This Saturday night is an opportunity to dim the lights, light a strange looking candle, burn incense and of course taste something sweet!  No, not because its Halloween, but because its Havdallah.  Havdallah is the ritual that marks the end of the Shabbat and ushers in Saturday evening and the beginning of the secular week.  And since this week begins with an (almost completely) secular holiday it is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the difference between holy time and secular time. 

Is Halloween secular?  It began as a strange cross between a Celtic pagan harvest tradition (Samhain) and a Christian observance (All Hallows Eve or the Evening of All Saints Day).  However, even though the word “hallow” means “holy or to make holy,” contemporary Halloween as a religious event is more hollow than hallowed.  Neither the practices nor the mood of the day conform with its Christian roots and those who celebrate Samhain (such as Wiccans)  do not associate themselves with such staples of the day as trick or treating and wearing costumes.

What about Jews?  There are many Jews who refrain from celebrating since Halloween is not itself a Jewish holiday and it has the aforementioned echoes of other faiths as well as some emphasis on the darker side of human (and not human!) behavior.  There are also many Jews who, like most of our neighbors, see this holiday as a chance to have a little fun together without much regard to anything more spiritual than a sugar high.

But if Halloween is hollow, could there be a chance to fill it in a little?  It all starts with Havdallah on Saturday night.

Shabbat, from sundown Friday night to nightfall on Saturday, is Kodesh Holy Time, a day that we respond to by turning inward to reflect on our spiritual self and outward to be together with our family and our community.  On Shabbat, we try to eat special foods, sing joyous songs and make the most of the weekly gift of a day of rest.  Kodesh

The rest of the week is chol, secular or hollow.  But things that are chol are opportunities for holiness.  That is why the ritual of havdallah separates between the kodesh and the chol.  To appreciate the time which is already holy and to give ourselves the opportunity to bring holiness to the other times.

How can there be holiness on Halloween?

One way is to give Tzedaka.  After all the loot is taken and the candy is apportioned, is there a way to give back?  Either donating excess candy to a childrens hospital or asking your kids to put aside some allowance money toward a good cause is a way to appreciate your neighbors generosity.

Another connection between Halloween and Jewishness may be surprising: Ghost stories.  Some of the most famous tales of spirits, demons and monsters come from the imagination of Jewish sages, mystics and contemporary authors.

Jewish legend gives us the golem, a creature brought to life by a pious rabbi to protect the community who in the end runs amok, the dybbuk a spirit that possesses another’s body in order to seek revenge or finish unfinished business and countless stories of demons and spirits who populate a barely visible world that hinges on the actions of the righteous and the wicked. 

On Sunday morning I will talk a little bit about these stories with our religious school kids (in an age appropriate way, of course) and tonight at our Friday night service and dinner I will give a little taste as well. 

But finding these opportunities to hallow the hollow starts with the recipe for havdallah: (see further below for full Hebrew and translation)

After nightfall on Saturday, do some or all of the following:  

Lift a cup of wine or grapejuice  and say the blessing over wine (but do not drink) - Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech ha'olam borei pri ha gafen

Take a spicebox (or anything fragrant including a teabag) and say the blessing over spices - Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech ha'olam borei minei b'samim 

Light a twisted candle or put any two flames together and say the blessing over making fire - Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech ha'olam borei m'orei ha-eish

Take a moment to think about how to make the time you spend together this evening sweet as wine, uplifting as spices, and warm and bright as a candle

say the words "Praised are you our G-d, Master of the Universe Who Separates between kodesh and chol "  Baruch ata adonai hamavdil bein kodesh l'chol

Take a sip of wine and douse the candle in the rest. 

I look forward to spending time together soon, whether celebrating the holiness of Shabbat or elevating the rest of the week by finding ways to hallow each moment.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Michael