium too. If that makes them less jewish in the author's eyes then he is the one wearing a mask.
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As a teacher, I am more concerned with Jimmy/Chaviv's writing than with his feelings about Halloween. His lack of basic skills in regard to the simple rules of grammar is worrisome. Is his a real letter or did someone make it up, writing the way it is supposed that 13 year olds write?
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My name is Edward, my hebrew name is Yitzhak. I enjoyed Halloween with my twin 4 year old girls. They go to a Jewish Pre-K school where they don't celebrate Halloween. We celebrate all the Jewish holidays
We, as a family, partake in Halloween in it's most basic sense of having a little fun. They were dressed as a fairy and Tinker Bell. Completely harmless without any devils.
I don't believe it is harming their Jewish upbringing at all. We are leaders in every sense of the word and our gentile friends have learned alot from us, appreciate and are intrigued by the Jewish religion.
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You always have to go back to the origin, and the origin of halloween is pure evil. Do a search on "origin of halloween" and see what you find. People used to sacrifice their virgin daughter thinking it would keep away evil sprits. They would dress up as evill sprits thinking that they would not be recognized as a human by the spirits. They would melt candles in jack-o lanterns made with human fat. The origins are completely pagan and evil.
This is not something I want my children to grow up participating in. Even if you say my children only dress up as princesses or angels or whatever positive, you have to go back to the real meaning. Ask yourselves, what is the energy of halloween. Veternarians will tell you to keep your cats in your home on halloween especially black ones because of sacrafices.
As Jews we do not do anything without a purpose, a meaning and to serve Hashem. We do not celebrate empty holidays. Do not lower yourselves to something completely evil.
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Jimmy is in a tough situation. It's hard to live as a Jew in a non-Jewish world. This is a reminder to us while we live outside of Israel, we are in exile. Jimmy, there is one place in this world where you will fit in and not be left out - Israel. May G-d lead your parents to consider Aliyah so you will no longer feel left out. In the meantime, take pleasure in knowing you are being a light to others.
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Jimmy, I hope this helps you. I am 25, Jewish, and just starting to get into orthodox Judaism. My mom's family is not religious at all, and they think I am crazy or backwards for going the observant route. But in the end, you have to do what's right for you. If you really feel like trick or treating, not being super religious, then you need to do that. Yes, you are 13, but you are old enough to make a decision based on what is right for you. I am still struggling with whether I will be able to keep a kosher home, send future kids to Hebrew school, etc. and even my own mom says I should go to a reform shul, b/c she is afraid I am "making a mistake." U can always go conservative which isn't as strict as observant but moreso than reform. In the end, it is your life and only you can decide what feels right for you. Don't just give in to your cousins or others unless it is really what you want. :)
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Haloween is indeed a tough situation, as is Christmas..Growing up I was told by other kid that Chaukkah was the "Jewish" Christmas. Purim was the "Jewish" Halloween..The list can go on and on.. I teach my own children to be respectful of these secular holidays, but to always look forward to their own special days.
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I have taught my children that Halloween is not our holiday, but a holiday based on another religion. I have also told them that the commercial aspect of Halloween is very American. They do not confuse this meaningless custom of trick or treat with the beauty of our Jewish holidays.
I educate my children about diversity. This only enhances their appreciation and love for Judaism. Having said that, we put our costumes and enjoy some candy with our neighborhood friends.
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Chaviv,
Non of my relatives are religious either. It's hard to be a shining example like Tzvi Freedman writes about, especially with family. But G-d puts each of us in our situation because we are exactly the right man for the job. So you can be a leader and set the example for your family too. I have always found that humor works wonders when confronted with challenges.
Stay in good spirits and your family will respect you and look up to you.
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Loved this well-thought out answer to a question I think many Jewish parents (especially those considering a closer involvement within Judaism) think each fall. It is also a succinct answer to be able to give falmily members who are less observant.
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One of the comments about how the community we live in touched home. Yes, where we live is very important. If I live in the US my thoughts will be different than if I live in Lithuania. More importantly though, do I live in a Jewish community? Maybe Halloween is a small issue, maybe a big one. For me though my connection to the Jewish community is the larger issue. Also important is what kind of commnity is it? Reform? Conservative? Orthodox? Hassidic?
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Many interesting reactions, both pro and con. Somehow I suspect that the con comments (especially the angry ones) were posted by people who went trick-or-treating this Halloween, and the pro comments were posted by those who didn't. Can't anyone think out of their own comfort zone?
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In this wk's parshah (Genesis 18:8) the angels eat at Abraham's dwelling... Rashi says angels don't have to eat but they conform to their surroundings as should we if it doesnt go against the Torah. My arguement is there is no religious significance left to the holiday thus equivalent to ur american thanksgiving so why not let your kids go and beg for kosher candy. As for the non-kosher stuff you can give it away to those less fortunate therby doing a mitzvah ;)
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Advocates of total isolation and non-participation only invite eventual resentment from the larger community. Claims that "We are better than them," "Ours are better than theirs" and other such self-congratulatory comments further distance people from the larger community and, eventually, are the cause of more resentment.
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Your approach is logical, but like every theory, it needs to be tried out in practice to see if it works or not.
Your approach was actually tested by a large Jewish community at one point in our history. This community practiced the exact opposite of "isolation and non-participation." They dressed like their countrymen, adapted their home-country's culture as their own, celebrated their holidays with them, and avoided any behavior or practice that would cast them as "different" from the larger, non-Jewish population. Their assumption was that this would prevent resentment and animosity on the part of their neighbors.
The experiment was consistently adhered to for nearly 100 years in a large, very civilized country in western Europe called Germany, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century and continuing until the mid 1930's, at which point it was abandoned, for reasons beyond the Jewish community's control.
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I have 3 children, ages 5,7,9. until last year I let them trick or treat with the neighborhood. I have never liked Halloween, but went along with it. Then I decided to do something different and go with my gut. I sat down with them and told them the true meaning of Halloween. I talked to them about Purim and compared the two holidays. I then gave them the option of going trick or treating or going out to dinner. They were very excited to go out to dinner. So that is our tradition now. They can dress up at school for the halloween parties. But they know it's not a Jewish hoilday. They have no problem with not trick or treating.
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I believe you underestimate a child's ability to reason and learn from making choices. Even before adolescents, children are developing critical thinking skills, and Halloween is about giving as well as taking, dressing up for fun, not necessarily for scares, and a pumpkin is only more than a squash if you make it more than a squash. Kids can understand that.
Dressing up for Halloween and going door to door to 'trick or treat' for candy may actually provide valuable learning experiences for a child - sharing with other children, designing and creating an imaginative, unique costume, and practicing personal safety, such as traveling in pairs or groups, not eating open candy, not entering a stranger's home. If you're worried your children will toilet-paper your neighbor's home or leave a bag of flaming poo on their doorstep, it's more than a secular holiday that should concern you.
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How are you?
People make fun of people. it can make you stronger. it is decided by your thoughts, not their words. Loneliness, too, can make us stronger. just make the decision to turn whatever situation into the right result.
It would be nice if they can join you for purim. if not, it's their lost. it doesn't mean you can't get together and have fun some other times. Meanwhile, please try to create more cheers for yourself and your family tonight :) years from now, you would like to look back and feel proud of what you did :) i can tell you are good :)
Have a wonderful time! any time! :) Best wishes,
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I don't see the harm in it. It's an American children's holiday. A time for kids to get silly and play dress up with their friends, let off a little steam. Looking a bit deeper - for children that are afraid of the dark or the "boogie man" (very common!) it's a way to harness this fear, by becoming the "boogie man" for a night. It helps them see that monsters are made up, not real. Contrary to the viewpoint of the article, Halloween is not about demonology. It's about children! It's healthy, and I don't think it conflicts with Jewish values any more than hide and seek does. (Another "opposite" in regards to Halloween and Purim is that Halloween as we know it in the States is an American tradition for children, while Purim is very much an adult holiday, with some very adult themes and ideas).
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Jimmy, your feelings are so understandable. maintaining close ties with family is so basic - like dah! right?
On the other hand, they are not onboard your ship and you feel isolated. your ship is sailing off on an amazing journey to geula (redemption) and theirs will not hold up. eventually, it is they who will want to be at your purim table, not you at their halloween get together.
I know you are 13, but your neshama (soul) is old enough now to recognize the differences we are talking about here.
Lots of luck to you, may G-d give you to strength to be the lamplighter - a guiding light for your family to follow.
Prayer always works - try it - you will not be disappointed.
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I understand the cailm of it being a harmless holiday that is about candy and dressing up. However, we're Jews. Jews were always different from the "normal" community which they were in and celebrated our holidays. Haloween is a much higher scale then any other holiday... its about demons and wiches that dont even exist in the Jewish holidays. I think it would create a mental complex in children. It might start with haloween then with christmas and gradually to possibly eating pork. It could have its long term effects.
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Just to put things in perspective:
With something like this, it's not worth it to make hard and fast rules. In general, I think it's a bad idea for Jewish kids to go trick or treating. But, let's say a family has just started keeping kosher and Shabbat. Let's say the parents are excited about all this but the kids are being dragged along. Now the parents tell the kids, "This year, while all your friends are having a great time, you're staying home for Halloween."
This could really backfire. Perhaps better, in such a case, to dress the kids up as something nice, and then switch all the non-kosher candies for kosher ones when they get back.
I wouldn't apply this to xmas trees or Easter eggs. But in a case like this, my sense is better to lose the battle and win the war.
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Regarding Andrea Schonberger's comment that "Jews do not, and are not supposed to, celebrate any holidays other than our own", I think she means "any religious holidays other than our own" or "any holidays of religions other than our own".
Jew do celebrate a variety of purely secular civil holidays. Israeli Independence Day is almost exclusively celebrated by Jews. I recall a Chabad rabbi mentioning that "we celebrate July 4th" (U.S. Independence Day). In the United States, larger numbers of kosher turkeys are sold right before the national (U.S.) Thanksgiving holiday than at other times of year, so either a large number of non-Jews buy kosher turkeys or a large number of kosher-keeping Jews (in the U.S., the majority of Jews do not keep kosher and those who do are typically the most observant in other ways) observe that holiday.
However, when Columbus Day or Canada's Thanksgiving Day falls on Yom Kippur, many celebratory activities (such as eating) are not allowed.
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According to the Rabbi Hillel, the more anonymous Tzedaka is, both with respect to the donor and with respect to the recipient, the better. Giving food (preferably something healthy, but usually candy) to a stranger's children who are wearing custumes on American Halloween is one of the most anonymous forms of giving possible, at least with respect to the recipient. This level is not reached with similar actions on Purim, because all children wearing custumes on Purim are Jewish (or have Jewish fathers) and are usually not strangers.
Many poor parents refuse (out of pride) to accept charity for their children and many children are embarrassed that they receive discounted school lunches, etc. October 31 is the only time that non-Jewish children can request or receive free food or money without "begging" or being treated as lesser persons. Giving these children something, so that for one night each year, they can be feel that they are like any other child, is a mitzvah.
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Being different at any age, but especially as a teenager is one of the most difficult things a person can do. When I was young, I went to a Jewish school but changed over to public school at 11 years of age. On Wednesdays "The Jewish Kids" would leave half day to attend Hebrew School. For the first time in my life I felt embarrassed because we were singled out - identified as Jews because we left early. I can imagine the difficulty & embarassment for Shadrach,Meshach & Abed-nego {Daniel Ch 3} when they refused to bow down to pagan symbols despite the risk of losing their lives, since doing so conflicted with Hashem's rules. They must have really stuck out! Also-there is a halachic prohibition against a belief or practice in sorcerers and magic. Remember King Saul consulted a fortune teller instead of G-d about his future. This decision resulted in him losing both his throne and his mind. Be strong young man. You will be glad you chose the guidance of Hashem. He loves us so much
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Really a rough one.
When I was small my folks bought a house in a formerly Jewish neighborhood. ERROR. It wasn't Jewish now. I was the only Jewish kid in my elementary school. I didn't know Halloween had once been a heathen holy day, nor that Christians, being unable to get rid of it, made it "All Hallows Eve" (eve of "All Saints Day"). I just knew I'd get with other kids, no adults, & get lots of candy.
Then we had a kid & bought a house in walking distance from shul, not knowing we'd be the only Jews on our block. My kid grew up playing with the neighborhood kids, afternoons, but attended Jewish schools, nursery thru 8th grade. He DID do Halloween dressup & trick-o-treat, but I went too, for safety.
Now he's baal tshuvah. His new baby will likely not go trick-o-treat.
Relax. Jewish day school wins.
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Jimmy I grew up in a traditional jewish home in SA. For my first three years of schooling I went to public school. I left the public school when my Jewish teacher wanted me to learn the New Testament and I said no. We Jews are different and sometimes it is very difficult to live in a secular non-Jewish society and stay different. But we are not just different we are special and Hashem has given us a task to be a light unto others. So your job is to have faith, be strong and be a light to your family. Good luck.
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I find it rather intolerant to call Halloween strictly a night of demands and demons, instead of a night of rejoicing. It is a night of rejoicing and sharing, it's a night of tradition.
Purim also features children dressing up in costumes to say "boo" and shunning and ridicule, and the kids go to the parties for candy and cookies too.
Not all Jewish children rejoice on Purim, or visit the sick and infirmed. Some kids who celebrate Halloween also go to nursing homes and hospices. There are good and bad in every group.
To try to paint us as being better or our traditions being more wholesome and charitable than others' is intolerant and wrong.
You can celebrate any holiday and keep the message of love and community out in front. It'll all be OK.
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All holidays are not created equal.
Some holidays belong to Christian culture. A Jew celebrating Christian holy days is capitulating to Christian doctrine, which for centuries designated Jews as Christkillers, as demons, as vermin. It started long before Hitler and made it possible for him to urge our extermination. Moreover, it resurfaces whenever there is trouble, as now.
Coincidentally, my grandmother was murdered on Purim, not because of the holiday, but because Ukrainian nationalists were out killing Jews, in 1918, before Hitler. And Jews are being killed in the 21st century, after Hitler.
