Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-athena.ARPA
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!mit-athena!martillo
From: martillo@mit-athena.ARPA (Joaquim Martillo)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Halloween
Message-ID: <62@mit-athena.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 4-Nov-84 11:05:27 EST
Article-I.D.: mit-athe.62
Posted: Sun Nov  4 11:05:27 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 6-Nov-84 07:11:45 EST
References: <1513@browngr.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Project Athena, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 23

I  am  glad Kantrowitz spooke up about Halloween.  If this point had not
been made, I would have eventually brought it up.  Modern  Western  Jews
have  a  much  too limited view of what apostacy is.  Genuerally Western
Jews consider only conversion to Christianity  apostacy.   But  in  fact
most of Jewish history has taken place in non-Christian lands.  Apostacy
in N. Africa for the past millenium meant conversion to Islam.  But more
importantly,  apostacy  during  the  hellenistic and Roman periods meant
conversion to the secular humanism of Roman or Greek culture.  Therefore
even  celebration  of  a  "secular"  holiday could easily be (a part of)
apostacy.  For this reason I am unpersuaded  by  Yirmiyahu  ben  David's
diatribes against prayer in the classroom.  Exposure to secular humanism
which tends to emphasize the nonimportance of religion is very likely to
lead to apostacy.

There  is  also  a  problem  with  celebrating a Jewish holiday in a way
similar to a non-Jewish holiday.  Most recently this is a  problem  with
Hanukkah.  I am often amused to think that those types of Jews who would
imitate the "secular" observance of Christmas in Hanukkah are  precisely
the type of Jews whose throats the Hashmonaim would have cut.

There is a problem when Ashkenazim imitate the Mardi Gras with Purim and
also because many Lenten customs  have  crept  into  Ashkenazi  Passover
observance.