How Do You Handle halloween?

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  • #592811

    what do you do or say when they knock on your door?

    ignore them?

    give them somethng?

    tell them you dont celebrate halloween?

    #1108516
    blinky
    Participant

    No one knocks on our door…I think the mezuzah says it all

    #1108517
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    We generally don’t get knocks.

    However, this year, I’ve seen two different approaches to this:

    1. The rabbi at a Young Israel in Queens puts up a sign on his door telling kids that he’s willing to donate money to sick children for every signature that he gets on his sign.

    2. I also saw that both R. Pam and R. Yaakov Kaminetzky used to give candy to kids.

    The Wolf

    #1108518
    shimmel
    Member

    Since i got an egg on my head on one halloween i prefer to stay indoors on that night.

    #1108519
    crdle
    Member

    lol go to walmart and buy tons of candy! its on sale now!

    #1108520
    laguy
    Member

    We haven’t had knocks in years, but I always prepare a some candy. No point in doing otherwise.

    #1108521
    MQueen
    Member

    Someone emailed this to me last year, right before Halloween – I thought it was beautiful and worth sharing.

    Rav & Rebbitzen Pam and Halloween

    My father-in-law studied in Rav Avraham Pam’s (1913-2001,

    the late Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Torah Vodaas)

    shiur in Mesivta Torah Vodaas for several years back in the 1960s.

    When my wife’s older sister became engaged in the 1990s, my in-laws

    took my (future) sister-in-law and my (future) brother-in-law over to

    meet Rav and Rebbitzen Pam to receive their beracha and good wishes.

    What’s the most vivid memory they all have of that evening?

    It was October 31st. In contrast to the many Jewish homes around the

    Pams who had turned off their lights to discourage trick-or-treaters,

    the Pams left their front light on.

    While they all chatted with Rav Pam in the dining room, his rebbitzen

    was in the kitchen working the hot-air popcorn popper and preparing

    plastic baggies of popcorn to give out with a smile to all the local

    non-Jewish kids who knocked at their door.

    They all left that night with numerous smiles, berachos, and best

    wishes from Rav Pam and his Rebbitzen – but what they all remember

    most is the powerful lesson the Pams taught them about interacting

    with their neighbors.

    Rabbi Akiva Males

    Harrisburg, PA

    #1108522
    Ben Torah
    Participant

    Live in a frum neighborhood and avoid the problem.

    #1108523
    shimmel
    Member

    We live in a frum neighborhood …its mixed though

    #1108524
    Pashuteh Yid
    Member

    I have seen people buy a bag or two of candy, put on chair on porch, and put sign saying everybody is free to take one, but please don’t knock.

    #1108525
    bombmaniac
    Participant

    i live in teh heart of boro park, so no worries there…but if im walking in the street, to avoid problems…well, anyone who knows me knows im fairly large…im 6’4 300 pounds…no ones messing with me 😀

    #1108526
    WIY
    Member

    We only have money collectors.

    #1108527
    bpt
    Participant

    Thanks, Shimmel. You took me back to the BP of the 70’s when it was real dangerous outside. Eggs and shaving cream, chalk in the sock. Yeah, those were scary times.

    Today, though, its a non-event.

    #1108528
    Sacrilege
    Member

    WIY

    Maybe offer them a candy.

    #1108529
    shimmel
    Member

    oh well, around in my place we still have all of those!!

    #1108530
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    If we had candy in the house for Halloween kids, it would never make it to them. It would all end up in my stomach. 🙂

    The Wolf

    #1108531
    artchill
    Participant

    Hang a bag of candy on the front door. Live the night like normal and the candy bag is usually 3/4 full.

    #1108532
    sms007
    Member

    when my mom buys candy they don’t come. when she doesn’t buy candy, they come. no she just deosn’t buy, granola bars will have to do lol

    #1108533
    blinky
    Participant

    sms- murphy’s law

    #1108534
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    murphy’s law

    Murphy was an optimist. 🙂

    The Wolf

    #1108535
    wanderingchana
    Participant

    Artchill – We did that one year, and it was all gone. I don’t think they shared.