I do celebrate with nonJews--July 4, Thanksgiving, & others we share, & doI volunteer work Dec 25 to let them be home. But "Hallowe'en" means "all hallows' Eve": ie, Erev All Saints Day. The "saints" include mythical little boys who were supposedly murdered by Jews who "used their blood to make matzah"! We honor such myths indirectly if we honor "All Saints" Eve. Abstain!
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I wish as a kid i could have done that :( Unfortunately I am not jewish, but when i convert and if i have kids at least they could experience that, It sounds amazing.
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Jerry, what do you want to do? If you are willing to take the flak for "missing hallowe'en" then more power to you. Do whatever you can to connect with other observant Jews and provide yourself with allies and backup.
If you desperately WANTED to do Hallowe'en that would be one thing. But it IS a Christian holy day and we honor you for having the gumption to abstain.
Hang in there--and do connect with others who feel as you do. We are on your side!
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I am a Jewish male, and I am not religious. I celebrated Halloween as a child and my kids will celebrate it too.
The problem with religious people is they do not assimilate to their home cultures. This is the United States, we are a secular society. People can do what they wish. Halloween may have been started for religious purposes, but it has no religious meaning anymore. It's about fun, and eating junk food. Purim is not an important holiday anymore. I went to a Chabad house and all they did was get drunk on Purim. You want your kids to be a part of that?
We as jews are less than 2 percent of the population. It's important to let your children go out like their peers and fit in. Do not under any circumstances let your religion get in the way of your common sense. Say no to religios mindlessness. No where in the Torah does it say to dress all in black and wear hats. It's a tradition. Not a good one, by the way.
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In Houston we are less than 1/2 % of the population. I took my child to Chabad on Simchat Torah from the time he was two. They carried him around and let him carry a toy Torah. He was thrilled!
Now, kennenhora, he is a husband and father and never gets drunk except on Purim, IF then. He is still friends with his old Jewish, Catholic, and Methodist playmates. He has never done drugs. He & his wife keep a kosher home. Their baby is full of joy. They know who they are: being a Jew IS their home culture, wherever they are. The United States is the most Christian country in the world. Some are intolerant of nonChristians; others resepct Jews who are authentically Jewish. Even in Houston we find Jewish schools and other Jewish children for our kids to be with.
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I do not agree with the statement by Ann of Houston that "The United States is the most Christian country in the world." For example, I believe that every single resident of the country "Vatican City" is a Catholic priest. This is certainly not true of the U.S.
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I neglected to define my terms.
A country is "more Christian" if relatively many of its lay people go to church and believe in a Deity, and "less Christian" if relatively few of its lay people do so.
Europe's lay Christians mostly don't go to church and don't believe in a Divinity. In the USA, MOST LAY Christians DO go to church and do believe either in Gd, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Christ, or some combination of these.
Among American lay Christians the percentage of those who believe and attend church is greater than it is among lay Christians of any country in the world.
And most of these American practicing lay Christians respond positively to evidence that Jews practice Torah!
So if you want to skip Hallowe'en and uphold Purim, do!!! Go for it!!! Wow your Christian peers! They'll love and respect you for it!
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I'm 16 years old, and I've "celebrated" Halloween since I can remember. Both of my parents came from an Orthodox setting, and they see no harm in letting children get dressed up and enjoy themselves on Halloween. Heck, my Bubbie, a Holocaust survivor, made our Halloween costumes for us until I was around seven.
Yes, Halloween is originally a pagan celebration, but it's no longer celebrated thusly. Halloween is more of an American Cultural experience then a Pagan holiday aimed at making your precious children conform to the gentiles around them.
To be completely honest, I believe that children should be exposed to as much diversity as possible so they can be able to learn and accept other's beliefs. To isolate your child from something as silly as Halloween, let alone tell them it's because your Jewish, is ridiculous. Your child isn't going out praying to Jack-O-Lanterns and harassing people for candy, nor will they be "less Jewish" if they enjoy running around, simply being a kid.
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I grew up in a Christian environment, the only Jewish kid in my entire elementary school. I didn't know that Hallowe'en was ever pagan, or that it became Christian (the Eve [e'en] of All Saints Day). It seemed secular. Valentine's Day was the same story. I conformed to the culture that surrounded me. Christmas was similar except that I tried NOT to participate. I gladly gave gifts to my Christian neighbors but we avoided having the tree or the songs etc.
Living as a Jew in a Christian culture creates a disjuncture in the personality. We don't notice it because all the other Jews are experiencing the same disjuncture, which makes it seem normal. The majority culture SEEMS to define the meaning of "being a kid" or of "being an American" or of "being a human being" and our own Jewish identity begins to fade.
Diversity? Hindus Buddhists blacks etc. Yes, learn.
But we KNOW Christian ways. In school. On TV. IN us.
Our challenge? To know OUR ways.
To really know.
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Great article! Halloween is very controversial. Jews regard it as Christian; Christians regard it as Pagan. Even though I'm Jewish, I have to admit that Halloween has been one of my favorite "holidays." I like to impersonate my favorite historical figures, though I do it comically. Rabbi is right, though; we already have Purim. As a Christian holiday, it is All Saints Eve, so I tell Christians who think it's Pagan or Demonic to instead dress as their favorite saints or Bible characters.
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This is terrible. All kids should be allowed to celebrate halloween. Leave it up to us jews to take such a cool consept like halloween and change it and ruin it into something like purim i mean come on you cant compare the two
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Until the commandment to "have no other gods before me", humans were willing to practice each other's religions without complaint, as long as they were allowed to also practice their own. The ancient Romans tolerated other religions as long as their citizens practiced the state religion in addition to their own. They had a problem with us because we insisted on practicing only our own religion. Ironically, the concept that religions is an "either/or" exclusive decision and not an "and", was once uniquely Jewish, but later was adopted by Christians and Moslems and led to most of the persecutions of us (except the Holocaust) for 2000 years. The question with Halloween is whether we want to embrace solely our heritage and exclude others or to be open to their secularized practices whose origins they seem to forget. The water-soaked bagel was invented to accomodate the rules against cooking on Shabbos, but non-Jews now eat them too.
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The United States has no law forbidding people to celebrate Hallowe'en. The Christians & the pagans have no laws forbidding Jews to celebrate Hallowe'en.
And, they also have no laws requiring Jews to celebrate Hallowe'en. We are free to abstain, just as we abstain from Xmas, from pork, and from many other good things. But we do not abstain entirely. Consider the Catholic priest. He must totally abstain from a whole area of life--sex. We do not abstain from eating, only from certain foods. We do not abstain from frolicking about in masks and costumes--we merely do it on our own terms, at our own time of year. If you want to do something that the Christians do, Purim is very cool. It comes right around Mardi Gras and has every bit as many fun things to do. Lots of great desserts, which you probably didn't know, & lots of performative elements, called Purimspiel, which you also may not have known. Purim is NOT an imitation of Hallowe'en, so of course it's not "the same".
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Tthe ideas of this article were very interesting - i wouldnt have thought to compare halloween to purim (my favorite holiday) any time soon.
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I decorate my sukkah with pumpkins. I just set them down on the ground. They add a lot to the atmosphere, to the feeling of autumn harvest. I don't carve evil faces into them or set candles inside to give the appearance of even more evil. That seems idolatrous. It seems demonic. And why the skeleton costumes? Do we worship death? I thought we believed in life. The ghoulishness of hallowe'en is repulsive, when you think about it. It only seems normal because we grew up with it. I don't want to teach my kids that ghoulishness is fun. There are enough horror movies without making it part of my personal life. I don't care to have my kids running around the neighborhood begging for, no, demanding, candy from all the householders. I'd rather keep the autumn harvest, the corn, the squash, the pumpkins, to decorate my sukkah, and let the kids dress up like Superman (who, by the way, is Jewish) on Purim. And skip the whole ghoulish scene.
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Purim the same as Halloween?
Ridiculous. Purim is much older. Maybe Halloween is an imitation of Purim? But certainly not the other way around!!!
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You don't have to take part in Halloween if you don't want to (though I view it as a secular holiday), but to insult the holiday seems a little off to me. The purpose of Halloween is to bring communities together before the onslaught of winter and to celebrate life by becoming what we all fear (death). Being part of Halloween doesn't make you less Jewish. Dress up and have fun. It's going to be a long, dark winter (for all of us, regardless of religion).
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To Jonathan Kowalski:
Halloween is not an imitation of Purim. Halloween (not called that at the time) originated in a pagan culture that probably did not have any contact with Jews until much later in its history.
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I was being facetious.
I merely meant to emphasize that Purim does not imitate Halloween.
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Look, we U.S. Jews are highly assimilated. Most of us don't have an inklng of a truly Jewish culture; we just have an all-American culture with a few Jewish underpinnings or maybe a Jewish veneer. That makes it seem as if Hallowe'en is part of our lives.
But try taking a real Bible course, such as chumash with Rashi, a course where Noah builds a tevah in order to save himself and the animals from the mabul, a course which takes an hour to cover maybe five verses, so that you discuss the text in great depth. You begin to realize that what you had taken for your "Judaism" is very shallow, that there is a lot more to Jewish culture and values than you had realized, and that celebrating Hallowe'en is no longer consistent with what you now realize are your values. Until you realize that, you are bound to complain that the lack of Halloween is a deprivation. Once you do realize that, it no longer feels like a deprivation. It feels like being true to yourself.
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In response to the comments of Chanah Abramowitz:
Only some aspects of Halloween, such as the promotion of witchcraft, are inconsistent with Judiasm., not all. Several persons have noted that costume wearing occurs on Purim. However, the main element of Halloween seems to be giving away something sweet to children to eat. The practice of giving sweets for celebrations is definitely a common Jewish practice. We give out honey cake for Rosh Hashana and many of us give children chocolate "gelt" (fake Israeli coins made of chocolate for eating) at Hanukah. Avoiding a Jewish practice solely because non-Jews have adapted it for another purpose is a deprivation. Would you skip Matzah and wine at your seder because it resembles the wafer and wine of Christian practice, or refuse to use a Siddur printed on a Gutenburg press, which was invented for Christian bibles? We have survived as a people by adapting what surrounds us to use in our customs.
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Now, that is a very down-to-earth, and sensible comment!
The board thanks you, I'm sure.
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Hallowe'en sweets are incidental and irrelevant.
Are you familiar with the Latino version of the holiday, the Day of the Dead? It is more macabre than the American version--but it serves to show what Oct 31 is about.
The celebration of Oct 31 is about reveling in death. The candle-lit jack-o-lanterns are idolatrous images of death. The celebration of skeletons and ghosts is death-worship.
Jews do not honor death. The Jewish assumption is that the Angel of Death is evil.
Jewish thought and feeling throughout the ages celebrates life. LChaim!
The Jewish autumnal holiday of Sukkot honors the harvest and the coming rainy season which will promote the springtime harvest. But Oct. 31 celebrates the fact that the leaves have died and soon all will be buried under the winter snow. Front yards sport little imitation graveyards and the like.
Hallowe'en celebrates death.
We adapt customs which honor our values, and the Jewish value is to celebrate life!
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The prevalent American culture is not ours & untrue to our beliefs. many of us are falling for all the "stuff" that's around us, but ignoring most or all of what our Torah heritage demands of us.
Don't fall for all that "it's a free country" stuff! G-d wants to remain distinct as Jews & NOT to assimilate their values & customs into our heritage.
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In response to "Sweets are a red herring" Posted By Susan Miller, Iota, Miss:
The Day of the Dead is not a celebration of death, a "reveling in death", "death-worship" or a way to "honor death".
Instead, it is a time to honor those who have died. Jews do this with the Mourner's Kaddish at every service and with the Yitzkor service on Yom Kippur. Practices associated with the Day of the Dead include visiting the graves of one's immediate family (which most of us do, except Kohenim who cannot enter) and visiting homes of the relatives of the recently deceased (in our venacular, a "Shiva call").
If you wish to ignore someone's efforts to honor their relatives, that is your prerogative (although somewhat disrepectful), but do not libel it. Our persecutors said Passover Matzah has blood in it; we should not follow their example. When you criticize someone else's holiday without even getting the facts correct, you cross the line from Lashon Hora into bearing false witness.
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Someone please give me the complete history of Halloween and all that it represents.
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I was appalled by Haloween after my arrival to the U.S. and wondered how people can one time offer lip-service to G-d and then turn around and follow the pagan rituals.
I was reminded of Saul the King who consulted the witch of Endor and fell to his demise.
It is a great lesson that we should never make G-d jealous or angry by our detestable practices.
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I'm a catholic christian trying to bring awareness to simple the Laws of Moses--the 10 Commandments. I try to fear no one or no custom but I fear God.
After Halloween "abstinence" I've learned to separate occult from kids and candy and now I take time out for this autumn event. I have compassion for little kids entering the intrigue that life eventually closes in upon them.
Let me fight to the death for truth but sweetie, this ain't worth it. This is a murky autumn custom I agree but what filth is in your lives that is not anything even close to Halloween? By the way Oct. 31 begins the vigil to All Saints Day where we recognize our beloved deceased we grieve for!
I love my Jewish bretheren and I respect you and am pledged to die for your safety as circumstances warrant. Yet avoid letting the nutcases, blood sacrificers and satanists mess you over on this one.
Avoid the Custom, fine. Do not avoid our sincerest wish for your peace.
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susan millers message says it all for this jewish woman we have been blessed with so many wonderful days of celebration in the jewish calender why do so many of us still feel the need to conform we have in this country today the most freedom to be ourselves as in any other time before us let us embrace who we are and quit blending in.
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it is like my Rabbi says and yes we are ultra orthodox (hasidic) if it is not jewish in content than our childeren do not need it .
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Cmon, I grew up in an Orthodox household and went trick or treating every year when we were kids. It never challenged or interfered with Judaism in any way. As a matter of fact, it was never even considered a 'religious' day at all. Halloween is so watered down, it’s hardly pagan at this point. It’s more of an American holiday like thanksgiving, 4th of july, etc. it’s pretty innocuous really. If kids were going to séances, doing rituals, conjuring up spirits, having some sort of services or gatherings, or just worshiping anything in general, etc. then I’d take issue and be against it for sure….now, its just playtime with no religious connotations. Try to find any mainstream American (not cult fringe loonies) who treats this as a pagan holiday;150 yrs ago, perhaps, not now.
