Candle lighting time is 6:08
Halloween
Did you trick or treat or carve a Jack-O-Lantern on Halloween? My family did, and most Jewish families in Eastmont did. Most reform and conservative Jews celebrate Halloween, but many Orthodox families do not. Why? Let’s hear from the side that celebrates Halloween first.
According to Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser, writing at Judaism.about.com, “Halloween is a great example of how holidays can change meaning over time. Halloween started as a Celtic holiday to celebrate the harvest, like holidays in most cultures at this time of year. The Celts, however, believed that the holiday posed danger because the dead could interfere with the living on this day.
The holiday was later appropriated by Christians as the eve of All Saints Day, observed on November 1. The name of the holiday reflects its observance as “All Hallows Even.” In one medieval custom, poor people would travel from house to house on All Saints Day asking for food in exchange for prayers for the dead. Halloween is no longer observed by the church in any way on October 31.
When Halloween hit America, it took on yet another meaning. On these shores, the holiday became an amalgam of symbols from the Celtic holiday, the Christian custom of traveling from house to house, harvest symbols (like the Jack O’-lantern), and contemporary symbols of fright and death. The holiday, as it is observed in America, has entirely lost its connection to any religious meaning or observance.
There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween as it is commonly observed by dressing in costumes, giving children candies and other treats, and by taking our own young children out to “Trick-or-Treat.” As a secular holiday, Halloween should be no more problematic for Reform Jews than are Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. Halloween’s focus on fright and death can be a good opportunity for talking to young children about their fears, although it should not be taken to excess.
This year, Halloween falls on a Friday, so there are inevitable questions about Trick-or-Treating interfering with Shabbat. In my own family, we plan on early Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood with our young children, followed by a Shabbat dinner at home. Our children’s Shabbat meal probably will be concluded with a bit more candy than usual.”
So, that is one answer. Here is the Orthodox answer from Rabbi Tzvi Freeman at chabad.org. “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!”
So there you have it. I’m diabetic, so I think I’ll skip the Halloween candy and opt for Purim.
