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From: elb@hou5e.UUCP (Ellen Bart)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Holidays -- Two Civilizations
Message-ID: <1028@hou5e.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Nov-84 08:31:14 EST
Article-I.D.: hou5e.1028
Posted: Thu Nov 15 08:31:14 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 16-Nov-84 05:35:06 EST
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(I am posting this as a followup because I still can't get postnews
to work --any suggestions on that score are welcome)

I got a few letters in response to my posting on Thanksgiving
which deserve some additional comments on the net.

I stated that I did not participate in Halloween  or Christmas
or New Years but did believe that Judaism (Orthodox included) allowed
for the celebration of Thanksgiving.

The letters I got brought up two main points.  The first is that
regardless of its origins, Halloween is now a secular holiday and
therefore should fall in the same category as Thanksgiving.  I disagree.
I think the origins are not merely important in the determination
of permissability but are crucial.

One of the main reasons for this was actually brought up by a non-Jew
who asked me about the Jewish prohibition against participating in
activities which are "the laws of the [non-Jewish] nations".
A discussion with an Orthodox Rabbi confirmed my impression that this
prohibition refers to practices of non-Jews which were (or are) related to
their religious celebrations or worships.

The origins of Halloween and New Years are religious.  The current state
of these celebrations cannot change that.  The origins of Thanksgiving
are secular  -  a harvest festival if you like.  It was never tied to
a particular religion or religious ritual.  If I then want to use this
day off from work to meet with my family and eat traditional Thanksgiving
lasagna (a long story, but that's what my family always eats), then there
should be no problem according to Jewish law.

Any questions or comments are welcome

Ellen Bart