As to the 'begging', 'tricking', etc. We are leaders. This is a parenting issue. Teach your children to treat people in a Jewish way, especially on 10/31. We did this as children & we're fine. Let them have fun!
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Just b/c we are in America, doesn't mean we embrace all the 'American Traditions.' ... That won't stop me from passing out (kosher) candy to the neighborhood kids, most of whom are probably Jewish. Like the article states, we have Purim!!!
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when I was little Halloween was jsut dressing up and going around for candy and it still is to a great extent for the little ones. But there was an article today from NewsWeek about children's costumes, even for children as young as 6, being promoted as sexy , revealing, etc. That is a horror! Whe my children were little they dressed as spacemen, little ladybug, roger Rabbit - mostly costumes that became sleepers. And then as they got to about 8 or 9, that was it. We emphasized Purim and my major costume making efforts went there. at that point they were old enough to feel that they didn't need Halloween (we do not live in a Jewish area) , they didn't need to ape their friends, they were more aware of their Jewish identities. that's not to say that we didn't enjoy taffy apples! So if you "do" Halloween, I would say just do it as a one night stand and don't go overboard with costumes, etc or the relentless over-parenting that we indulge in. Emphasize building your own sukkah etc
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Asking Jewish people who live in America to celebrate non-Jewish holidays would be like asking Moslems who live in Israel to celebrate non-Moslem holidays. Just because we currently live outside of Israel doesn't mean that we have to jump into the melting pot and assimilate to death. We already have a country which was reborn nearly 60 years ago. The answer for Jewish people is to carry Israel with us wherever we go until we're fortunate enough to actually live there. If we can't be in Israel at the moment, we need to make sure that Israel is in us. If it's done in Israel, then make sure to do it wherever you happen to live. If it's not done in Israel, then make sure not to do it wherever you happen to live. We need to remember that we're Jewish first and foremost and have been for over three millennia. Judaism existed long before Xianity and will continue to do so long after Xianity. Why should we exchange over 3000 years of Jewish holiness for 231 years of American moral bankruptcy?
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I am so pleased that finally some reason has entered into the fray! G-d has said we are to be a people holy unto Him; what part of this commemoration to evil do we have in us? NONE!
Halloween is a glorifying of evil! We are Kings & Priests unto the Lord! Holy, set-apart and meant to reflect His Glory.
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I am not libelling their holiday. By all means, let them celebrate their holidays--Halloween, Xmas, Easter, whatever.
For example, if they pray to the Trinity and all thesaints, it is their intent to pray to the ONE Gd and Gd receives it that way. But that does not make it ok for US to do it. For US it would be idolatry.
Similarly it may be fine for others to honor Hallowe'en as a tribute to their dead, but for us it would be idolatry. We have our own way of honoring our dead.
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i think the article you had about that was excellent .as parents we have to be so strong about judaism and is so difficult sometimes. may hashem give us strenght to raise our kids in the right way.
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Oh, puh-leeze!
To feel so threatened by such an inoffensive holiday as Halloween, a lot of you must consider the religion very weak.
What I’m hearing is a mentality that is almost cultish. You sound like you want to establish mini-mentality microcosms every where you go; just to obscure yourselves from the reality of 21st century life.
Doing that only creates misunderstanding of the religion, and possibly even animosity.
You won’t even spell God’s name correctly, as if he would be offended.
I doubt it.
How would you feel if I intentionally and continually misspelled your name?
Anyway, you can join the fun---or be a party-pooper. You do what you want.
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Dave from Clearwater says that U.S. history is 231 years of moral bankruptcy. I don't think any person, people, religion, tribe, or nation is all bad or all good. The U.S.A. has a shameful history of slavery & racist segregation, but look at all the good, too! The U.S.A. helped to defeat Hitler. Slavery and segregation ended. Women got the vote. It is a "free country," or at least it's supposed to be. Unfortunately, some people think that means "free healthcare" or some other such socialistic nonsense, but it really means individual liberty. The Bill of Rights is actually as holy as Torah. After all, if someone choses to peacefully glorify G-d, like a Jew resting on Shabbat, for example, and that person does it freely and voluntarily, that's far more "holy" than if someone does it out of fear of his / her neighbors procecuting or persecuting them.
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Gee Charlie
blaming the Jews for not being idolators smacks right out of Genesis. join the modern world. Your words could well be those of the worshippers of the baal.
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Jer 10:2 Thus saith Adonai, Learn not the way of the heathen.
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Cut it out...
If you want to address the thread, then do so. Don't go misrepresenting me.
I didn't blame anyone for anything!
I didn't make anything the way it is, I just recognize things for what they are.
You sound like you have a firm handle on reality.
Guess what, my little grand-daughter is going to go out on halloween as a ghost, have fun with mommy and daddy, have fun with other kids, laugh a lot, get some candy, and then go home a go to sleep.
She's gonna' have a good time. She won't be worshipping any idols, or anything else for that matter.
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The Talmud says that all Jews have a place in the world to come--except those who pronounce Gd's Name as it is spelled. To pronounce the Name violates the commandment against taking the Name in vain. Moreover, the Talmud says we must deliberately behave differently from non-Jews, even to use a different color shoelaces than non-Jews use.
And, this makes sense. We had lost the very thing that makes a people a nation, our land. When we had lived in HaAretz, the mere fact of a common land kept us a nation, but once we no longer had a land, we needed other means to maintain our Jewish identity. Today, the Land of Israel's laws are NOT based entirely on Jewish law--in particular, we remain without a Temple--so we don't exactly have a Land in the same sense as did our ancestors had before the destruction of the Temple. So we STILL need to distinguish ourselves from our nonJewish neighbors and cling very close to Gd's Torah and abstain from non-Jewish values.
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The reality of the 21st Century? The reality of life, for us adults especially those who take a conscious approach to parenting, is that you base your actions on principle. If something conflicts with your principles, you dont do it, and sure as heck dont promote it with your children. Either you are a leader, or you are a follower. Most of us are ok with going along with WHATEVER the majority says is ok, but a few of us are not satisfied with that. We are less concerned with "having fun", more concerned with being responsible and informed adults. Cultish mentality is that of unquestionable conformity, like celebrating a holiday without ever questioning its origin, and purpose.
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Compromise is equivalent to “Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” - Sir Walter Scott
Halloween is compromised by many out of fleshly desire and ignorance. It is a perfect web of evil weaved to deceive you. Many have suffered the consequences. I read this history online: October 31 became known as a witch holiday. It was called "The Witches' Sabbath" by witch hunters and eventually European witches began celebrating October 31 as one of their four great Sabbaths held during the year.
They steal children and sacrifice to the evil one.
For those kids in the public school or do not have strong religious convictions; I would suggest you have a little tea-party with all the natural fruits and games in your house and enjoy the evening with your family in prayer. Always counterattack the evil with good and in no time, you may get used to the good habits.
Remember, when you are faithful in little deeds, G-d is faithful to you in big times.
I pray that all the above readers, denounce Halloween!
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Hello Charles,
It's not logical why you would be so upset that many religious Jews opt out of Halloween. It's a free country, and we have a right to opt out if we want to, and I can hardly believe that children celebrating Halloween somehow have their "fun" diminished when a tiny percentage of the population doesn't celebrate.
This anger seems to stem from a feeling that religious Jews are embarrassing, and a fear of what the gentiles might think of us. To be at the mercy of what other human beings might think of us is worse than a cultish mentality, it's the mentality of slavery. Religious Jews don't make decisions based on the whims of others, they make decisions based on what's right and wrong. I can't think of anything more free and open minded than that.
BTW, spelling G"-"d isn't about offending G-d, it's about respect. I don't call my father by his name out of respect, and shouldn't I treat my Heavenly Father likewise? The "-" reminds me of Whom I'm writing about.
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Hello,
I am a Christian who lives in a predominantly Jewish area, and I teach at a school comprised of mostly Jewish children. I am happy to particpate in any and all Jewish celebrations as a guest, and I don't find them threatening at all. I would encourage my children to particpate in them as well, as long as they have a firm base in the religion they've been raised in. If a child has a strong sense of his or her religion, then secular holidays such as Halloween will be merely an evening of innocent fun, not something that challenges their beliefs or insults their Judaism. I hope that people will let their children be just that: children, and merely assure that their kids understand the holiday and its once-pagan origins.
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Purim should be a national holiday. It makes me want to share the celebration of giving when my wife and I do have children. This culturally enrichment would mean more to me in my book. Thanks for sharing a part of your life
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I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the Jewish origins of Halloween. Early Christians, a Jewish cult, called the Harvest Festival where the dead come back, Samhain. Samhain is obviously a mistranslation of Sukkot. During Sukkot, the Harvest Festival, we invite dead spirits such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, among others, to come and dine with us.
On Passoer, we also invite another dead spirit, Elijah (surely no Orthodox Jew believes his spirit to be alive; he calls himself Metatron in the Zohar, after all) to share our sederim.
Keeping this Jewish history in mind, a congregation had a Yom HaAdam celebration, where people dressed in costumes, told stories about Goems and Dybbuks, and donated money to the Magen David Adom organization.
My point is that since halloween is Jewish in background, let's all do as the Essenes did, and celebrate.
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Zvi,
you did not answer the question. Only side-steped it.
thanks,
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Your Christian culture is in the majority so you can be assured it will predominate in your life.
Try to imagine how you'ld feel living in a country where you'd have no Christmas unless you created it yourself, no Easter unless you created it yourself, no Christian values unless you created them yourself, and how your Christian values there might be watered down if you kept everyone else's holidays and values as well as your own.
Jews are fewer than 1% of the population. People often ask me to skip Friday night Sabbath dinner "just this once," not realizing that I know 100 non-Jews for every Jew and that if I skip Sabbath dinner once for each of them, I'll never get a Sabbath dinner. Ditto Pesach, Yom Kippur, etc. One close friend scheduled a birthday party on Yom Kippur (a fast day!) & was angry that I did not skip the fast & the services to attend the party.
Plenty of folks do Hallowe'en. We're not needed for that. We're needed for Jewish practices & values.
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Samhein is not Sukkot. If you think the first consonant is enough to establish linguistic relationship, then love & lounge & lizard & ludicrous are all the same too.
Sukkot is the autumn harvest festival.
Samhein occurs too late in the year to be a harvest festival.
The seven Ushpizim of Sukkot (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.) are all saints whom we love, not ghosts to fear.
Hallowe'en is now about making fun of our own fear of death and of the dead. We Jews do not make fun of death. We regard the angel of death very seriously and we avoid celebrating ghouls, ghosts, skeletons, vampires, or other frightening personages on Sukkot or on any other festival or Holy Day.
Elijah lives. He went up to Heaven in a fiery chariot. Maybe he travels in a space ship (fiery chariot?) at the speed of light, so that, for him, only a few months have gone by since he went up to Heaven. In any case, the Bible says that Elijah remained alive. He never died.
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Wow! A lot of interesting comments here. I was especially intrigued by Randy Farb's argument that Halloween's origins are really Jewish. While I'm not sure how acurate that is, there is a good argument there for Jews to celebrate Halloween in a Jewish manner. Annonymous from Memphis wants a complete history; I don't know all of it, but my understanding is that Christians superimposed All Saints' Eve & All Saints' Day (to honor the dearly departed) on a pre-existing Pagan holiday called Samhain. I heard that the ancient Celts (there were many different tribes of them in Europe) wore masks on that night so that evil spirits would not recognize them. That was in keeping with the belief that on that night each year, the physical and spirit worlds were overlapping. What troubles me is that Christians seem to have gotten some of their wackiest ideas from Judaism -- like the idea that neither Jesus nor Elijah ever really died.
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The question was; "Do Jew's celebrate Halloween?" The question should be; "Do Americans, who happen to be Jewish, celebrate Halloween ?" I grew up in Stamford, Ct. with an Orthodox history. We never considered it to be anyone's religious holiday, it's an American Holiday celebrated by Americans. Better you should worry about Jews who have "Chanukkah bushes". Purim IS a Jewish Holiday. Let's not confuse the issues ! We can celebrate both without a dichotomy...
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Hallowe'en, or the Day of the Dead, is still celebrated outside the USA, so the question works fine as it stands.
For centuries in Europe we resisted joining in Christian celebrations. Now that we are less persecuted, we seem to take that as a reason to drop our boundaries and join in their games. But Hallowe'en, as one of you mentions, is a day of, among other things, evil spirits, and Jews are Talmudically enjoined to avoid anything relating to evil spirits. We are even supposed to avoid ruined buildings, as evil spirits hang out there.
Elijah left the earth in a fiery chariot. (It's quite possible it was a space ship. The phrase fits.) Whatever, he is reported never to have died, but to visit earth again periodically, and he will finally announce the Messiah.
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Hallelujah! Thank you Rabbi Freeman. Thank you for being a light to shine the way. We should pursue God's way, not the way of demons.
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Be that as it may, the fact remains that it's celebrated in the USA, not as a religious holiday, but as a fun day for kids ! What's "evil" about innocent youngsters having a wonderful time ?
The "used to;was" aspect of Haloween is no longer applicablle, just as we Jews no longer burn animals as a sacrifice to G-d ! Both were primitive, both no longer exist.
Your spaceship theory could be considered heretical by many. I prefer to keep an open mind. Give it a try.
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Hey, it's November. We're even off daylight savings time.
Halllowe'en is over. Give it a rest until next year.
BUT: do you think the reason we no longer burn animals as a sacrifice is because we think it is primitive? Only if we are vegetarians. If we're going to kill the animal anyway, and we do kill millions each year, it would be better to offer the poor creature to Gd (which means burning part of the animal & eating the rest) instead of just hogging the whole thing ourselves. The only reason we no longer offer them on the altar is that we are not in possession of the Temple Mount. The holy place is occupied by a mosque, the Dome of the Rock, so we cannot yet rebuild the Temple on its appointed spot. Whenever the holy place becomes available again, we will rebuild the Temple there and we WILL burn animals again. That is why we still have Cohanim and Levites. So, yes, the same customs and ideas remain.
And Hallowe'en is STILL a time for dressing up as ghouls.
