Should Jews Celebrate Halloween?

There’s no doubt that Halloween, that whimsical event that offers both children and adults a day to simply play, is nevertheless rooted in paganism. As a result, some rabbis argue that the Torah prohibits Jews from partaking in Halloween customs, as they are rooted in idolatry —however muted (or non-existent) those roots have become. But these days, isn’t Halloween as quintessentially American as a Thanksgiving dinner or New Year’s Eve in Times Square? It depends whom you ask. Many rabbis lovingly embrace the opportunity to partake in what they describe as an innocent way to engage with our greater community, particularly in light of an isolating pandemic. Others clearly point out that, whereas the pilgrims of the Thanksgiving story teach us universal lessons about compassion and gratitude, the ancient Celts donned costumes and lit bonfires to ward off ghosts during the festival of Samhain (which, in the eighth century, the Catholic Church co-opted and turned into All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve). Therefore, it seems there are two Halloweens — one rooted in magical superstition and communicating with the dead — and the other a flagrantly commercial and fun way to communicate through costumes and little hands that eagerly await treats. Should Jews celebrate Halloween? We asked local rabbis to weigh in.

When I reflect on Halloweens of my childhood and adulthood, I think of the value of ‘hachnasat orchim’ — opening our doors to the adorable costumed little strangers that seek only sweetness in return.” — Rabbi Ron Li-Paz

“While Halloween undoubtedly has pagan roots, the holiday (not holy day) as celebrated in the United States is, for most of society, entirely untethered from religion and spirituality.  I therefore don’t hold it in conflict with our Jewish values. In fact, when I reflect on Halloweens of my childhood and adulthood, I think of the value of ‘hachnasat orchim’ — opening our doors to the adorable costumed little strangers that seek only sweetness in return.”

— Rabbi Ron Li-Paz,
Senior Rabbi of Valley Outreach Synagogue & Center for Jewish Life, Calabasas

“The Baal Shem Tov teaches that Judaism is about love— loving God and God’s creations. Our Jewish holidays nourish this love, and any sense of fear takes the form of repentance and yirah (awe) directed toward God. In addition to the significant halachic concerns about the pagan origins of Halloween, I think that this concept of fear is telling. Fear is not something we as Jews seek out or evoke, and Halloween— even with its fun— does just that. There’s a human impulse to dwell in the scary and mysterious. But the Jewish message is to spend our days creating much needed love and goodness. For that reason, our day to dress up and be silly is Purim, which is characterized by mitzvot of joy, charity, gifts, faith, and gratitude. There is, however, an additional halachic value to consider: Building positive relationships with our non-Jewish neighbors. For that reason, while the Orthodox practice is not to celebrate Halloween, many (including my family) choose to give out candy to those who do— which I believe only furthers that Jewish value of love.”

—Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn,
B’nai David-Judea Congregation

“Halloween. Dark and pagan. I’m not a fan.  — Rabbi Daniel Bouskila

“Halloween. Dark and pagan. I’m not a fan. If we insist on drawing comparisons to Purim, consider this: what message do we prefer teaching our children? To knock on a stranger’s door in a costume and demand a treat ‘or else,’ or to knock on someone’s door, in that same costume, and say ‘I’ve brought you something’? Trick or treat – to take.  Mishloach Manot – to give. Entitlement or generosity? Parents, you choose.”

— Rabbi Daniel Bouskila,
Sephardic Educational Center & Westwood Village Synagogue

“As a child of 1960s suburbia, I have fond memories of Halloween trick-or-treating in costumes my mother made for us. None of us had any idea, from the friends and neighbors we met during these celebrations, that the day marked any kind of religious observance. The only place I heard that was from my Hebrew Academy and later Yeshiva High School teachers. 

Mordecai Kaplan, founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, defined Judaism as an evolving religious civilization. Kaplan celebrated that American Jews walk proudly in two civilizations – Jewish and American. Halloween was a secular celebration and the only time all year we kids interacted with many of the adults in our neighborhood. Halloween was a time when we and they anticipated a friendly exchange and for a few weeks afterwards, the neighborhood felt smaller and warmer.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we should take advantage of being together and connected in as many ways as possible.”
— Rabbi Amy Bernstein

When people argue that Jews shouldn’t celebrate Halloween because it is a non-Jewish holiday, I wonder which iteration they mean; Samhain and the Celtic New Year’s Eve, the Catholic All Martyrs’ (later All Saints Day) Eve, early American autumnal ‘play parties’, or 1950s children’s celebrations? The reconstruction by Americans of a thousands’ year old tradition marking the transition from autumn to winter has always really been about building community and sharing a communal bounty of treats. There is nothing we need more, in my opinion, than a way to share pleasant interactions with our neighbors in this time of deep fracture and social division. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we should take advantage of being together and connected in as many ways as possible.”

— Rabbi Amy Bernstein,
Senior Rabbi, Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation

“I was born in Spain and never participated in festivities that have satanic roots. In spite of that, today, Halloween may be a sweet festival when we give candies to kids. I have no problem with that. However, the Jewish people should not participate. We have Purim.”

