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Jewish legend offers plenty of scary characters for Halloween
YOSEF ABRAMOWITZ
Special to Jewish News
This year the American kids' festival of sugar and face paint falls on Saturday night, Oct. 31. More Jewish families with children observe Halloween than the wacky Purim, which falls on March 2 of next year. Indeed, Halloween is more anticipated and treasured than even the Sabbath.
Instead of fighting an uphill battle to convince your children to abandon this pagan celebration, try to co-opt it. The first step this year can be by introducing Havdallah, the mystical ceremony involving a flickering flame, sweet spices and a glass of wine. Havadallah marks the end of the Sabbath, so don't let your kids trick-or-treat until they have marked the end of sacred time. In the glow of the candle, begin by first telling a spooky Jewish story, like about the Golem (five Jewish spooky stories are available from Jewishholidays.com). By saying goodbye to Shabbat, we acknowledge that we live in a world where everything else is not yet holy. How we approach that which is unsacred, such as Halloween, teaches our children about living Jewishly in a non-Jewish world.
Perhaps if we made dual-use Halloween-Purim costumes with our children, we might more easily celebrate Purim later. Here are some Jewish costume ideas that will scare away any notion that traditional Judaism is free of pagan influence.
Angel of Death - This character appears in the Passover story during the tenth and final plague against the Egyptians. The Jewish view of the Angel of Death is that it is covered with eyes, so that those who see him will gasp in fear. Kaballah names this Angel Samael.
Lilith - The first wife of Adam in the Garden of Eden demanded full equality. Denied egalitarianism, she left. Jewish legend has vilified her as the demon queen of the night who kills newborns and mothers. She is a seductive figure with long hair who can fly and seduce men in their sleep.
Golem - During the Middle Ages in Prague, a kabbalistic master fashioned a being from clay to protect the Jews from pogroms. The four Hebrew letters with the name of God from the Torah were engraved into his forehead. Other Jewish masters are said to have created golems as servants of extraordinary strength, but with no ability to think independently or to speak. Think of the golem as a Jewish Frankenstein's monster.
Dybbuk - An evil spirit that seeks vulnerable souls to displace so that it can occupy a person's body. The dybbuk speaks with a new voice in its new body and can only be expelled by exorcism.
Endor - In the Book of Samuel I, the prophet Samuel is raised from the dead by the Witch of Endor at the request of King Saul, who seeks his advice prior to his final battle. In the TV series "Bewitched," Samantha's mother was named Endora for the biblical witch.
Agrat Bat Mahalt - She is the queen of Jewish demons and is a concubine of Samael.
Asmodeus - A mischievous demon king hid the Shamir worm (a worm, fashioned by rabbis, that could crawl across rocks and split them so that they could be formed into bricks to build the temple at a time when Solomon wasn't allowed to use metal because he was a man of war) from King Solomon to prevent him from building the first Temple in Jerusalem. King Solomon tricked Asmodeus by filling his well with wine, getting the demon drunk and acquiring his book of magic. Asmodeus, however, managed to exile the king and have his way with Solomon's 1,000 wives. Solomon, after wandering as a beggar, finally returned to the throne and banished the demon.
Yosef Abramowitz's latest book, "Beyond Scandal: The Parents' Guide to Sex, Lies & Leadership," is available at all on-line bookstores.
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