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And skeletons and ghosts and Frankenstein and devils and other images of death and evil. That's what Hallowe'en is all about. No use pretending otherwise. The holiday is about death and evil. Nowadays It's about making fun of death and evil. That is fine for others. That's their way of handling evil.
Howver, we Jews customarily avoid mentioning death or evil at all. Even the Christians have a saying, "Don't speak of the devil or he'll appear." So we avoid speaking of death or evil, much less dressing up as evil or death. If we MUST mention it, we add, "Gd forbid!"
Moreover, death, Gd forbid, is the ultimate tamei (uncleanness), Gd forbid.
Surely you've heard Jews use "Gd forbid" to ward off any evil they may have mentioned. Well, that's why. We believe in the power of words and the power of invocations, and we avoid them.
Maybe you'll go out trick or treating wearing a sign saying "Gd forbid"? Gd forbid. (Sorry, just kidding)
So, right on, Michael!!
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To everyone who said that we celebrate only life, never death, is not the following a song of celebration?
If He had slain their first-born... it would have been sufficient...
If He had drowned our oppressors, and had not supplied us with necessaries in the wilderness, it would have been sufficient...
If He ... had not given us the Torah, it [still] would have been sufficient.
The Hagadah seems to say not only that we celebrate the death of our enemies, but also that if G-D had merely killed our enemies, and had not given us the Torah, or even had let us die in the desert, it would still be incumbent upon us to celebrate that at least our enemies were (also) dead.
Notice how even the pronounciation DIE DIE A NEW celebrates death.
I have "250 Characters Remaining", so I will add a joke verse:
If He had given me an understanding of how to interpret the lyrics correctly, and not the musical talent to carry the tune, it would have been sufficient.
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Hello Stephen,
The song dayenu (the word dayenu is unrelated to the English "die", by the way), does not seek to celebrate the deaths of Egyptians, rather it intends to single out each miracle that G-d performed for us and express our gratitude.
It's interesting that you use the Passover seder to try and claim that Jews celebrate the deaths of our enemies. While retelling the story at the seder (maggid), when we reach the part talking about the 10 plagues (which includes the death of the firstborn), we spill wine out of our cups for each plague. Why? Wine represents joy and celebration, and as Jews, celebrating and death do not mix! A famous midrash about the angels at the reed sea teaches the same lesson.
We celebrate G-d's freeing us from Egypt, not the death. G-d gave Egypt many chances to let the Jews out peacefully. Unfortunately the Egyptians did not listen, even after many plagues.
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We don't celebrate death, we celebrate the victory from the enemies. LOL.
Even G-d is disturbed when a soul dies without knowing Him. G-d's love for His chosen is prevalent in that He destroys the evil, lest the children of G-d follow after them and forget the One that chosen them.
We do remember our loved departed ones, but we don't deliberately go looking out to celebrate the feast of the witches and wizards fashioned in a subtle "trick or tree," candies, costumes, parties, pumpkin lights, webs, etc. There is absolutely no mention of G-d or His greatness is exalted.
Mockery is for the fools and not for the wise.
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Someone wrote that "Jews do not celebrate death." Hmmm. Long live Haman and Agog, Amalek, etc? Did the Israelites rejoice as the Egyptians drowned? Hmmm.
Someone also wrote that the Ushpizim are saints, and not to be scared of. I am scared of Isaac because of his blindness; he'll either knock over the soup bowls, or the candlesticks. I am afraid of David because he will try to rape my wife.
Thanksgiving, the American harvest festival comes after Samhein, which one poster wrote is way too late for a harvest festival. Again, I ponder.
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"Even G-d is disturbed when a soul dies without knowing Him." Did you get this info from an interview ? Where do people come up with this stuff ?
"We do remember our loved departed ones, but we don't deliberately go looking out to celebrate the feast of the witches and wizards fashioned in a subtle "trick or tree," candies, costumes, parties, pumpkin lights, webs, etc." Such ranting, such inaccurate analogy.
it appears that fanatacisim amongst we Jews can be just as absurd as it is amongst others.
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Dayenu--the root is "enough"; the suffix "nu"means "us". Literally, it would have enoughed us. It would not have been enough. The song merely counts up the many layers of Gd's generosity. It says that even one item of it would have been enough, but in fact only the combination--rescuing us from our foes, giving us Shabbat, giving us Torah,settling us in HaAretz, and establishing the Temple--only then is it enough. Anything less, including what we have now, is "not enough".
And, yes, we do rejoice when we escape slavery or when we escape death. And the midrash does say that when the angels tried to join in our rejoicing, Gd silenced them,saying, "Don't you see that My children are drowning?" The children of Israel could rejoice at escaping slavery and escpaing death; the angels had no such excuse. And to expand on 10 drops of wine which we remove from the goblet--we remove one drop for each plague. The midrash says our cup of joy can never be full when others are suffering.
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This "stuff" comes from the Torah, from the Prophets (who did interview Gd), from the Psalms and other post-prophetic books of the TaNaKh, from midrashim, from the Mishnah, and from the Gemorrah, as well as from the Responsa, from the Zohar & other mystic texts of Kabbalah & from the Baal Shem Tov (who repeatedly went up to Heaven & conversed with those who were there).
Perhaps you have decided to disbelieve in all these ongoing records of a people's relationship to Gd. However, these records indicate what is proper for Jews to do and to avoid doing. And Jews have consistently avoided instituting holy days or festivals which involve dressing up like ghosts or skeletons or vampires or evil spirits.
We avoid both worship of the dead and fear of their ghosts. King David will not impregnate your wife nor send you into the thick of battle to die. We merely honor those who achieved great things, whether through holiness or otherwise.
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Indeed, you should ponder. Why IS Thanksgiving so late? The Pilgrims were way up north. If they were going to get any harvest, it would be wa-a-a-yy before November.
However, in their format, they were imitating Sukkot by eating outdoors, and they were imitating Pesach by telling the story of their deliverance. The Puritans were big on trying to follow the Hebrew scriptures.
I always loved Thanksgiving. In childhood, it was the only holiday I could celebrate both at home AND at school.
My own child, kennenhora, had no such conflicts--he attended a Jewish school and ALL his holidays were celebrated both places. So he had no split the way most of us did. Result: he has become happily baal tshuvah and loosens the light bulb in my fridge for Shabbos.
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By all means, celebrate your own holidays and be proud of them but stop telling lies about mine! Hallowe'en is a Christian holiday built onto an older Harvest and year's end Festival. It was called Samhain (Summer's end). Samhain is not the Lord of the Dead or any such Funk & Wagnall's nonsense. It was able to survive the change to Christianity because it was not largely a religious festival but a cultural one. Had Judaism arrived instead of Christianity, it would have been subsumed into Sukkot, Rosh Hashonah or Yom Kippur, since it had elements of all three, harvest, new year and judgements given and received.
Purim is based on non-Jewish Spring New Year Festivals, Yom Kippur is shared with other culture's kapparot of their polytheistic temples. Please learn something before you bash someone else's culture. The laws and lifestyle of the Celts was very similar to that of the ancient tribal Israelites, unfortunately their totally oral religious tradition was destroyed by Xtianity.
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"We avoid both worship of the dead and fear of their ghosts." Enough! Religious fanatics, both Jewish and Christian attempt to "suck the life right out of you." Stop trying to control everyone. That's what "screws-up" our whole World ! We went out "Trick or Treating" not "worshiping the dead."
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I am a Christian and I agree with you. Do not be conformed to this world but be a light to the nations.
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Thank you for your succinct and insightful comment. I wish more Jews would see your viewpoint!
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My immigrant experience of Haloween was terrifying the first year. It may sound hilarious, but is true. I did not go out on that day, shut off all the lights and stayed upstairs with a light in one room. We did not open the doors and every time I heard the door bell, I cringed. I literally thought the evil is roaming around the streets of America. It was a good day to pray for them. The second year was a little bit better. I saw the children all around the yard and opened the door knowing they needed candies. I did not offer any and asked them to spend their time reading the word of G-d. Today, Haloween has become such a farce - a consumerism, festival of the harvest, or whatever you call it. Either way, it does not glorify G-d if it is celebrated in a paganish way.
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The article did not answer the question as is typical in an apologetic society as ours. It just skirted the facts. Nothing wrong with Halloween. It is not a religious holiday or a pagan holiday. It is just a stupid holiday.
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While I respect your view, Halloween has become as neutral a holiday as Thanksgiving has morphed into.
My children have no idea what the origins of halloween are, and I dare say most adults don't know either. It's a day to wear a hideous color orange, dress up and get candy.
I have no issues with it. I only wish that someone made Kosher candy corn!
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Without belaboring the points mentioned, please go to Wikipedia and read about this "holiday." It is not an American holiday; its roots came from Ireland and has spread 'round the world.
Christianity picked it up as a religious holiday to get their converts which is how All Saints Day or All Hallows Eve came into existence.
In any case, we do not celebrate it nor pay any attention to it. We keep our porch light off so kids will know not to knock on our doors.
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I completely agee that celebrating a day like holloween is a choice and what message we want to send to our children and our community. I have to say, it really bothers me that my jewish neighbors do not build a Sukkah, but turn thier lawns into grave yards. Whether or not there are religous roots to this day, the overall theme is that of greed and death instead of kindess and life. We need to get our jewish neighbors to pick 2 more days to go to shul, namely Simchat Torah and Purim. That would go a long way to showing them and world what a real Holiday is all about.
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Halloween does have its roots in paganism. Anyone who loves the G-d of the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has no business celebrating this in my opinion.
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I agree with what several people here have said. It is a totally pagan holiday, and gets more disgusting every year: or maybe it's just because I am starting to pay more attention to how different the secular world is compared to the Jewish world...I work in an elementary school, and it's amazing that people let their kids get so wrapped up in blood and guts and candy.
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Why all this extraneous data? It's celebrated in America by Americans. Stop making it a religious No-No!
K. I. S. S.
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I unserstand what most people say about how Halloween has become an American holiday, and its totally okay, but look at the way kids treat it now a days. There are community's were if you dont give candy you house will soon be covered in egg. Kids take the opputunity to be scary, and dress up sometimes inappopriatly, and sometimes pagan (still). We don't want our chilren being exsposed to this wild behavior, even if iit has nothing to do with religion. We, as Jews, carry ourselves as royalty, and shouldn;t be letting our children running around outside asking strangers for candy, and having them pick up the manners of their teenage neighbors. I am a princess and I don't need to dress up as one or go asking people for candy to show.
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i think Halloween is a something every one should be able to do just for fun it is not like you are not saying nasty stuff just because you went trick o treating or are do mean stuff and kids are not always mean
^.^
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Our Chabad community usually organizes a party at the Chabad house for those that want to entertain their kids and "divorce" them from the halloween trick or reating. We have done a pizza and soccer party "kick n eat" and tomorrow night are doing Shabbosqueen instead of halloween.I know my kids are excited for Shabbos and not worried about missing out.However we do leave candy on our doorstep for the others.
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The Jewish youth group I belonged to growing up ran an event on Halloween called "Project Pumpcan." We would dress up, but we would go trick or treating for canned food to donate to a local foodbank instead of candy. I loved getting to dress up and spend the evening with my non-Jewish friends, but I felt much more comfortable knowing that I was giving back rather than just celebrating a holiday with questionable origins.
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I got it! If a Jew just can't wait for Purim, and feels the urge to celebrate Halloween, the obvious choice of costume / character would be to impersonate a Golem. In Jewish folklore, the Golem is a sort of clay robot who protects the Jewish community from its enemies. Since it's a sort of dark, tragic, scary figure, it seems like the perfect Jewish Halloween costume.
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"I know how hard it is to be different, but as Jews, we have been doing just that for most of our 3,800 years. "
we've also been massacred for as long. I'm not so sure this is a selling point.
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Don't forget the witches and warlocks came from Europe to America and brought with them their rituals and spread it around. If you mention to any of them that one is born in October, they make fun as if that person is a Halloween baby. We have to remind them that other countries in the world do not celebrate Halloween and therefore, labeling is unfounded.
America is embracing G-d and the Demonic rituals. We cannot serve two masters. it seems that people are more interested or searching for the occult part of nature and it is frightening to one's soul. If you want to please G-d and keep your soul intact, please avoid this pagan holiday. You will surely feel good about yourself when you obey.
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I have to agree with the author. Purim is for us Jews, not Halloween. Celebrate the light instead of the dark.
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Are you aware that Jewish children used to dress up on Purim and go door to door for treats and THAT is the origin of that part of Halloween?
Then came the idea of dressing us for all saints eve so the souls of evidl people could not get them. So take out death, cemetary decorations, and goblins and witches and you have a immitation of Purim
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Someone posting as "anonymous" several posts back made some claim that if you do a search online for the origins of Halloween, you'll find out that people sacrificed their daughters on this day and did some other outlandish, freakish things. As someone who has Irish/Celtic roots, to say I'm offended is an understatement. I'm definitely not a pagan by any stretch of the imagination, but because I feel it's important for me to know my ancestral roots, I did study what the original holiday that spawned Halloween was about. There were NEVER any sacrifices of that sort -- it was completely against the religious beliefs of the Celts. The original holiday was their most sacred one, in which they would leave food out for the deceased, whose spirits they believed had that one time in the year to return for a visit to their loved ones for an hour or so. It was a celebration of the memories of those who were gone and a very important way to deal with grief, but even more so to honor the memories of those who had passed on to the next life. The jack-o-lanterns and scary costumes were a way of keeping dangerous souls from interrupting the party. The candy and other stuff kids in America do today came way later. What we see in America today barely has anything to do with the original Celtic celebration-- just a symbol here or there like jack-o-lanterns. Might even be worth noting that nobody celebrates Halloween as we know it, except in a few Americanized areas like perhaps London, where the original version of Halloween developed. Anyone who does is considered "Yankee-ized".
Hopefully that clarifies things for people. This isn't an endorsement of the holiday, I'm just saying all this so that people are better informed on the history and culture of the day and not polluting their minds with a bunch of vicious lies. As for me personally, I'll be at shul tonight as it's Shabbat. Even still, I'm 33, I'm single, and I just don't do the kids holidays anymore! I can wear costumes and eat candy year round, so no big deal with me! And on that note, Shabbat Shalom.