— Rabbi Moises Benzaquen,
Rabbi, West Coast Torah Center in Beverly Hills

“‘Should’ Jews celebrate Halloween? I don’t think it ought to be promoted. But if someone really wants to, given how thoroughly it is deracinated from any religious roots, and is really just an excuse for lawn ornaments and candy, I don’t think it hurts.”

— Rabbi David Wolpe,
Max Webb Senior Rabbi, Sinai Temple

“Our Kabbalat Shabbat dinners always have a theme at Hillel at UCLA. For example, we are having a ‘Mizrachi Shabbat’ and we’ve already had ‘Autumn Shabbat,’ as well as a ‘Game Night Shabbat’ — and the students decorate our dining hall according to each theme. The Hillel Student Board actually approached me about having a Halloween themed Shabbat, on the Friday before the holiday. Apparently, it was done before my time with my predecessor’s approval. Flashes of fake skeletons hanging from the ceiling of the dining hall and spider webs made out of cotton balls raced through my mind and I quickly said ‘no.’ I told them that this was a line I was willing to draw and that I was completely aware of the fact that they were going to celebrate Halloween on campus and within their sororities and fraternity parties — but within Hillel and on Shabbat, we need to keep it Jewish. The following week, the students came back to me with counter ideas: ‘Rabbi, we totally understand that this is your line, but what if we call it ‘Purim in October?’ was one of their proposals. In the end, I finally agreed to ‘Candyland Shabbat,’ where pareve candy would just be set all over the tables as an ode to the non-Jewish Holiday. The OU-JLIC, who also hold programming at Hillel, agreed with me that this was a fair compromise as well.

“I have no objection to Jewish folks dressing up for Halloween and passing out candy to trick or treaters. At the same time, it needs to stay outside of the synagogue — that is, it cannot be integrated within Judaism. There’s no place for ‘Shalloween.’” — Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh

I completely understand why people feel compelled to integrate the outside world with their Judaism. At the same time, I feel that it’s my role to remind people just how rich and fulfilling Judaism is within itself — and its own original ancient holidays and themes. I have no objection to Jewish folks dressing up for Halloween and passing out candy to trick or treaters. At the same time, it needs to stay outside of the synagogue — that is, it cannot be integrated within Judaism. There’s no place for ‘Shalloween.’”

— Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh,
Simha and Sara Lainer Senior Jewish Educator & Director of Student Life, Hillel at UCLA

“As someone who celebrates Jewish Pluralism, I have found benefit in acknowledging that Jews always live in two civilizations. Our most beloved rituals would not exist were not religious syncretism a thing. If the experience flows from the secular into the religious (think: Mimouna), then, as American Jews, we must ask ‘How does the religious flow into the secular?’ Halloween, a beloved ritual embraced by the followers of Hallmark Spirituality, has great potential to imbue the values of tzedakah (charity), hachnasat orchim (hospitality to guests) and even serve as a reminder of the coming of our miraculous holidays, Hanukkah and Purim. From thanking our troops with the gift of a thoughtful sweetness, to welcoming our neighbors with creative installations (our favorite is ‘Shabbat ShaBoo’ – when Shabbat coincides with Halloween and we light the Jack-o-Lanterns with Shabbos candles), Halloween is another opportunity to celebrate that we are American Jews or Jewish Americans.

In our family, our children know that a portion of their candy will go to Soldier’s Angels. We grant the kids to eat as much as they want on the day of Halloween (it’s never as bad as you think!), as that night ‘Hanukah Harry will come and take the candy away.’ The candy miraculously reappears for dreidel [games], amongst the sufganiyot and glow of the menorot; but be warned: All that is left, ‘will again be taken by Hanukkah Harry and return in a piñata for Purim.’ And so it does, and so the flow continues, year after year.”

—Rabbi Lori Shapiro,
Founder and Artistic Director, The Open Temple in Venice

“Imagine how our Father Abraham and Mother Sarah felt living alone in the world, where everyone was celebrating every pagan holiday and custom. There were parades, parties, celebrations, and pageantry everywhere. Still, Abraham and Sarah changed the hearts and minds of tens of thousands. They nurtured Isaac all alone against the world and Isaac was pure in all his ways.

What was their secret? Abraham and Sarah always spoke positively and lived with excitement about their Judaism. Children today need positive reasons why they should live as a Jew, instead of hearing why you can’t do this or refrain from that. Today in 2021, here in Los Angeles, there are thousands of Jewish children who do not even think of Halloween because everything in their Jewish life fulfills them.

 So, should Jews celebrate Halloween? I can’t think of one reason why they should.”

— Rabbi Chaim Mentz,
Chabad of Bel Air

“As a young girl in Toronto, Canada, growing up in an immigrant ‘survivors’ community, after Sukkot, October was marked by pumpkin carvings, creating a costume, and knocking on doors for candy. There was no awareness of its Christian and Celtic origins, nor its connection to remembering ‘Saints,’ flirting with demons, or visiting graves to honor the dead. Its origins have long been diffused into spontaneity and celebration.

As a marker of shorter days, harvest bounty, and communal festivity and sharing, I believe it brings some ‘light’ and ‘sweetness’ to our neighborhoods, and a little fun for children everywhere, especially after being shut in.”

— Rabbi and Cantor Eva Robbins,
Co-Founder, N’vay Shalom Synagogue