Comments on: Should Jewish children trick or treat? http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/ Mixed Multitudes Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:58:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: AlexUtiug http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-665 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:23:17 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-665 Try telling a devout Catholic that Halloween is a pagan holiday - you’ll be the first victim of a new crusade. They treat it as a day of all saints when they honor their holy men (and women?) - kind of like when the Jews in Israel go to Shimon bar Yohai’s tomb on Lag baOmer.<br /> <br />That said, considering how much pagan traditions Catholicism has preserved, it is a pagan holiday :-P Try telling a devout Catholic that Halloween is a pagan holiday - you’ll be the first victim of a new crusade. They treat it as a day of all saints when they honor their holy men (and women?) - kind of like when the Jews in Israel go to Shimon bar Yohai’s tomb on Lag baOmer.

That said, considering how much pagan traditions Catholicism has preserved, it is a pagan holiday :-P

]]> by: hms1981 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-627 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:18:21 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-627 while Halloween is known to be a Pagan holiday, in the US it’s totally commercialized. every store in the nation boasts Halloween decorations and sales on costumes and candy. Halloween parties and parades are held days before the actual holiday, and some parties are known to be really wild. <br /> <br />i don’t see anything wrong with Jewish children trick-or-treating on Halloween. to them, it’s all about who gets the most candy and who has the best costume. in theory, we have our own version of Halloween...Purim. actually, it’s more like Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day rolled into one package. <br /> <br />to some degree, Christmas has become commercialized. of my non-Jewish friends, i don’t know anyone who actually celebrates it as a religious holiday. to them, it’s pretty much about presents and a day off from work/school. but still, as a Jew i feel left out during this time of year. it’s only natural. which is why i think it’s fine for Jewish kids to take part in Halloween festivities. they already have one holiday to make them feel left out, they don’t need another. while Halloween is known to be a Pagan holiday, in the US it’s totally commercialized. every store in the nation boasts Halloween decorations and sales on costumes and candy. Halloween parties and parades are held days before the actual holiday, and some parties are known to be really wild.

i don’t see anything wrong with Jewish children trick-or-treating on Halloween. to them, it’s all about who gets the most candy and who has the best costume. in theory, we have our own version of Halloween…Purim. actually, it’s more like Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day rolled into one package.

to some degree, Christmas has become commercialized. of my non-Jewish friends, i don’t know anyone who actually celebrates it as a religious holiday. to them, it’s pretty much about presents and a day off from work/school. but still, as a Jew i feel left out during this time of year. it’s only natural. which is why i think it’s fine for Jewish kids to take part in Halloween festivities. they already have one holiday to make them feel left out, they don’t need another.

]]> by: mily http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-619 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:06:49 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-619 i'm sorry in my previous post i meant to say the post of Ezekah not Reuel. Sorry Reuel i’m sorry in my previous post i meant to say the post of Ezekah not Reuel. Sorry Reuel

]]> by: mily http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-618 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:00:25 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-618 for the people like the first message posted by Reuel whi thinks that Halloween have nothing to do with religion well thinka again, halloween is smack out of the catholic church . Even if you think is harmless and just kids having fun well christmas and easter is aslo harmless just kids having fun too with santa, the easter egg hunt just kids right this is from wikipidia or just research it online "The term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day",[1] which is now also known as All Saints' Day. Some modern Halloween traditions developed out of older pagan traditions, especially surrounding the Irish holiday Samhain, a day associated both with the harvest and otherworldly spirits" for the people like the first message posted by Reuel whi thinks that Halloween have nothing to do with religion well thinka again, halloween is smack out of the catholic church . Even if you think is harmless and just kids having fun well christmas and easter is aslo harmless just kids having fun too with santa, the easter egg hunt just kids right

this is from wikipidia or just research it online
“The term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe’en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of “All Hallows’ Day”,[1] which is now also known as All Saints’ Day. Some modern Halloween traditions developed out of older pagan traditions, especially surrounding the Irish holiday Samhain, a day associated both with the harvest and otherworldly spirits”