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I 've not read all the posts, but in my travels abroad, I have learned that "All Saint's Day" is a traditional bank holiday, celebrated on Nov. 1, and that "All Hallows Eve" - Halloween - is celebrated the night before. Yes, it is true that in 2008 Halloween has morphed into a silly, non-religious night of candy, costumes and pranks, but we Jews are a spiritual people, and we concentrate on matters of character, lasting value and a connection with the Divine. What is the lasting benefit of Halloween that we would abandon our Divinely-ordained calling, even for a single night, to celebrate it? If it's candy, costumes and pranks we want, we have Purim for that, and the added benefit of Purim is that it teaches our children that "giving", and not "getting," is ultimately where it’s at.
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OK Gavriela, I'm happy to see Hallowe'en as a day to honor the dead and to keep evil spirits away.
BUT I prefer not to honor the day. In Mexico, this is called the Day of the Dead, and as a Jew I prefer to avoid death images.
Think of the last verse of Chad Gadya and the angel of death--we Jews want death to end. We don't want to honor death.
We have Jewish ways to honor and remember the dead--kaddish and yizkor and the 25-hour candle. We don't need to pretend to give food to the dead. We offer tzdakah in their memory instead.
And tonight being Shabbos, I am not leaving my porch light on for the children, and not giving them any candy. You know who will eat the leftover candy? ME. And I need to avoid diabetes, which means no candy for me, and no leftover candy to tempt me.
So, goodbye, Hallowe'en.
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I consider Halloween to be a non-denominational American holiday. My husband, my 2 daughters, and I are Jews AND Americans. My younger daughter attends an Orthodox Hebrew school and so did my older daughter when she was young. But I see no reason to disallow my children the opportunity to celebrate this silly holiday, and don't believe it exposes them to any confusion regarding their Jewishness...
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...one might simply see it as a chance for their kids to get dressed in silly costumes, collect a bunch of candy, and not take the goyishe meaning seriously. Heck, if they're giving away candy...?
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This only works if you live in a Jewish religious neighborhood. Part of living in America is about being American. Halloween is an expression of Americanism, and if one rejects Americanism, then reject Halloween. Halloween is an American festival. The original meaning is lost. The Hindu, Arab and Christian children all do trick or treating. Why should the Jewish children be different than the neighbors? It causes problems when the neighbors who are Jewish don't participate and have signs on the doors about "no trick or treating." And, my kids are the Jewish kids who have to go elsewhere because those signs have been up in the past. Why should our Hindu neighbors be friendly and neighborly and give candy, and our Jewish neighbors put signs on their doors? And, if you are so concerned about charity, "Trick or Treat" for Unicef.
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When I was a child, there was one house that kept its porch dark on Halloween.
We children took crayongs with us and marked up their door's screen.
Nowadays children might take toilet paper and "wrap" the house or yard.
But in fact nobody does anything to you if you don't give away candy. There are plenty of houses that do give candy. I used to do it, but in recent years there simply aren't enough kids to use up even one bag of candy, and we do not need to be eating leftover candy. It's not as if we had any kids at home to help get it eaten.
So if you don't want to do it, don't do it. You will be safe. You will still be a good neighbor. (There are many many ways to be a good neighbor!) Your neighbors will still like/love and respect you. And, signs are unnecessary. Your unlit door are enough to warn off visitors. Or go to the door, admire the costumes and send them on their way with a "Sorry, I don't have anything tonight!" Explanations are unnecessary.
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1. At one time, the 30th day after the first day of the tenth month was a holiday on which Jews celebrated (a) death.
2. On evening of the last day of the month, when it is between dusk and midnight and it is the 10th month, we are commanded to light candles and observe a holiday.
3. We should commemorate a death on the last day of the tenth civil month.
4. Taanit 29a (Talmud) says the evening of the last day of the tenth civil month should be a sad time.
Notes:
1. The death of King Yannai was celebrated on the 2nd of Shevat, 30 days after the 1st of Tevet. (The 2nd of Shevat is also the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli.)
2. The first of Tevet begins on the evening of the last day of Kislev; this evening is during Hanukah.
3. The numbering of the months of the Jewish "civil" year begins at Rosh Hashanah and is offset 6 months from the numbering used in the Torah. Tammuz 29 is the yahrtzeit of Rashi.
4. When Tammuz ends, we begin the month Av and "our joy is diminished."
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It is "all hallows eve" - either Christian or pagan, Im not sure. Jews should not be celebrating it in any of its manifestations - just as Jews should not have a "holiday tree" at Xmas time. You don't have to sell out your own heritage to be fully American; on the contrary, to be free to adhere to your own individual belief system & not compromise it for the sake of assimilation is innately American!
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We encourage Jewish and non-Jewish friends to celebrate Tu B'Shevat, Purim, Passover, Sukkot and Hanukah. We are proud of our heritage and wish to share that with our neighbors and friends. Try it!
I also find nothing wrong with secular celebrations of Halloween, Valentine's day, Thanksgiving, New Year's or even Mardi Gras when we lived in N.O. These holidays can be celebrated by anyone without a religious meaning to them. Certainly don't feel threatened by them for me or my family. G-d bless America, where one can choose to celebrate or refrain from celebrating without getting ostracized the vast majority of the time.
There are SO many good charities out there, please don't waste your money on the UN!! Give to Chabad!!, or to Israel!!
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agree with your stance but please be sure to give to UNICEF along with all the other things strangely G-d did not just make Jews and it is against our policy to be selfish.
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I have heard that among those UNICEF benefits are children of Palestinian terrorists living in makeshift training camps. Please DO give to charitable causes, but don't be fooled by a "U.N." at the start of the acronym. Make sure you are not supporting causes that are a direct threat to Jewish survival.
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A good time was had by all in our family this Halloween.
Emma, the four-year-old grand-daughter who lives in the Poconos, was a Transformer at first, then strangely morphed over and into a chicken; resplendent with feathers, wings, and a beak!
She kept reaching up over her head with her feathery little wings, and grabbing her beak; it was pretty funny!
She got a lot of candy, and - truth be told - I'm still eating a bunch myself!
LOL!
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UNICEF, once was devoted to international children's cause. My older brother who was an Engineer adopted by letter a child from UNICEF and funded for her needs. While, living in the middle east, I would get knocks on my door from poor, shabby Palestinians asking for food and clothes. Without knowing the nationality, I offered food and clothes for the sake of humanity only to realize that they were Palestinian refugees.
Today, U.N. has become a thuggery institution that they might be doing disservice to all children if they are funding for the children of the terrorists. I hope Laura can provide the source of her information. We did honor UNICEF work. Even Mother Thresa did not differentiate between the children of the Palestinians. She and her partners were in the battlefield picking the orphan children and transporting them to safe places. Christian theology is that we are to pray for our enemies and love them. I can imagine that it is hard. You can decide on that one depending on the measure of your faith.
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the worlds children are helped by UNICEF and the political leanings of their parrents has nothing to do with it.
So yes all children even those of terrorists are helped. So are others.
You should be more careful of who you open your door to. There are people who say they need help and are carrying kids and when you are busy with them their cohorts are comming thru your probable unlocked back door robbing you.
Thru the door you can tell them to go to the Salvation Army to get clothes. The world is not what it used to be.
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By refusing to help feed starving children, because of their nationality or because their parents are trying to make them into terrorists, we help their parents convince them that we are selfish or racist, so the children grow up hating Jews and likely to become terrorists themselves.
If we were to help feed these children, they would see Jews as generous and caring about others. Then, they would grow up thankful, instead of hateful, and would not become terrorists.
Hillel taught that giving charity without knowing who is receiving it is a higher form Tzedaka than giving to an identified recipient. Perhaps, this is because giving only to those who are like oneself is selfish, and pure Tzedaka should consist of giving to all who need, of any race.
Hurting "bad" people economically so that they cannot afford food makes their hungry children grow up to kill Jews. German resentment at being required to pay war reparations after WW1 was a major contributor to the rise of Hitler.
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So, Mushkat, UNICEF is like the proverbial Trojan horse...?
Hmmmn, now I get it.
Here, I thought they were just a charitable organization trying to help with some kid problems.
But UNICEF is not exactly a terrorist organization, right?
I don't always agree with what Israel does, but I'm not a terrroist either, right?
I just don't know.
I do like lighting-off fireworks, especially cherry bombs because they have waterproof fuses and you can weight them for underwater operations!
How does all this shmit fit in with Halloween again?
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Nice comments, but you did not give out your souce. That's alright. Back in the islamic country that we lived in transition did not have salvation army. We were being watched, since we were considered foreigners. I had made a decision that whoever knocks my door for help, I would offer it for the sake of G-d. Most of the locals had educated in the U.S., Germany, England, etc and were quite capable of knowing who is who.
I applaud on the comments made by Anonymous about giving to those who we do not identify. Yes, evil can be overcome by love. Why should we add more fuel to the fire? Our job on earth is to lead humanity to G-d irrespective of faith. On the other hand, I am afraid to open the door in the U.S. for the fear of murder, rape, etc. Isn't this an irony?
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My mom always said, "don't become so open-minded that your brains fall out." I'm baffled by those who encourage us to give money to charities that support terrorism. I don't put food out for mice and cockroaches - and they are simple annoyances. Why would I aid and abet a known enemy? I guess we should thank G-d that people nowadays are so ignorant - it is proof that they have not personally known tragedy - but for those of us who have been touched by deliberate evil, it is a curious phenomenon.
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"...that people nowadays are so ignorant..."
Yeah, it sounds like you have a firm grip on reality, and science. Take a look in the mirror; you're the perennial victim.
Yeah again, UNICEF is a terrorist organization?
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"Apparently, the custom of going door to door to "beg" for candy began as a campaign to request food for the poor who were too embarassed to ask for themselves. I don't know how the custom changed to be one of candy collecting. What if Jimmy's family collected food for the local food bank? Then they could have a family celebration and do a mitzvah at the same time. Of course it would be even better if the family could be encouraged to celebrate Purim too!"
Commenter Ruth's words are very interesting. Creating an opening for a mitzvah in a seemingly non-holy (non-Jewish) event---- this seems to me something that every Jew is called to do, that is another way in which we provide light to the rest of the world. collecting food for the hungry, instead of candy for yourself....well, that's something very special indeed, something that couldn't be done by writing off the whole thing as "goyish" and sinful. Its what you make of it, so make it beautiful.
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Aw, c'mon Tzvi. Take a Vallium. As you may remember, I live in Richmond, and this 'holiday' is quite a big deal in the 'hood, no matter what your background. It's a time for kids to pretend in costumes, and for parents to take part in a Canadian tradition. It no longer involves even a smidgen of Druidic paganism, and there hasn't been since the days of Sleepy Hollow.The only bad thing about it is the overdose of sugar you're giving the kids before they go to bed. My friends and I (all part of Chabad of Richmond) all remember fondly our early Hallowe'ens, and had as much fun showing it to our kids as we always do in celebrating Purim. It's not necessary to choose one over the other, so much as to enjoy both, while understanding and teaching the difference. There's no ubiased literature that I'm aware of that can explain what harm can happen to the neshama of a Jew who opens his door to the local kids and gives them each a sweet. Bashing Hallowe'en is just Hassidism gone wild .
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I listened to a niece read from her new favorite book about vampires(4th in the twilight series) which she enjoys reading near the holiday of Halloween. I was astonished at the vivid, grotesque imagery...many adults are unaware of one related idea of popular scary genre leading to another such as this well read series that involves blood and killing...kids are desensitized and unaware of implications of their horror costumes (of slasher movie figures)...it's a real concern
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Where I live (New York City) it's generally agreed by most people, non-Jews in particular, that it is definitely Not Safe for children to celebrate Halloween. Even if the urban legends circulating about poisoned candy are untrue, there are enough real dangers in the big city, like masks obscuring vision crossing the street, and gangs of hoodlums running around throwing rocks, for parents to stop the kids from Halloween observance. Ironically it has become a holiday for Adults Only, with adults purchasing expensive costumes to wear at the Annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade and to adult Halloween parties. Maybe in small towns with low crime rates and good sheriffs it's still fun for little kids. Here Halloween seems to have shifted from a benevolent "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" outing into some kind of hard-core goth bloody scarefest, especially when a few warped individuals get the idea that Halloween gives them free license to assault and vandalize.
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I agree with Richmond BC, (and I'm from Richmond MI) Let the kids enjoy both
Holidays if they want to. I just don't think that they really consider being different just because they are Jews anyway, no more than a Protestant feels that different from a Catholic. To celebrate Purim is wonderful and fun, and a special thing that they will enjoy among other Jews, but also to celebrate Halloween with their non-Jewish friends is also something to enjoy.
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...That is the best reason I have ever heard for not celebrating Halloween. "Demanding versus giving, scaring versus rejoicing," that analysis put it into perspective for me. Thank you!
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Most cities need more police protection the night before and on Halloween. There are many acts of vandalism and unfortunately sometimes these are against the Jewish community.
And like most American holidays, Halloween is highly commercialized. It boosts the economy and increases spending but has no meaning outside of that.
To us, Halloween is just a nuisance...
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Thank you for your beautiful comments on this subject, my feelings exactly!
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Hi, just dropping by to wonder at the lack of insight into festivals for children.
The original Hallowe'en asked a dignified people to pray for those who had passed. All Saint Eve or Hallowed Evening is not meant to resemble devil worship,and it used to be a strictly Christian service which is now observed by Christian leaders on Novenber 1st..
Canadian indians carved pumpkins into a head "mask" then left these on sensitive land areas, to help prevent injuries. They donated something to rebalance the land, and it is a warm and pretty North American tradition .
You are deeply intelligent, but here, overly simplistic, which can foster social apartheid.
By donating goodies to the kids, we are honouring our "dead", or, here they are back again- such a pleasure. More pleasant to see they are well and eternal - bouncing back! Halloween fun offers kids cultural immune fixtures; they learn how not to faint of hysteria over every worrisome little cultural distinction.
March-too cold!
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very great answer and wise.
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The origin of "trick or treat" was the custom of praying for the souls of the dead and the offering of food in return. The "trick" is an idle threat of mischief, a sparring of friendship. Halloween is used by UNICEF to gather donations for charity.
