Halloween : no thanks

Hi All,

It's blatant paganism and not something I'd celebrate . All those goblins , witches ,vampires and other pagan stuff  and prayers to the dead  and marketed to make a profit doesn't seem kosher, having its roots in Celtic pagan beliefs. I also learned about the Halloween style festival , the Mexican "day of the dead ". It's again  pure pagan idolatry.

So I can tell you that none of us will be celebrating it, as it is a pagan celebration. I think that Halloween itself, is pagan and also secular, it is quite wrong for Jews to celebrate because it goes against quite a few of God's commandments. Additionally I do not think it is right to encourage children to go around dressed as wizards, witches, demons, ghosts and who knows what other symbols of evil that people can think of, whilst they go knocking door to door for tricking or treating ( which is to my mind not a good idea).

In the Book of Deuteronomy, we are told:

"There shall not be found among you one who passes his son through the fire; a diviner, an astrologer, one who reads omens or a sorcerer. One who charms animals, one who inquires of Ov or Yideoni, or one who consults the dead. For anyone who does these is an abomination of Hashem; and, because of these abominations, Hashem, your God, banishes the nations from before you."

The Torah clearly prohibits any attempt to communicate with the dead. Maimonides explains the reason for this law:

"All of these things are matters of falsehood and lies, and they are the very means through which the idol worshipers fooled the nations of the world into following them. And it is not proper for the Jewish people, who are exceptionally wise, to follow after these vanities, nor to entertain the possibility that they have any benefit...Anyone who believes in these things and things like them, and thinks in his heart that they are true and wise but that the Torah has prohibited them; he is one of the fools and those lacking knowledge... But those who possess wisdom and sound mind know by clear demonstration that all of these things that the Torah prohibits are not things of wisdom; rather, they are emptiness and vanity that fools stray after, and all of the paths of truth have been corrupted because of them. Because of this the Torah states, when it warns us about these vanities, "Perfect shall you be with Hashem, your God."

There are other places in Torah which indicate Halloween isn't for Jews:

1. Not to practice onein (observing times or seasons as favorable or unfavorable, using astrology) (Lev. 19:26)
2. Not to practice nachesh (doing things based on signs and portents; using charms and incantations) (Lev. 19:26) 
3. Not to consult ovoth (ghosts) (Lev. 19:31) 
4. Not to consult yid'onim (wizards) (Lev. 19:31) 
5. Not to practice kisuf (magic using herbs, stones and objects that people use) (Deut. 18:10)
6. Not to practice kessem (a general term for magical practices) (Deut. 18:10) 
7. Not to practice the art of a chover chaver (casting spells over snakes and scorpions) (Deut. 18:11) 
8. Not to enquire of an ob (a ghost) (Deut. 18:11)
9. Not to seek the maytim (dead) (Deut. 18:11) 
10. Not to enquire of a yid'oni (wizard) (Deut. 18:11) 
11. Not to suffer any one practicing witchcraft  (Ex. 22:17) .

So if we are not to do any of the above, it follows that we should not be celebrating or dressing up as them either. Now the good thing is that Judaism has a similar festival without worshiping evil or the dead and it is one in which I think anyone could feel comfortable in participating in, around Feb/March called Purim (celebrating the events of the Book of Esther). Unlike Halloween ,though ,Children dress as dress up as the Biblical characters themselves as well as sages, princesses, heroes and clowns. They drop by the homes of the 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. 

This is of course a contrast to the secular / pagan practice of Halloween; giving and not demanding, rejoicing, rather than scarring, heros and not demons... so I know which one I would prefer to celebrate and it is not the pagan-secular practice of Halloween. I personally cannot wait till Purim.