]]> by: mily http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-617 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:12:04 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-617 "For me, the argument can be made if this is something that we should be supporting as Jews. With that said, I believe firmly that we must find a balance of our American culture and our Jewish heritage, and there are ways to find a “happy medium.”" this is what assimilation is. This is what is destroying the jewish people. If you're Jewish and leave Hashem and Torah out of the equation this is how your will end up assimilated and just be like any other american not jewish “For me, the argument can be made if this is something that we should be supporting as Jews. With that said, I believe firmly that we must find a balance of our American culture and our Jewish heritage, and there are ways to find a “happy medium.””

this is what assimilation is. This is what is destroying the jewish people. If you’re Jewish and leave Hashem and Torah out of the equation this is how your will end up assimilated and just be like any other american not jewish

]]> by: Haffju http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-606 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:27:33 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-606 I think Jewish children should be allowed the same things as non-Jewish children as long as it does not conflict with their religion, and Halloween is more about dressing up in costumes and having fun than a pagan holiday, so what is the problem with that? I think Jewish children should be allowed the same things as non-Jewish children as long as it does not conflict with their religion, and Halloween is more about dressing up in costumes and having fun than a pagan holiday, so what is the problem with that?

]]> by: Ezekah http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-608 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:41:39 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-608 <blockquote>[Haffju]The doctor is right, Jewish children should be able to trick or treat same as non-Jewish children as long as they are doing it for fun and they aren’t doing it for religious reasons, such as paganism.</blockquote>Haffju<br /> <br />If someone WERE doing it for paganism, what specifically would they be doing?

[Haffju]The doctor is right, Jewish children should be able to trick or treat same as non-Jewish children as long as they are doing it for fun and they aren’t doing it for religious reasons, such as paganism.

Haffju

If someone WERE doing it for paganism, what specifically would they be doing?

]]> by: jrb http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-599 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:53:19 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-599 I grew up trick-or-treating, and can understand how it can be viewed as a simple night of dress-up; however, I have come to agree with the 'choose life' approach. The existence of so many (some put on by disney, no less!)'halloween horror' nights that operate on the more-gruesome-the-better philosophy is evidence that halloween can not be strictly compared to a costume party. The celebration of death, dismemberment, and pain is disgusting, and evidence abounds that people exposed to violence become inured to it over time. What will people tell their older children who have outgrown 'dress-up' and want to attend a horror night because they've been accustomed to celebrating it their whole lives? I grew up trick-or-treating, and can understand how it can be viewed as a simple night of dress-up; however, I have come to agree with the ‘choose life’ approach. The existence of so many (some put on by disney, no less!)’halloween horror’ nights that operate on the more-gruesome-the-better philosophy is evidence that halloween can not be strictly compared to a costume party. The celebration of death, dismemberment, and pain is disgusting, and evidence abounds that people exposed to violence become inured to it over time. What will people tell their older children who have outgrown ‘dress-up’ and want to attend a horror night because they’ve been accustomed to celebrating it their whole lives?

]]> by: Haffju http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-607 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:32:10 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-607 The doctor is right, Jewish children should be able to trick or treat same as non-Jewish children as long as they are doing it for fun and they aren’t doing it for religious reasons, such as paganism. The doctor is right, Jewish children should be able to trick or treat same as non-Jewish children as long as they are doing it for fun and they aren’t doing it for religious reasons, such as paganism.

]]> by: Ezekah http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-603 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:01:42 +0000 http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/holidays/should-jewish-children-trick-or-treat/#comment-603 <blockquote>[The Doctor]Furthermore, while it is less common today, when I was a kid we took blue Unicef boxes with us and collected donations as well as candy. And what is more consonant with Jewish values than going around collecting tzedakah? If you want your kids to have the experience of trick-er-treating but would like them to keep a Jewish perspective, consider something like this...</blockquote>Now that is a great idea. Give to charity, instead of giving (in a round about way) to dentists.

[The Doctor]Furthermore, while it is less common today, when I was a kid we took blue Unicef boxes with us and collected donations as well as candy. And what is more consonant with Jewish values than going around collecting tzedakah? If you want your kids to have the experience of trick-er-treating but would like them to keep a Jewish perspective, consider something like this…

Now that is a great idea. Give to charity, instead of giving (in a round about way) to dentists.

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