The comparison with PURIM is instructive. American customs and holidays often parallel Jewish in a number of ways:
Sunday--Sabbath; 12-month year; New Years--Trumpets (Rosh ha-Shanah); Christmas--Tabernacles (Sukkot); Thanksgiving--Passover (Pesach); Independance Day--Weeks (Shavu'ot); Good Friday--Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and Easter--First Fruits (Omer Resheet).
The American Shema is IN GOD WE TRUST. I can't help but see in E-PLURIBUS-UNUM the letters EP(h)R(a)IM.
Alef, Mem, Resh, Kaf, Ayin = 331 (AMRCA) and so do Alef, Pe, Resh, Yod, Mem (EFRIM). "Out of many, one" and "Double Increase."
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Shlomo,
This practice of praying for the soul of the dead and offering food was practiced by the ancient Philistines, Greeks, and Amalekites who did detestable things before G-d.
The Greek mythology and even in Hinduism that they offer food for the dead believing that they taste the aroma of it. Give me a break! Remember, the story of Saul the KIng consulting the witch if she could get in touch with Samuel the prophet? Did Samuel the prophet spoke through the witch or it was the negative spirit that spoke through her? Don't play games with G-d and therefore, Saul was killed instantly.
Further, Solomon says that G-d gave the breath and he takes it away. The body goes down to the dust. In my view, once the soul is in the hand of G-d, we cannot bribe G-d; they do not correspond with us; it is the negative energy that is causing the mimic to deceive you. I call it the evil one.
Beware! G-d does not like occult practices.
Continued....
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Few years ago, I had heard the guy on NBC claiming to reach the dead relatives and pass the messages is nothing but crap. Whoever joined him are going to pay the price for ignorance.
This man is doing the job similar to the WITCH OF ENDOR. Don't get trapped. Read Deuteronomy Chapter 28, Blessings for obedience and Curses for Disobedience and you may be enlightened.
Concerning UNICEF, the intent to feed the children is good, but the means of achieving the funds may not be ethical. Again, we live in the 21st century and witness these unethical practices everywhere including religious organizations.
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There are 97 February 29'ths in every 400 years, so Halloween occurs every 365 97/400 (365.2425) days, on average. There are 235 molads (periods of 29 days, 12 hours, and 793 halaqimin) in 19 Hebrew years, so Purim occurs every 365 days, 5 hours, and 997 12/19 halaqimim (approximately 365.246822205978 days), on average. Starting in approximately the 53rd millennium of the common era (the 56th or 57th millennium on the Hebrew calendar), Purim will sometimes fall on October 31. When Purim and Halloween are the same day, will you wear costumes in order to observe Purim or not wear costumes in order to avoid appearing to be participating in Halloween?
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How old is this article? The comments seem to be mostly from 2006. Any new thoughts since then by the author? OK, I grew up celebrating Halloween and so did my kids and grandkids. The evil spirits have not taken us away. We are just regular people who enjoy fun, costumes, parties, and trick or treating. To compare Purim to Halloween is like comparing apples and oranges but it you really want to get into it, there are some scary parts of Purim. How do you explain a woman offering herself (sexually or otherwise) to a man in return for favors? Hmm - sounds like she is prostituting herself to me. What about the evil Haman? He is very scary to little children. So, let's let everyone make the decision for his or her own children as to whether to let them enjoy the fun of the day. Please stop dictating what are our own choices.
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You are on a site that offers religious views to enlighten that which is missing the mark for perfection.
The evil spirits do not take away, but there is always a price to pay (emotionally or physically) but G-d has extended His grace to the fallen man/woman to repentence. It is my duty to remind you of the map so that you and your children may not stumble on the way. There are many children that were kidnapped on that day. In other instances, children had traumatic experiences and have never been the same. Again, the intent is accounted for why the woman offered her body and I must definitely state that her actions are out of context and is against the word of G-d.
Nobody is dictating you, but G-d has dictated some rules to practice in the Torah. Read Deutronomy.
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You seem to have made lots of research on the Jewish Calendar, you missed that we add a month every 2-3 years to catch up with the solar cycle, that's the concept of the leap year. Based on the verse in Torah stating that Pesach must always fall in Spring. You can continue your research, but in any case no worries, Purim will never happen on the same day as Halloween. To answer your question, as Jews, we observe all our laws regardless to our surroundings just like this article explains it well.
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The average calendar length that I gave considers the extra month. The average month on the Hebrew calendar is 29 days, 12 hours, and 793 halaqimin. In every 19 years, there are 12 regular 12-month years and 7 years of 13 months each, for a total of 235 months. This makes the average year 12 and 7/19ths of a month, which comes to an 365 days, 5 hours, and 997 12/19 halaqimim (approximately 365.246822205978 days).
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More like educating! And what difference does it make how old an article is. If it expresses and eternal truth, time is irrelevant. Esther did not prostitute herself (your unfortunate perception), but entered to see the King unbidden, that could have cost her her life!! Besides she was the king's wife! Haman is evil, but he is not portrayed in horror, and certainly not glorified as is done. Rabbi Freeman makes awesome points regarding the call of the Jews. If you don't want to be included that is, of course, your choice, Barbara. But you have pilfered away a heritage and partnership with G-d for fool's gold! Surely the values of Halloween are a means of elevation and redemption for the world. If you have sold out your heavenly inheritance for some fleeting pleasure, who is the prostitute? I am B'nai Noach. I see the treasure G-d has given the Jews and cannot for the life of me understand any Jew settling for less or falling for very cheap imitations. Shabbat Shalom
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Thank you for your insight. I welcome the opportunity to share this comparison with my children! Understanding the history behind halloween and Purim and the differences is just one more example about what I love about being Jewish...in a time of fear the people turn to Hashem for help. The heroine is a Queen, not a witch. She is motivated to perserve life, even at the risk of losing her own life. You are right, it is about giving..be it prayers, charity, food for others instead of "Trick or Treat", a sugar high, a demand for something that seems sweet for a moment but is ultimately empty. Maybe an alternative for those who want to participate in halloween... In these times it would be nice to trick or treat for a local food bank...
Shalom
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Halloween is utterly harmless fun. As a Jewish parent who has raised two strong Jewish young men, I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's a chance for children and adults to enjoy themselves. I respectfully disagree with the article. And yes, we celebrate Purim as well.
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I totally agree and kudos to your wisdom!
I overlooked Barbara's comment on Esther as she did not mention her name. I was referring to any woman that is involved in illicit behavior.
Now, I realize it was Esther the Queen that she was referring to. Of course, Esther was married to the King and it is spiritually symbolic that when we go to the King that is G-d, he hears our request and is a just king that punishes the evil doers like Haman.
The gist of the Purim event has been distorted by the secular world.
Great post!
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Your compromising position is exactly what G-d detests. G-d had commanded Samuel the Prophet; that He does not desire your sacrifices of lip worship, but He desires your sincere repentence from your heart.
You seem to have been digging a pit without knowing as your one foot already has been tangled in the web of Haloween candies and costumes and the other in the Purim as well. I am not sure what you would have done if you were Esther the Queen. You may have supported Haman, because his foot was with both parties or shall I boldly say, a double agent.
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I am 13 years old and I celebrate Purim. There is nothing really to celebrate about halloween. It is just a night where kids get costumes and get candy from houses. It is completely harmless. The article states that Halloween puts bad messages into children's minds. The children don't think about the story behind halloween, they think it is fun to carve a pumpkin, decorate their houses, wear costumes, and get loads of candy in the process. Little children like to give out candy. None of the costumes or decorations are actually scary; most of them are funny. I understand not trick or treating on Shabbat, but it is harmless fun to go trick or treating on a weeknight or sunday. The children at school will also make fun of children that didn't go and they will feel really bad about themselves. I respectfully disagree with this article.
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dear friends, as a catholic and latin, for i am portuguese, Halloween as a totally different meaning: it's the day we visit cemeteries and offer flowers and prayers to the departed ones we love...how about that? tell me, no matter what you might think, religious beliefs appart, i don't even celebrate Halloween!!! But, if i had a child...I would let her PLAY,REJOICE with her friends,COSTUME, eat candies...SO WHAT?? Friends, there are no religious implications here, G-d SURELY doesn't even bother with that...He just wants happiness in the childrens hearts, to listen to their laughs and their treats! That's what its ALL about! CHILDREN! everything else, is just adults commenting and talking. Just relax, trust the childrens judgment, you will be surprised! And let go...be happy! That's the most precious gift to give to G-d, happiness and a light heart! Follow your instinct and be true, He will always be there for you, I am sure! G-d bless you all,adeus.
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It may be 'fun' to dress up, and pleasant to stroll the neighborhood, giving and taking, but there is much more to today's Hween.
The sympbols which are still used are still relevant to satanism, which is alive, well and growing, along with wicca and other worship of evil spirits.
We can dress it up any which way we like, gushing about the fun to be had and putting down dissent, but the truth remains unchanged... Lipstick on a pig.
It is the many years of the "OH, it's all in fun" argument that have mainstreamed witch craft & a truly frightful day, whose purpose is to bring down the kingdom of G-d.
I do, however, thinkmost don't know, so it is a great opportunity to share things with others. You can give all kinds of things. When I was a kid, we gave the children fun religious books along with the candy.
There is a way to serve Him at every step, but trying to make this still purely pagan day out to be some kind of harmless romp is an insult to honest logic.
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To Genius Child
Only those who are afraid of being teased find it necessary to tease others. Learn to respect yourself.
When I was a child I didn't go out on Haloween because I didn't like "begging".
My children were fine not going out on Haloween &, as far as I know, no one cared enough to give them a hard time.
If it's so harmless, why do parents have to inspect the candy to make sure it IS candy & that there are no razor blades in the fruit.
And cleaning eggs off a house can get expensive - not so harmless if your parents are having trouble paying the bills in today's economy..
Develop pride in yourself by doing your best and you won't worry about what others think. Remember, they're just as worried about what YOU think of them..If they tease you, they feel insecure.
If you have non-Jewish friends it's nice to be happy for them on their holidays but they don't celebrate yours. Why do you feel you have to celebrate theirs?
Walk tall & enjoy your own holidays.
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This is a very positive Jewish perspective. Great article!
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We are a one G-d congregation and we do not celebrate Halloween. We hold what we call, "Holy Nite". This night is directed toward children twelve years old and under. There is food, crafts, activities, skits, music, fun, CANDY, and an appeal to come to G-d.
This night has nothing to do with Halloween and the child (and adults) tend to forget about that devilish event going on outside of our Holy Nite event.
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We cannot remain ignorant all the time, can we?
It is our emotions that have got us into a lot of problems, because they are not brought under the subjection of G-d's word. In other words, we do not check the actions to be in compliance with G-d's word.
As I read your post, I was thinking of the Garden of Eden, where G-d simply requested both Adam & Eve to eat fruits from the various trees except one. They too were having I am sure dancing in that beautiful garden and checking out all the fruits. When Eve came across one deary and attractive apple tree that had the serpent sitting on having an intellectual conversation creating an enormous curiosity in her, you can imagine the temptation that led Eve to forget every command of G-d and to believe in the false promise of Satan. Similarly, Lucilia, the Catholic traditions have lots of misconceptions and I hope you will handle it well.
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You have well said in that children can be taught to counterattack the dark side of Halloween by creating a positive attitude and actions that exalts G-d. Again, G-d judges the intentions of the heart.
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a thought came to me that although it doesnt give the message of giving to the children, but it does to the parents .perhaps it will filter dow.n I guess you can find good in everything.... good job
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Please refrain from lashon hara on this website. If you do not want to participate in Halloween, fine, but stop creating paranoia and libeling the gentiles.
To answer the question: "If it's so harmless, why do parents have to inspect the candy to make sure it IS candy & that there are no razor blades in the fruit." Parents do not have to inspect the candy and fruit. They choose to do so, because of tradition, ignorance, or paranoia. Fake candy and razor blades in fruit are myths with no more basis in reality than the blood in matzo libel that was once used to persecute us. These things simply do not occur. Pretending that there is a need to check candy provides a convenient excuse to delay the eating so children do not get sick from overeating, but serves no other purpose.
If born a gentile, "hopeful" of Phoenix would be asking why matzo needs to be "watched" if Jews never put blood in it. (Note to the gentiles reading this: it's watched to prevent leavening, not blood.)
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Im jewish my self and i have friends that are non jewish its very hard to explain to them that i dont celebrate it but thanks for this article.. it will help them understand.
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You're wrong.
The reason parents need to inspect Halloween candy (and some places even have/used to have x-ray machines to do so) is because people nowadays are sick, twisted and will do horrible things. There HAVE been incidents, and that's why the "paranoia" started. Do your research before you go comparing candy from strangers and matza.
Halloween is definitely a holiday that teaches horrible morals. "Give me candy or you and your house will get egged." The phrase "Trick or Treat" originated when kids used to play horrible pranks on the people who wouldn't give them candy. What a terrible idea! And today, for the teens and tweens who don't go trick or treating, Halloween is a time to show off your body--yes, that's right, where girls feel pressured to have the most sexually appealing costume at the party. Just ridiculous.
Halloween is quite the immoral "holiday" and should just be done away with.
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You're wrong.
Although there have been two fatalities, both were later proven to have been caused by the children’s own families, not by strangers. In one case, the child’s father deliberately poisoned his child’s candy, and no one else died. In the other case, the family had heroin, which killed the child, so they lied and blamed the candy.
The few actual incidents of non-familial product tampering do not involve Halloween candy, and mostly targeted adults.
X-ray machines are needed because people erroneously believe the stories told by “grieving” relatives, and do not wait for results the investigations that invariably find that the child’s family, not Halloween, caused the death. Then, they repeat the story, even after it's disproven.
You are right that “people nowadays are sick, twisted and will do horrible things” to children, but they do them almost exclusively to members of their own households or their own families (or to adults), not to strangers’ children.
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The Torah considers any spreading of negative tales about another to be evil, even if the tales are true.
We are taught that any act of lashon hara harms three: not only the person who is slandered, but also the speaker and the listener. I never really believed that, until now.