    Purim costumes go on sale Nov. 1. 😉

    #1108536
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Purim costumes go on sale Nov. 1. 😉

    Heh. I use the same policy with regard to Valentine’s Day. 🙂

    Eeees and I celebrate the anniversary of the day we met (separately from our wedding anniversary) — and that date is in late February. I get to pick up lots of good stuff for the occasion every year after Feb. 14 has passed.

    The Wolf

    #1108537
    WIY
    Member

    Sacrilege

    I think that some of them would accept the candy lol.

    #1108538
    apushatayid
    Participant

    We’ve always accommodated our non jewish neighbors who rang the bell, with an assortment of the finest Paskesz, Libers and Geffen candy we could find. After a few years, they stopped coming 🙂

    #1108539
    oomis
    Participant

    The Pam story is sweet, but I do not believe in helping someone celebrate something which is rooted mamesh in witchcraft. All Hallow’s Eve is avodah zara. I explained very nicely to the kids who first came to us, that we don’t celeberate their holiday, but hope they have fun. It was never a problem.

    #1108540
    Homeowner
    Member

    BPTotty, and in the 60s, we were dismissed early from yeshiva every October 31, lest we get beaten up on the way home.

    #1108541
    minyan gal
    Member

    When I lived in my house, I turned out all of the lights so it looked like nobody was home. I sat in the back room and watched the idiot box. Nobody rang the bell.

    #1108542
    anonymrs
    Participant

    Purim costumes go on sale Nov. 1. 😉

    i bought my kids purim costumes on monday at toys r us- they didnt have a huge selection anymore, obviously, but they had what i wanted, and i didnt have to spend $20+ on each costume.

    re: what we do….

    this is only our second year where we are now, and i dont remember anyone coming by last year. we are not on a main street, and there are plenty of jews in our neighborhood, so anyone who wants candy knows not to come to our area.

    #1108543
    ronrsr
    Member

    my dear aunt had a solution to the problem.

    She would give out Fig Newtons. After a few years, she had a reputation, and no one would come to her house.

    #1108544

    what do I say to jewish college kids who tell me they are going to be in the dorm having a holloween party? They have noooo clue….

    #1108545
    QuestionForYou
    Participant

    I found this explanation of Halloween, elsewhere:

    *

    Halloween is a totally idolatrous celebration, which originated as a Celtic holiday, “Samhain” (pronounced many different ways), named after their Avodah Zarah who was “Lord of the Dead and Prince of Darkness.”

    Samhain supposedly took the “sun god” prisoner each year during the winter. On the day before the new year, which for the Celts was November 1st, Samhain called together all the dead people for a meeting. The dead people would take different forms, the really evil ones taking the form of a cat.

    Of course, this was all very scary to the Celts, so they had their galachim, called “druids,” offer sacrifices that day. They made a holiday out of this, to honor both the sun god and Samhain, lasting three days, where people would parade down the street in animal skins and other costumes.

    Then the Romans also had a holiday which, after many centuries, ended up being mixed in with Samhain Day. It’s called “Pomona Day,” named after their Avodah Zarah god of fruits.

    Then about 1,200 years ago, the Roman Catholics declared November 1st a holiday, “All Hallows Day,” in honor of their saints. Later, they added another day to this, Nov. 2, called “All Souls Day,” in honor of dead people. The Christians dressed up as saints, angels, and devils.

    They made these holidays in order to counteract Samhain’s Day (“Chukas Pagans” is against Christianity). But instead of counteracting it, people simply celebrated both the Christian and Celtic holidays at once.

    The Halloween that exists today has a mixture of the customs of Samhain’s Day, Pomona Day, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day.

    That’s what you’re celebrating on Halloween.

    #1108547
    Pashuteh Yid
    Member

    QuestionforYou, the message I took from your post was Samhain bevinyan shalem. Is that right?

    #1108548
    WIY
    Member

    oomis1105

    RAV Pam ZTVKL. A little respect please for a Gadol byisroel.

    #1108549

    We used to have next door neighbors who weren’t Jewish, but we were friendly with their sons, so we always gave them candy. Now I know that any kid who rings my bell isn’t someone I know anyway, so I wouldn’t open the door because they are strangers.

