halloween

jewish approaches to halloween

Mar­la asked…
I have a 7 year old son. Can you refer me to some­thing that would help me describe Jew­ish views on Halloween?


as of 1999

I found pre­cious lit­tle on the sub­ject online. The few links appear here. All of them are now rotten.

as of 2010

  • Jew­ish Halloween?
    Again, con­sid­er keep­ing Purim instead. Jews have no need to cel­e­brate Gen­tile hol­i­days. Ours have so much more mean­ing and joy to us.
  • Col­lect­ing Can­dy on Halloween
    Though many Jew­ish chil­dren go trick-or-treat­ing, this writer (among many oth­ers) believes the prac­tice runs counter to Jew­ish law.
    By Rab­bi Michael Broyde
  • Ask Rab­bi Lerner
    Jews Cel­e­brat­ing Halloween
    The first real ques­tion is do Amer­i­can Jews cel­e­brate Hal­loween — and they do, whether they are per­mit­ted to do so or not, by their Rab­bi, day school or Judaism. They do as long as their par­ents per­mit it — and today often chil­dren only go out trick-and-treat­ing when they are accom­pa­nied by adults. 

and much more… sim­ply Google:
hal­loween jews


©Mark Hurvitz 1999
first updat­ed: Sun­day, March 14, 1999
lat­est update: Thurs­day Octo­ber 14, 2010
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