When the story concocted by a man who killed his child continues to be repeated, long after his death, and causes unnecessary x-raying, and especially when unrelated gentiles are falsely accused of a crime that has already been solved, I finally understand why the Torah needs to prohibit even those stories that we believe.
After enough repetition, most begin to believe what “everyone” knows. Anyone who dares speak the truth is declared to be ignorant.
Only by observing the prohibition against all tales, can we avoid accidentally spreading false ones.
There are only 2 questions left to answer:
Why are you engaging in evil speech?
And why is Chabad.org allowing what the Torah prohibits?
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Dear Chabad.org, We think Halloween is totally a bad influence for our kids.
As Sarah from Toronto said , it shows our children to say "give me a treat or I will egg your house", wich is a very bad example.
Lets end it right over there.
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When I lived near Detroit, there were real razor blades found in the candy and fruit distributed on the 31st Oct-- this to children.
It was in the news and was not the efforts of one person, but a few who wanted to inflict harm. Children were told not to accept fruit and stations were set up to allow parents to have their candy inspected. Tainted candy was conviscated.
This was not a hoax. It was the beginning of firestation, neighborhood watch, police and community hosted 'private' so-called fall festivals.
At this time and for many years after, there was a great struggle with ppl burning buildings on the 31st.
All people have a potential for evil. It is not bashing any one group (even satanists) to disapprove participation in events designed to rebrand & promote the occult as 'harmless' or 'light hearted'.
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Rebakah is correct that it was in the news, but that does not make it fact. Reports that 9/11 was a Mossad operation to frame Moslems made the news in some countries; I assume you do not believe those stories (which have a greater factual basis: Mossad and 9/11 both existed.)
Deaths of children make the news quickly; police investigate carefully, and usually find proof that family members, not strangers, are at fault.
For example, Detroit was the scene of the case of the child poisoned by heroin that made the news at the time, but was later discovered to have been from his uncle.
Fruit with razors has been discovered, and makes the news quickly as well. In most cases, it is later proven that the person who "found" the razors was the person who put it in the fruit, and did so either as a joke or to seek publicity.
The Detroit fires are real, and trick-or-treating saves lives there. Children who are out getting candy when their houses burn do not die in the fires.
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dear,Elizabeth, thnk you for your comment! I understood your comment and I comply with it. Altough I am not jewish and altough I am not a catholic who goes practises religion as we are told to(!), my parents always tried to instruct me into kindness,honesty, truth and a loyal heart. I think they did a pretty good job, if I am up to the test of how i respond and observe their legacy...Well, inspite all my numerous faults, I trie really hard to do the best I can.Sometimes I make mistakes, say things or do things latter on, at the end of a days work i look back and sincerely regret...but the next day is another day, aknowledge of our own faults is half way to correct them, so, I try to mend my mistakes every time i can, in the best way possible. Yes, I think our conscious is our best judge, if I may say this, the "voice of G-d in us all".That's probably our best guide. Even when its a blessing in disguise we know when its right and when its wrong, even if we don't admit it!G-d bless!
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All I know is we dressed Emma, the grand-daughter of 5 years, as a - walking candy corn - with the appropriate long triangular shape, and the three colors.
Have you ever seen a five-year-old candy corn walking around, and talking?
She was a riot!
We did the supervised 'treating around the Pine Street neighborhood of Pompton Lakes, N.J.
Emma got candy, but more than that, it was fun!
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I have heard the stories on "candies" being tainted and distributed to children. We are not here on the site trying to solve cases, but are revealing the sinister mindset of Halloween. By doing so, we are correcting the error and replacing that which is good in the sight of G-d.
All evil creepy stuff surfaces during Halloween season, because people can take advantage of the evilness of the holiday. I do not believe when someone exposes a criminal case that it is lashan hara. There are so many cold cases that have been solved due to the mere fact the nosey investigator had been checking around and repeating the event to many people. The intention is good. When we discuss such cases, we are bringing awareness to the dim-wits around who innocently ignore warnings.
Remember, Sherlock-Holmes solved cases by simply observing details in the environment? You must have a keen sense of perception and a gift from G-d to do so.
Also remember, there is no right or wrong answer!!
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Dear Sarah,
Thank you for the reminder about Halloween immorality. We live in a generation that every aspect of events have been compromised to the extent that the soul may one day be hardened and reject the truth from the word of G-d.
I have never in my entire life witnessed anything like these crimes that are taking place in the U.S. Sad to say that children are innocent at an early age, but most of these children have turned into monsters in their adult age only to show the pampering and the denial from the parents. The interview conducted on the criminals only suggest that they were blaming their mothers (mostly) and some on the fathers for their catastrophic behavior.
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On my street, I've yet to see ghouls and goblins. Instead a faniciful parade of princesses and kings and heroes roam the streets, cheerfully greeting each other and sharing their goodies. I've yet to see anything remotely cultish about the holiday as presented in my neighborhood. Of course proper precautions are taken place to ensure the continuation of the Jewish tradition, modesty of dress and inspection for kasruts on candy wrappers. What Halloween really is nowadays in the United States is just a nationwide tradition where religion plays no part in. While some may argue that it probably started as a Christian thing, my rubtle is if Thanksgiving started with Pilgrims and Indians, why do Americans today celebrate it. We celebrate Thanksgiving not because we are of the same religion as the founders but because we share the same feelings of gratitude that the Pilgrims felt toward the Native Americans. Halloween is no different since all we truly celebrate is the feeling of happiness.
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Exposing an actual criminal is not lashan hora.
Repeating an accusation that one has "heard" in a case that has already been solved, especially an accusation against a person who has been proven innocent, is lashon hora.
There are no fatal Halloween cases to solve.
There are no cold Halloween cases.
All the fatal Halloween cases have already been solved. In every fatal Halloween case, a family member was proven to be responsible. In every fatal Halloween case, it has been proven that the death was not caused by something given to the child by a stranger. The only fatalities caused by strangers were car accidents.
Repeating an unsolved event, without making accusations against innocent persons, may be a valid way of attempting to solve cases.
Repeating a solved event, especially if innocent persons are accused, is not a way to solve cases. It is only a way to inflame passions against those who are being reaccused after having already been proven innocent
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Unfortunately, there were children in the hospital who had bitten into razor blades. I agree that we are not here to solve cases, but is it better to be safe or sorry, because of a staunch skepticism?
Halloween is NOT a holy day. Costumes are cute, candy is sweet-- celebrating evil is a bad idea.
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You are correct that things have happened to children. There have even been at least two deaths that you do not mention. But these were caused by the children's own families, not by strangers.
As far as "better to be safe or sorry", when it comes to intentionally inflicted harm, especially murder, sending children trick-or-treating is safer than keeping them at home, where they are exposed to their family. (However, staying home is safer overall, but only because of the risk of being hit by a car by accident.)
Keeping children home will not keep their families from killing them, which is how all of the Halloween fatalities happen. If anything, keeping them home makes it more likely that their families will kill them (on purpose or by accident). The only way that keeping children home protects anyone is that it protects strangers from being falsely accused.
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Many allegations of attempts to kill or injure trick-or-treaters have been posted here. Yet, not one has actually died, except for those whose deaths were caused by their families. Assuming 10 attempts by strange that each had a 50% chance of causing death, the probability that all would fail is 0.1%. Assuming 20 such attempts, the probability is less than one in a million.
Therefore, for even half these allegations to be true, there would have been some extraordinary miracle protecting the children and keeping them alive.
I do not know why God would save trick-or-treaters from strangers, while allowing other children to be hit by cars and die, but a 100% survival rate is too improbable to be a coincidence.
Therefore, if the allegations are true, then you must conclude that G-d truly loves trick-or-treating, so much that special angels are sent every year to protect trick-or-treaters, more so than other children, who are also loved, but are sometimes allowed to die.
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I am not sure why you are in denial of our concern for bringing out the best of Halloween creepy world?
Then, let me ask you, why do you eat the same food over and over again? Do you like it? Or is it a passion to chew it? Or obesity? Similarly, we like to discuss about the dangers as a passion, because some may have undergone some kind of tragedy in their life that lost their loved ones or for the sake of goodness. Intervention is better than cure is the doctor's dogma.
Yes, Sarah is right, in that the evil has not personified in its true characteristics, but rather in a deceptive manner by wearing costumes and other activities. The story of the wolf dressing as a grandmother to deceive the Little Red Riding Hood pertains to Halloween behavior.
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Is this I read true? Someone had the work to conceal razor blades inside candies for children to eat on Halloween pranks?? what sort of sick person would do that?? to children? Are you crazy?? When i commented this on my place of work, no one believed!! what is wrong with that kind of people? had they ever been caught? if so, what punishment could be applied? I can only thing of putting them eating razors as well! Heaven forbids!! How low and evil can a person be, what sick mind...
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I am in denial of your concern for bringing out the best because you keep participating in the worst part of Halloween: adults who, after children are hurt by their families, use Halloween to make innocent strangers appear responsible.
If you were discussing either of the two real dangers of Halloween: children running in the streets where they can be hit by cars, and a small number of adults who hurt the children in their own families, then your passion would be appropriate.
But passionate discussion of the disproven claims of strangers killing children serves only to divert attention from the real dangers, cars and the children's families.
The doctor's dogma is that intervention to prevent harm and to create a situation where cure is not needed is better than cure.
Intervention to keep someone away from safety and force them into the one place where they are in the most danger (ironically, their own home) is not better than cure.
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No one concealed razor blades inside candy. The razor blades were in fruit. The candy had poison. (Candy sold in the U.S. comes in sealed wrappers, making it impossible to put a razor blade inside without an obvious tear in the wrapper.)
Someone did put poison in the candy, and they were caught. The "sort of sick person" that would do this? In one case, the child's father, for the life insurance money. He was executed. In the other case, a member of the child's family who wanted strangers to be blamed when the child's uncle's heroin accidentally harmed the child (the deception was intended to protect the uncle from arrest). In that case, there were criminal charges, but no execution, because there was no intent to cause death.
Another type of sick person put razors in the fruit, and was caught. That person did it in order to pretend to "find" the razors and appear to be a victim, to obtain sympathy, fame, money, publicity, or whatever. (No one died in that case.)
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Here's some data for your reference what happened on Halloween day this year. This is just one out of thousands of scenarios.
"As nurses, superheroes and devils roamed the streets this weekend, police officers were on alert.
Crime rates were high this Halloween compared to previous years, Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said.
WSU Police issued 22 MIPs on Friday and Saturday, according to police reports. Pullman Police gave out 41. MIPs are only for underage drinkers. There were also several cases of disorderly conduct, public intoxication and open containers. One group was also cited for reckless endangerment after repeatedly running into the street in their costumes and playing chicken with the cars (the daily evergreen)
Costumes made an appearance in other crimes this weekend. One person reported that a man dressed as Batman broke one of the windows in his home. Two women also reported being assaulted by someone dressed as Chewbacca.
Continued...
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In addition, there were 11 people were to be transported to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning, according to police reports.
So much for the gammit
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I am sure that some crimes happened on the same day as Halloween. Some crimes happen every day.
What does not happen is strangers killing treak-or-treaters on purpose. There are cases of children being killed by their own families, children being hit by cars, crimes against adult victims, and voluntary consumption of excessive alcohol, but none of these are the result of allowing children to trick-or-treat or the result of giving candy (or anything else, except alcohol) to trick-or-treaters.
I certainly agree that we should not give alcohol to treak-or-treaters (which would violate secular law anyway). I also concede that the reports of "playing chicken" with cars demonstrate the danger that children could be killed by cars on Halloween, which I already mentioned.
None of your examples are remotely related to the original topics of whether to give candy to trick-or-treaters and whether letting children trick-or-treat puts them in danger of crimes that strangers commit.
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Several postings here say that we should not celebrate Halloween because it is a celebration of death. According to that reasoning, we should not celebrate Purim either. Purim is also a celebration of death. The Megilah says that the secular government us permission to kill, and everyone stopped standing against us, and yet we still killed 75,000, who were no longer standing against us. If anything, Purim is worse than Halloween, because Purim is a celebration of government-approved mass murder.
Earlier this week, you should have removed ten drops of wine from your glass at the seder, because we not supposed to be fully happy when we remember events that caused anyone, even our enemies, to suffer. Celebrating Purim to its fullest violates this rule.
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You claim Purim is a celebration of death? Unfortunately, you have no idea what we celebrate on Purim. Please, I beg of you, reread Megillas Esther. Don't look at it as a fairy tale, and don't detach yourselves from our forefathers, not feeling what they felt. Picture it, Haman planned to annihilate ALL of the Jewish people in ONE day. There were millions of Jews scattered in the vast Persian empire. To compare: the Nazi killing machine was the most efficient mass-murdering system ever devised, using modern science and industry to kill as many people as quickly as possible, and it took several YEARS to kill 6 million Jews. To accomplish more than Hitler did in ONE DAY means Haman must have had MILLIONS of followers thirsting for Jewish blood ready to murder at his command. Imagine the fear of your Jewish forefathers. Nobody can stand against millions of enemies surrounding them. They're gone. Then they cried out to G-d and the world turned upside down (to be continued...)
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The wicked Ahasveros (who had signed off on Haman's plot) refused to rescind the decree against the Jews. He (not Mordechai) authorized the Jews to fight their enemies and kill men, women, and children and take their property. Yes, the Megilla states that the people feared the Jews and did not stand against them (a miracle). Most of the would-be killers stayed home on the appointed day. But a number did rise against the Jews, and the Jews fought them and prevailed. Note that the Jews only attacked the men who sought to hurt them. They did not lay a hand on women, children, or property, even though Ahasveros authorized it. The Jewish people survived the greatest threat to their existence in history. We're celebrating LIFE! Now here's a question for you: Had the Jews rising up in the Warsaw Ghetto miraculously defeated the Nazis and ended WW2, would you be against celebrating that victory, because the Jews had to kill some Nazi soldiers while defending themselves?
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I did reread Megillas Esther; that's what bothers me. When I knew only the fairy tale, it seemed harmless. The actual text is the problem.
Ester 9:2 says no "man"-not even one-stood against us, so, if anyone did, then it was the women & children! We killed only innocents. Other beliefs are your Constitutional right, but contradict the scripture.
