Do Jews Celebrate Halloween?
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Question:
Do Jews celebrate Halloween? 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-or-treating in the neighborhood.
Answer:
Let me tell you about a wonderful Jewish holiday: once a year, our children dress up as sages, princesses, heroes and clowns. They drop by the homes of our community, visit the infirm and the aged, spreading joy and laughter. They bring
gifts of food and drink and collect tzedakah (charity) for the needy.
You guessed it--it's called Purim, when it's customary to send mishloach manot--gifts of food--to one's friends and even more gifts to those in hard
times.
Flip it over (October instead of March, demanding instead of giving, scaring instead of rejoicing, demons instead of sages, etc.) and you have Halloween. There you have it: a choice of one of two messages you can give to your children. I call that a choice, because one of the beautiful things about kids
is that, unlike adults, they don't do too well receiving two conflicting messages at once.
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. Since Abraham and Sarah broke away from the Sumerian cult of gods and demons, we have lived amongst other peoples while being very different from them. And we dramatically changed the world by being
that way.
That's a proud and nurturing role for any child: To be a leader and not a follower, to be a model of what should be rather than of what is.
Make your kids feel that they are the vanguard. They belong to a people who have been entrusted with the mission to be a light to the nations--not an ominous light inside a pumpkin, but a light that stands out and above and shows everyone where to go. Forget about Halloween and wait for Purim to turn the neighborhood upside down!
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Latest Comments:
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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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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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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Randy, my point was we really don't Halloween to have fun.......
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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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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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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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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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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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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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