    #1108550
    Sister Bear
    Member

    Normally people don’t come. Cute story – we used to have non-Jewish neighbors a few years ago. Once my great-grandparents came a few weeks before Halloween and gave us some good British and Swiss chocolate. My neighbor wanted some which of course we wouldn’t give but her older brother was like, oh don’t worry we’ll get it on Halloween. They never came 🙂

    Another year my mother brought back from Israel Mikupelet’s but we don’t by the hechser so on Halloween we gave it to them. My family had some fun explained the Israeli chocolate bar. 🙂

    You took me back to the BP of the 70’s when it was real dangerous outside.

    I’m not that old, but we used to have recess when the public school kids came out of school and they used to throw rocks and snowballs at us!!! You still gotta be careful 🙂

    #1108551
    oomis
    Participant

    Sam Hain – I think I KNEW him! 😉

    #1108552
    ☕️coffee addict
    Participant

    I think it could be an oppurtinuty for some kiruv (a lot of non-frum kids go trick or treating) I heard a story of two kids that knocked on a door and one of them was dressed up as a bubby.

    #1108553
    aries2756
    Participant

    We grew up with Italian kids on the block. Kids don’t celebrate the source of Halloween they celebrate the fun of it. It is a secular holiday not a religious one. So as was the case in BP in the 60’s and early 70’s if neighbor’s kids knocked on the door we gave them candy. And came Purim time my Mother would send Shelach manos to certain Italian neighbors with us as we were dressed in costumes so they could taste her delicious home baked goods and they would pay us off as others would. They knew our customs and we knew theirs. And as a side note, the Italian mothers usually made their kid’s costumes as our mothers made ours. People didn’t just run to the store to buy everything so our mothers took pride in seeing as well as showing the “goods”.

    #1108554

    buy all the candy thats on sale!!!!! every year something diff happens-one year they knocked, so we gave them r leftover lollipops from simchas torah that n/o wanted… the next year we left a bag of candy on the porch-n/o knocked, adn the bag was gone the next morning

    #1108555
    Yanky55
    Participant

    Although I agree with Rav Pam’s approach (and my Rav advises the same), after having a swastika keyed into my car on halloween, I want nothing to do with it. I just ignore the rings….

    #1108556

    Since la is very spread out, and I don’t live on one of those concentrated with jews blocks, there are only about five frum families on my block. All the jews just stay indoors because in addition to being asked for candy, its a bit dangerous out there. My grandmother used to get eggs at her door all the time.

    #1108557
    ☕️coffee addict
    Participant

    Some teenagers rang our doorbell, we gave some 5 month old laffy taffies and they were happy

    Hey I think it made a kiddish Hashem idk

    #1108558
    Health
    Participant

    CA -Idk, why give junk candy? We gave regular candy.

    #1108560
    Meno
    Participant

    Do laffy taffies go bad after 5 months?

    #1108561
    charliehall
    Participant

    I ignore Halloween. It is a Christian holiday, not a Jewish one.

    #1108562
    ☕️coffee addict
    Participant

    Health,

    It is/was the only candy we had, we try to minimize our candy intake because it tends to be eaten by our kids (myself included)

    Meno,

    It does if it’s hot outside and it melts

    Charlie,

    In other words you think the kids should go the government for their candy (jk)

    #1108563
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    In general the new custom in the US it to put a Pumpkin or some other Halloween symbol on your doorstep so people know to go to that house and if there is no symbol kids are supposed to go to another house with it.

    That being said, Kids dont go trick or treating in my neighborhod

    #1108564
    nfgo3
    Member

    Confidential to WIY, first post: If you pay your bills on time, the collectors will leave you alone.

    #1108565
    Ex-CTLawyer
    Participant

    as my moniker implies I live out of town….

    Harmony with your neighbors requires that you graciously provide candy to the youngsters who knock at your door and compliment them on their costumes.

    Our small town neighbors are aware of our religious practice and in the occasional year when Halloween falls on a Friday, no child comes to the door.

    These same children may grow up to be the policeman, volunteer fireman or EMS that responds to your emergency.

    #1108566
    Little Froggie
    Participant

    I sit on the broom and fl…..<<CONNECTION LOST>>

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