Ahasveros was a gentile, subject only to Noahide law. However, Jews must obey Torah, even if the king says to violate it. Since you brought up the Holocaust, it shows government authorization does not make killing ok.
You're wrong that Nazis killed as quickly as possible & as efficiently as anyone. Ester 9:16 says that we killed 75,000 in one day, which was faster than the Nazis killed us. (Please keep this quiet; we do not want Demjanjuk's lawyers to use it to defend him.)
To answer your ?: Killing Nazis during the war & the Holocaust would have been self-defense. Once they surrendered & the camps were liberated, it would have been murder.
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We killed only innocents? G-d forbid!! Since when does having their evil plot foiled make villians innocent? If bin-Laden had been stopped, he'd be innocent and we should let him back to his business? You cite Esther 9:16, read the verse again... "haYehudim... nik'halu v'amod al-nafsham..." they defended themselves. If nobody was attacking them, who were they defending themselves from? By saying nobody stood up against the Jews, what it means is that the enemies couldn't successfully harm them, not that they suddenly became "innocent." To stand up against someone is to stop or defeat them. The text is not the problem, and I am not contradicting it. Why feel guilty that you are alive? Had the Jews not fought, we'd not be here!
Egypt didn't stand up against the Jews during the Exodus. At the splitting of the Red Sea the soldiers' chariot wheels came off and they suddenly wanted to flee. Was it "murder" heaven forbid when G-d turned the sea back on them?
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The book of Ester clearly states that the plot was not "foiled" in the sense of someone trying to go through with it and failing. It says they decided not to go through with it because they were too afraid. This is not consistent with your claim that they continued with the attack and failed. Either they were too afraid to fight, which is what the book of Ester says, or they were fighting, which is what you say, but not both.
If a person is planning a crime, but then decides not to do so, for whatever reason, including fear of being caught or fear of being killed, then they are innocent, because they did not actually commit the crime. A person is guilty only if the person actually tries to commit the crime.
By your reasoning, Abraham is "guilty" of trying to kill Isaac, simply because he planned to do so, even though he stopped when G-d said to stop.
I do not feel guilty that I am alive. We, collectively, should feel guilty about causing even one more death than necessary.
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"Red Sea" is a mistranslation. The Torah says the Sea of "Reeds", not "red".
It also does not say that G-d turned back the sea. It says that G-d told Moses to stretch out his hand, that Moses did so, that the sea was turned back, and that G-d steered the Egyptians into the sea (Exodus 14:26-27).
Steering the Egyptians into the Sea of Reeds, not the Red Sea, was not murder because murder is, by definition, something done by a person, not by G-d. Hypothetically, if G-d had turned back the sea without any involvement from Moses, that also would not have been murder, because murder is, by definition, something done by a person, not by G-d.
If Moses was unaware that the wheels had been removed, and thought that turning back the sea was the only way to stop the Egyptians, then he was not guilty.
If Moses was aware that the wheels had been removed and that the pursuit could not continue, but stretched out his hand to cause the sea to drown the Egyptians, then he was guility.
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You are absolutely right that Red Sea is not a translation of Yam Suf. "Red Sea", however, wasn't meant to be a translation of Yam Suf. It is the common English name for the water feature (see I Kings 9:26, which places Eilas by the Yam Suf), so its use instead of Yam Suf makes clearer for readers what is meant. I unfortunately don't have time to run in circles and get into tangential semantics, where picking at unrelated matters allows us to leave the main points ignored and endlessly rehashed. You posited that killing in self-defense is not murder. I noted that Esther 9:16 states that the Jews were defending themselves. Unless you apply a double-standard against Jews where they're not allowed to defend themselves (which has been done throughout our history in exile), you cannot use Megillas Esther to accuse our innocent forefathers of murder. Anyone facing defeat would feel fear, it doesn't mean they've recanted their murderous intentions. No verse in Esther says they did.
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wow I hope these aren't Jews making some of these inane comments.
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Adam: Self-defense is killing someone while they are in the act of doing something violent to you. They do not have to formally recant in a sworn statement with a notary public and two witnesses. If a person is trying to kill you but sees you have a gun and turns and runs away in fear, without recanting, and you shot the person in the back, then it is not self-defense and you can and should be arrested for murder. A technical defect in the manner in which the person stopped fighting is unimportant.
Ester 9:16 does not say that they were defending at the moment that they killed, which is the legal standard. It says that they stood up for the purpose of defending themselves and then it says later that they killed. However, it does not say that their attackers were still attacking then.
David: I am Jewish. I did not even take my mother's word for it. I also checked census records from almost 100 years ago that say my mother's mother's mother was a native Yiddish speaker.
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Megillas Esther states that the Jews were defending themselves, implying a fight. The killing is mentioned in the very same verse, not later. Moreover, the Megilla was completed after the war, so there is no way to know what the Jews knew or didn't know about their enemies during the battle, except that they wanted the Jews dead.
By redefining self-defense to such a narrow concept (which doesn't hold up for war), you would require an army of 10 men to sit around and wait while the army of 10,000 that had plans to annihilate the 10 men and their families mobilizes, surrounds them, and fires first before responding (otherwise, the 10 men would be murdering their enemies).
Questions: do you consider Abraham Lincoln a war criminal for fighting the Confederacy? Any general who launches an ambush of their enemies leading to quick victory rather than waiting for a mobilized battle that would kill myriads more a murderer? You would outlaw a defensive strike in war?
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1. It is mentioned later in that verse. This does not indicate simultaneousness.
2. If "there is no way to know what the Jews knew", then we should not celebrate their actions, because we don't know if those actions were right.
3. If all the Jews knew was "that they wanted the Jews dead", then the Jews had no grounds to kill them. Wanting my life or wanting my car is not a crime. Taking either one is.
4. I'd want the 10 to sit around only IF the 10,000 decide NOT to fire and stop mobilizing.
5. Lincoln's troops did not fight until the confederacy fired on Fort Sumter. He did not allow the killing of those who stopped fighting and he even stated (9/22/1862) that if the Confederates stopped attacking, then he would allow them to keep their slaves. 6. Victory occurs once the enemy stops fighting. An ambush after that is not a victory; it is an execution.
7. I would not outlaw a defense strike DURING war. I would outlaw postwar offsensive strikes. There's a difference.
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It is becoming clearer to me that you work hard to absolve non-Jews whether deserved or not, and work equally hard to hurl accusations at Jews who have justification.
A final response:
1. You extrapolate things that are not in the text... everything happened in just two days, very short time frame.
2. If you don't know what the Jews knew, you cannot accuse them of murder. I celebrate because I believe what the megilla says.
3. The gallows were built and the weapons were in hand. It was more than want, it was deed.
4. Nowhere does it say the Persians decided not to do it.
5. 0 battle casualties at Ft Sumter. Union forces allowed to leave. Confederate delegation went to DC to discuss "peace", Lincoln refused them and ordered troops to retake forts. Union wanted southern states back in union, not just to stop fighting.
PS - I know Lincoln and the Union were right, but according to your "logic", they committed crimes. You seem to only subject Jews to your "logic", though.
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I didn't work hard; G-d does not give us all the same insights.
1. The text says that no one was standing against the Jews; that's not an extrapolation. Saying anyone was still trying to kill the Jews, at the moment the Jews acted, is extrapolation, & is not in the text.
2. I can accuse them because the Megilla says they killed those who were not resisting them. You celebrate because of what you pretend the Megilah says, not what is in its text.
3&5. No one was put on the gallows, the weapons in hand were not fired/swung, & no building was damaged. At Sumter, cannons were fired & the fort was destroyed. Building gallows is not a crime (except zoning violation).
4. It says they dared not fight. It does not matter why.
5. Lincoln agreed to peace if they'd return to the Union. We made no such offer.
"P.S." My "logic" is its a crime to kill IF the other side will no longer fight, for whatever reason. Lincoln did not face that situation. The Confederates would (& did) still fight.
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I don't know why the civil war is being discussed along with Purim, but here's two cents: Lincoln was forcing his interpretation on the constitution. That document nowhere states that once in the union there is no separation allowed.
Purim is a super substitute for Halloween. It is in the Bible and does not have druidic, Wiccan or Satanic origins. So hands down, it is a super and superb holiday to celebrate even if Halloween did not exist.
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wow Adam this is not fair. you are to "anonymous" as the major leagues are to the minors. More strength to you.
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I totally respect your view about holloween, it is a very negative message, a glorification of evil, gore, materialism, greed, etc.
I prefer your message of Purim... fun, giving, charity.
I have stopped celebrating this holiday about 3 years ago, instead my church and my familiy go bowling with 50 other families. We have a good time relating to one another celebrating friendship.
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I would always tell my daughters this. And when they went to a Chabad Purim party in Seattle, Washington they told me they had a better time and felt more spiritually connected to Judaism than they ever did trick or treating.
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according to the talmud there is no mention whether this is allowed or not allowd the way i see it if a child wishes to go out trick or treating that is entiely up to them why should they be deprived of not going out and having some fun however if it was on a friday night i could understand why but it is not hurting anyone live and let live
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"...spirtually connected...?"
The little one had a great time trick-or-treating in rural Pennsylvania this year; kind of like last year.
I don't think she felt - spiritually connected - to anything because she was a Snow Princess just out with mommy and daddy for fun and a bunch of candy. Kind of like the other 21st century, American kids.
I don't think she feels any less Jewish today.
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the Talmud does not address this situation probably because the Talmud was written thousands of years before!!!!!!! But there are references forbidding this type of celebration in the Talmud. Consult a competent Rabbi to show you. Better yet find a Chabad Rebbi either in your town or near it.
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In America, we have secular holidays and religious ones. I have ALWAYS enjoyed celebrating Halloween! When I was little, I went "Trick Or Treat For Unicef", collecting money for charity along with candy for me.
In those days, we went WITHOUT our parents, & I got a taste of independence! God has granted me a great and wonderous imagination, and I've come to look upon Halloween as a holiday celebrating God's Gift of The Imagination, to EVERYONE! Imagination propels the Human race forward! Imagine, then DO! I've read that there are NO supernatural occurances....only natural occurances we don't understand yer! I've had several psychic experiences myself...& I thank God for them! God is, after all, wonder and greatness. Talent and curiousity come from God. On Halloween I celebrate Humankind's questing, questioning spirit...and I thank God for allowing us to have such things, for our delight and to improve our civilizations! Halloween is my FAVOURITE secular non-sectarian holiday!
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Its fun... Thats all it is. u can make sure your kids understand that it may not be a holiday, it still can be enjoyed. Your kids will rebel if they think the Jewish religion stops them from doing things they want to do.
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Halloween is a perfect example as to why Jewish children should be in Jewish schools where non-Jewish holidays are not celebrated. Kids won't feel left out or angry against Judaism for not celebrating goyishe holidays because they won't even be a part of their lives.
Excellent article.
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Halloween is a religious holiday, it is the day that is celebrated by christians as the day before "all saints day" or to some it is Reformation day celebrating the reformation. Whichever way you put it, it is a holiday for people. To those who keep emphasizing that we are Americans and therefore must assimilate completely, might I remind you that pre-WWII jews would have described themselves as Germans or Polish first and jews second. We are JEWS FIRST and anything else second and we must remember to never forget that. Also, those are mentioning Chistmas, that is definitely a holiday. I think that people need to step away from a pretty lights and treats that attract you to the holiday and focus on what we have that is important. I went to public school, only went trick or treating once and do not feel that I have missed out on anything. In fact, I was very proud of being different and when it was time for purim, I would have just as much fun. Remember who you are and stay true
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Hi everyone!
I don't understand what some of you are saying about celebrating Halloween to have fun. We have 13 holidays. Are you telling me that you can't have fun on at least 3 of those? Including Purim! It just doesn't make sense to me.
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Oh, sure, Ellie, Jewish holidays are fun. Rosh HaShanah, six hours of praying is a lot of fun. Sukkot, with wind, rain, and bugs, and viruses. Are we having fun yet? Passover, with lousy food is a blast, especially after waiting hours to eat. Purim is great if you get drunk. The same goes for Simchat Torah, but frankly walking around with apples on a stick is just real exciting. What is so fun about Shavuot other than yizkor and cheesecake? The only 3 I can think of as fun are Hannukah, Tu B' Shevat, and Lag B'Omer. Tu B'Av used to be fun.
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Randy, my point was we really don't Halloween to have fun.......
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Randy, maybe if you looked at the things you do have instead of those you don't, you will find the fun. I love sitting out in the sukkah on Sukkot, you can see the stars and enjoy the company of different people. We sat in our shul's sukkah this year and met two families and had a blast. And passover is my absolute favorite holiday, everything is new and clean and fresh and the food always tastes better. So stop complaining and see things for what they are, it will get you much further in life than sulking about Halloween. And might I remind you that on Halloween, it's cold, a little dangerous (taking candy from strangers), expensive between costumes and candy, and frankly a bit overrated.
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Adam, Silver Spring, MD, says, " spelling G"-"d isn't about offending G-d, it's about respect. I don't call my father by his name out of respect, and shouldn't I treat my Heavenly Father likewise? The "-" reminds me of Whom I'm writing about. "
But note that you don't stick a hyphen in the word "father" ("f-ther"? "fat-her"?). That's because "father" is not your father's name, any more than "God" is God's name. We just never say or write God's actual four-letter name, so there's simply no reason to act as if the three-letter English word "god" is the Name. Do French Jews pop a hyphen into the word "dieu"?
On Halloween: We lived in a college town when my daughter was 12, and she reported to me about an neighbor family, :They say they're Christians, but they don't celebrate Christmas, they don't celebrate Halloween..." They turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses, and told me, "Well, we certainly don't celebrate Halloween!"
They had no problem not participating. Why should we
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Forbidden in the torah according to consorting with witches. There is a religion called Wiccan, and Halloween is their holy day. They absolutely celebrate it as being holy. My suggestion, if you don't want to be worshipping a witches holy day, is to keep your porch light DARK and do not allow your children to go around the neighborhood begging for treats, with the phrase that they will do a trick on someone if they don't get a treat. What kind of lesson is that to teach a child? It's like blackmail, anyway. The Christians borrowed this holy day from Wiccans/idol worshippers and changed the name to "All Hollows Eve".
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