-A Conservative colleague of mine would take his children to the mall on Halloween and remain there until the mall closed. He wanted them to avoid the “pagan yet Christian” holiday. I told him, “You’re nuts!” First of all – and I’ll make this second and third of all as well – his children weren’t stupid. They’ll hear about it. They’ll be asked by friends, “What candy did you get?” and not only will they wonder what the heck that was all about, but they’ll be resentful, remembering what they couldn’t celebrate rather than the point behind the rejection of the holiday in the first place. It took two Halloweens, but he finally realized I was right. And to that I say, “D U H !”

Of course, there are pagan and religious dimensions to Halloween, but tell me, is that something in the consciousness of even 2% of Americans? As I’ve said we have to make a big deal of Jewish holidays and let Halloween be what it is, fun! And so is Purim!! (Note two exclamations after Purim)

-Halloween in my Manhattan neighborhood was no big deal. The Jewish kids were more afraid of the Irish kids than they were of ghosts and goblins, so they didn’t go out Trick-or-Treating. The same thing was true on Good Friday. It was a school holiday, yes, but the Jews would stay at home while others would be at the park or play slug on the apartment buildings’ stoops. Leaving church, the Catholic boys would find a few “Christ killer” kids and remind us of our felony. If their priest read it from their bible, it couldn’t have been fake news. It’s not only that we didn’t do it, those of the 1950s and 1960s REALLY didn’t do it! But that didn’t matter; it was a great excuse.

-This is also the night we turn our clocks back an hour. All I know about that is the extra hour of sleep I get in the Fall which nowadays is irrelevant since I don’t sleep that long any morning. But I hate the darkness that arrives earlier during Standard Time. We’ve heard of “Seasonal Adjustment Disorder” which occurs because there’s more darkness than light during the day. I turn on more lights in the house which helps a lot.

I only pray that the third day of Standard Time this year doesn’t bring us an overwhelming darkness which will negatively impact on even those who normally don’t suffer from S.A.D.