Picture this – Spokane, Washington, October 31, 1952. A Cowboy and a Ghost ring the doorbell of an elderly couple’s apartment. “Whose little boys are you?” the woman asks. Replies the Ghost, “You wouldn’t know us, Grandma.”
And so the Halpern boys’ evening of Trick or Treating began . . . our celebration of All Hallows’ Eve . . . two little Jewish kids raking in bags full of candy, oblivious to the fact that we were joining the souls of saints, martyrs, true believers and those condemned to wandering that one day on earth.
Fast forward four years.
There is a new sheriff in Spokane, Washington – at least, a new Rabbi. “What are these sweet Jewish children doing celebrating religious holidays of other faiths? No, No, No!”
Thus ended Trick or Treating and St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day and chocolate bunnies whose ears you always ate off first.
The greatest trauma of my childhood!
Now, as an adult and as a Professional Jewish Person, I do not believe for one moment that the Cowboy or the Ghost were harmed by our non-Jewish holiday celebrations. We and our co-Tricksters from the synagogue all ended up as committed Jews – some more so than others – some by ritual, some by culture, some by gastronomy, some Orthodox, some totally secular, some in Israel. All are Members of the Tribe somewhere, somehow.
Could the Jewish parents of Spokane, Washington, have been so wise that they understood that there was no necessary conflict between being immersed in Judaism and being immersed in American culture?
Indeed, there is no conflict, so long as the “immersed in Judaism” happens.
And our parents saw to it that the “immersed in Judaism” did happen.
We read continually that the demise of Judaism is coming because we have abandoned ritual and synagogue attendance. But, in truth, the demise of Judaism will come only when we abandon Judaism in all its unique variations.
That is the challenge for today’s parents and for us as their extended family.
Judaism offers many paths – culture, music, literature, Israel, gastronomy –and, yes, ritual in many, many forms. As a community we must ensure that each and every one of those paths is there for our children.
B’Shalom
Rabbi Stanley Halpern