Shabbat Blast

Jewish institutions deal with Halloween in different ways. Some ignore it, hoping that if they close their eyes and clap their hands children will like Hebrew homework more than eating candy. I don't see this happening any time soon. Others embrace it and coin cute little names like Challahween when the ghoulish holiday coincides with Shabbat. Many cringe at this notion, including me, but there is something to be said for meeting people, especially children, where they are.

I'd like to approach Halloween from a different perspective and this comes to me in relation to our Parasha Vayera. From Abraham and Sara, we learn to have a tent that is open on all sides. When the 3 angels passed by, Abraham ran out and greeted them, which is all the more impressive because he had just been circumcised. This was the custom of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests. We espouse this as a wonderful Jewish value and tell our brides and grooms that the chuppah overhead should represent the home that they will build, like Abraham and Sara, open on all sides, welcoming. But this is not easy! We are self- conscious about the tidiness of our homes. Hosting takes precious energy that we don't have, and as the host you have the onerous responsibility of setting the tone for conversations.

The result of such anxieties and our depletion of energy is that we are closed off from each other. It's rare that we invite the couple down the street over for a cup of tea or to try out our new sound system. Our walls seem thicker than ever. So when we get to a holiday when people actually open our doors to one another, even though it is to scare each other and provoke cavities, I have to think that this holiday embodies the value that Abraham and Sara modeled, of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests. We open our neighborhood for one evening. Instead of griping about the loud noise coming from the teenagers down the street, we give them a smile and a Snickers bar. It fills my heart with joy to see the glee on the faces of little ones when they have a full basket.

When I was a little girl, many people built sukkot in their backyards and we would do a sukkah hop, walking from sukkah to sukkah. Ideally, this would be our hachnasat orchim in the fall and I haven't given up on this idea.  Our community needs to not just talk Jewish and study Jewish, we need to build and do Jewish. But I am willing to see the good in Halloween as well. So enjoy your candy Challahs and save some peanut M&Ms for me.

Don't forget to bring that good spirit with you to the Jewish community. We have junior congregation tomorrow morning and our kids show on Sunday. We can challenge our kids to have their candy and their Yiddishkeit too, not one or the other.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Bernstein