A New Jewish Take On Halloween
“This year, on October 31, children across America will don their capes and masks and go door-to-door collecting candy and treats to celebrate Halloween. But for many Jewish families, Halloween is a time of unease and discomfort. Parents question whether to let their children participate in a ritual that is not seen as Jewish and, more explicitly, which has roots in Christianity and other religious traditions.”
nake? that wasn’t a take? that was like, a passing concern.
no mention of, well, what IS the relisious meaning of halloween? No mention of the great flood that wipes out the world, the rain fall and winter, the time and space where the spirit world and the material world are closest… i’m sure there’s something more interesting out on the internet that that!
What’s the true esoteric menaing of halloween? whjat’s it for? what’s it’s fixing? Christian holiday? since when, really?
eh that seems kind of mean of the parents, IMO
Halloween in America in this day and age is a totally secular holiday like thanksgiving, even if it does have pre-christian pagan roots (which is my understanding)
Quite an interesting world we live in when the most pressing issue facing Jews on Halloween is whether or not to participate. It seems society is welcoming us with open arms, whereas in the past, and perhaps now outside of metro America, Jews spend Halloween night concerned over different issues, like having their house egged, vandalized or even set on fire.
How blessed we are to change our focus so. Are we blessed?
It is unfortunate that so many American Jews have so little knowledge of Judaism or of the pagan rituals in which they choose to participate. Halloween, was originally prounced “ALL HALLOWS EVE” and was the night before “All Saints day”, a patently Catholic holiday. As was the case with many Christian holidays, it was also a popular time for pogroms in the old country. I don’t think it is a small matter to participate in Catholic holidays that were infamous for the anti-semitic acts which occurred on them. Even if the original nature of the holiday has become somewhat blurred in America, it is a rememberence of a Catholic holiday. Jews should not Participate in Catholic or Pagan holidays. On this list is also St. Valentine’s day, which commemorates the third century martyrdom of a catholic saint bearing that name. The lovey dovey aspect of the holiday was a result of the fact that the same day (the ides [15th] of February)was the pagan fertility festival to the God Pan or Lunas depending whether you were Greek or Roman, called the “Lupercal”. The fact that it has been commercially santitized by retailers hoping that you’ll buy chocolates, cards, perfume, jewelery, etc., does not change the fact of it’s Christian and Pagan origins. It is no different than the commercialization of X-mas. If you understand why Jews shouldn’t celebrate X-mas, you should understand why Jews shouldn’t celebrate other Pagan holidays. If you don’t understand why Jews shouldn’t celebrate X-mas, speak to someone who has seen the “the Passion”, but under no circumstances should you give money to Mel Gibson. The information in this post was not the result of a 4 year course in comparative religion. You can find it all in a decent dictionary.
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email correction as above