Two weeks ago, we completed our celebration of the festival of Sukkot. On it, we recalled the fall agricultural harvest among our ancestors. Even non-Jewish peoples throughout the world have held harvest festivals in the fall for centuries.
In fact, Halloween began as a harvest festival. In Britain and France, a pagan community, known as the Druids, started it. They observed Halloween to honor Sawhain, the Lord of the Dead. The Druids would don long white robes and masks to mark this occasion.
The Druids believed that, on Halloween, ghosts, spirits, furies, witches, and elves came out to hurt people. They also thought that animals represented the reincarnated souls of those who recently died. They regarded cats as sacred. To them, cats, in their former lives, were wicked human beings. These unsavory men and women were changed into cats as a punishment for their evil deeds.
They also believed that cats were the embodiments of witches. On Halloween, they claimed that witches rode on broomsticks for secret conferences with the devil. In fact, during the Middle Ages, they engaged in the sadistic practice of burning black cats in thatched cages.
Halloween was a time when people were conscious of evil spirits. They would carve out pumpkins to scare them away. They also believed that Halloween was the only season of the year that they could petition the devil safely.
The Druids also built huge bonfires. They went around the countryside begging for wood for these bonfires. According to a legend, those who refused to give wood to the collectors would be burned with the firewood.
In Ireland, peasants dressed in costumes for trick or treating. They followed a leader who was wearing a mask of the head of a horse. They went from house to house to beg gifts for Much Ola, one of the ancient gods. They threatened any farmer who refused to give with ruin and destruction.
Until about 1300 years ago, Halloween was a pagan event. Then the Roman Catholic Church adopted it. The Church was not able to wean people away from their former heathen practices completely. Therefore it decided to absorb some of them. The Church combined its own sacred observances with the pagan customs of Halloween to create two Church holidays over a two-day period: All Saints' Day and then All Souls Day.
It declared November 1 to be All Saints' Day. It was a time to remember a host of minor saints. Because of their large number, the Church could not designate a separate Saints' Day for each of them.
All Saints' Day on November 1 was also called All Hallows Day. The night before was known as All Hallows E'en. It is from this word that we derive the name Halloween. On November 2, the day after All Saints' Day, the Church declared All Souls Day, as a time to remember the dead.
Under Church influence, trick or treating took on a new character. Trick or treating was turned into a practice called “a-souling.” It was given religious significance. People would go from house to house to ask for soul-cakes. In exchange, they promised to offer prayers for the dead.
Costumes associated with the Druids began to creep into Christian life. In England, children wore the clothes of the opposite sex to go a-souling. All Hallows Christian celebrations included a masquerade party.
European immigrants, especially the Irish, brought Halloween to America and made it the popular holiday it has become. They celebrated it enthusiastically with various pagan and Christian customs. By the 1920's and 1930's, Halloween had become almost completely secularized. It now centers on funny costumes, pumpkins and bags of candy.
Knowing the pagan and Christian origins of Halloween, how should we Jews-look upon it? Should synagogues and Jewish schools allow Halloween parties or officially sponsor Halloween events? Should we carve out pumpkins and place them in front of our windows? Should we prohibit or discourage our children from dressing up in costume and from trick-or-treating? Jewish religious leaders do not agree on a Jewish approach to Halloween.
An Orthodox Rabbi and newspaper editor, Shalom Klass, ruled against any involvement of Jews in Halloween. He argued that trick or treating is Hukat Hagoy, an imitation of the gentiles that should not be allowed. Some Orthodox leaders also add that Jews have Purim, with its costumes and reckless abandon, so there is no need for Jews to observe Halloween.
A far more liberal view comes from Dr. Solomon B. Freehof, who was the leading authority on Jewish law in the Reform movement. He acknowledged that Halloween is definitely part of the Christian religious calendar.
But so is New Year's Day, which Jewish organizations and Jewish individuals celebrate. On New Year's Day, the Roman Catholic Church used to hold a special mass for Feast of the Circumcision. Since Jesus was a Jew, his family had him circumcised at the traditionally prescribed time when he was eight-days-old. Thus the Church scheduled this special mass on New Year's Day, which is eight days after Christmas.
Freehof went on to argue that Halloween has ceased to be Christian in any religious sense. Thus, he maintained that there is no problem with Jews celebrating it, as long as we continue to celebrate New Year's Day.
So what do we do? I make a distinction between official public celebrations of Halloween and unofficial private ones. I don't think synagogues and Jewish schools and other organizations should mark Halloween officially.
However, I have little problem with Jews observing it privately and unofficially, though I do have some concerns. First of all, much of what Halloween represents to Jews is superfluous. We have our own unique observances to remind us of the same ideas and values that Halloween commemorates.
We need not borrow from alien sources. To celebrate the harvest, we have Sukkot. To remember our dead, we have Yahrzeit and Yizkor-memorial service. To masquerade, we have Purim. Thus, for Jews, Halloween provides us with little which is innovative or novel.
Also, in recent times, Halloween has been associated with violence. I know that Halloween has always been an occasion for playing pranks. Often they were harmless. But at times these pranks have become dangerous.
Windows have been broken and property has been damaged. In recent years, children have died because razor blades and poisons have been buried in the candies that they had collected during trick or treating. Here fun has led to cruelty and sadism.
But Halloween does have its positive sides. In a world where the burdens and demands of life can weigh us down, Halloween can offer us an opportunity for fun, frivolity, fantasy, and festivity
Halloween can also be transformed into something socially redemptive, something beneficial to others. For example, some years ago, leaders of UNICEF declared the International Year of the Child and sponsored trick-or-treat programs on Halloween.
Their purpose was to sensitize people to the plight of children. They wanted to make sure that all children throughout the world are provided with adequate nutrition, health care, recreation, housing, and education.
These are Judaism's highest ideals. When Halloween is marked in this way, by combining hilarity with humanitarianism, we Jews can embrace it with less hesitation. Amen.
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