
Responses to the question:
Do you observe Halloween? What are your thoughts about this holiday? It's roots are both pagan and Christian. Yet in modern America it feels so non-religious. Opinions?
I'm really enjoying your open ended questions! It’s interesting to think about some of these issues.
I only recognize Halloween because I like scary movies, and giving out candy to big and little kids. I might partake of the candy a bit also. Its definitely one of the excuses I use to leave treats in our office.
I don't think I've ever observed the religious aspects of the day in my personal life.
I have staff members of Latino descent who observe the Day of the Dead. I've been a little hesitant about that kind of observance in the past, particularly at work, but the way they framed it as remembering lost loved ones or lost experiences feels more in line with my own values so I can appreciate the sentiment of the day. Since we're therapists, we also support clients in finding new meanings related to their losses so they can heal from grief. Lastly, although I don't engage in any specific rituals for the fall (outside of sharing and consuming candy), I do appreciate the slowing down and quietude of the season. However, it can be hard to enter this part of the year because it sometimes leads to reflection and even sadness about things that didn't happen during the busy and creative spring and summer time of the year. It ushers in the winter and associated holidays, which bring excitement and a bit of anxiety for some, myself included, about connecting or being disconnected from others. My favorite winter holiday is New Year's so I keep my sights set on that day, and just take the ones before it as a necessary ride up to my one I look forward to the most!
Raiza Orli Sarit
I always loved Halloween before I was Jewish. But its origins are so clearly pagan that once Jewish I considered it avodah zarah* and stopped celebrating it and don’t let my kids celebrate it. Though I now let them carve pumpkins at friends houses with their non-Jewish relatives.
Shifra Chayah
*foreign worship or idolatry
Yes, I observe Halloween... To me, it is just a time to have some fun with my friends' kids -- and it doesn't hurt to be a big kid myself once a year ;)
Binah Rut
Yes, I observe Halloween... To me, it is just a time to have some fun with my friends' kids -- and it doesn't hurt to be a big kid myself once a year ;)
Binah Rut
When I was young enough to trick or treat, the nuns who taught us told us that Halloween is a pagan celebration. They would not let us do anything about it while in school. They didn't even like us to bring our Halloween candy to school after it was over.
As an adult I stocked a small amount of candy to give to neighborhood kids who came to my door. In my 40's I adopted my daughter and moved to the suburbs. All of a sudden Halloween loomed much larger in my life. All of the kids participate. In my city, there is at least one entire neighborhood which was dominated by kids walking door to door under the watchful eye of parents who stood back and made sure that cars drove slowly and the kids stayed safe.
The elementary schools in my area make a big deal out of Halloween. Since there is little Christmas, no Columbus Day nor any other sort of celebratory event that the kids can participate in.
I became tired of the whole thing and I was glad that my daughter outgrew the entire things. I do think that Halloween is a pagan leftover in out culture brought to our country from the British Isles (English?, Irish?, Scots-Irish?). I just got tired of the enthusiasm that surrounded Halloween among the kids and in the schools. If we need to play dress up, I like Purim better.
Mikhael ben Avraham