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_THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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THE JEWISH NEWS
Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community
with distinction for four decades.
Editorial and Sales offices at 17.515 West Nine Mile Road,
Suite 865, Southfield, Michigan 48075-4491
TELEPHONE 424-8833
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ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES:
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PRODUCTION:
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© 1984 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-520)
Second Class postage paid at Southfield, Michigan and additional mailing offices. Subscription $18 a year.
CANDLELIGHTING AT 6:27 P.M.
VOL. LXXXVI, NO. 8
Goodman, Shmoodman
It looks as if it is about time for the cheap tricks to bubble up from the
primeval ooze of election year politics. We were kind of wondering idly when
they would, so we were not shocked or surprised to discover that the
Reagan/Bush people had formed a "National Jewish Coalition" and were
phoning voters with Jewish-sounding names, asking them who they planned
to support for President. The fact that the Republicans were canvassing
voters doesn't bother us. It's just that the callers, many of whom were blacks
and Hispanics, were (1) representing themselves fictitiously as Harry and
Betty Goodman, and (2) that they weren't routinely identifying themselves as
Republicans.
The idea that the canvassers were ph .oning people with
"Jewish-sounding" names is a bit clumsy, but polls are often conducted on
that basis. It's cheaper than buying lists of bona fide Jews, and probably no
more faulty than most others as a method of defining a sample. The offense
lies in the Republicans' crude and fraudulent attempt to manipulate the
Jewish vote, not to mention their cynical assumption that Jews can be
appealed to simply by dangling some ethnic bait.
The antidote to all of this flummery, of course, lies in the application of
simple skepticism. As Sydney H. Schanberg wrote in the New York Times
this week, If someone you don't know calls you between now and Election
Day and inquires about your political views or voting preference, ask them for
their real name and ask them which candidate or party is paying for the call
— and if they won't tell you, just hang up on Betty or Harry Goodman or any of
their relatives."
Bipartisan diplomacy
Congressional action formalized prior to the Presidential election recess
once again affirmed a basic American foreign policy. It stamped with an
emphatic realism the sentiments inherent in a program that strives for
friendship with the most democratic community in the Middle East and
declares the decision to be a continuity in bipartisanship.
Amidst most vociferous dickering on many other issues, the friendship
affirmed for Israel rises above partisan discomforts. As one of the most
consistent advocates of this nonpartisanship in treating Israel as an avowed
friend in that part of the world, veteran Congressman William Broomfield
has indicated that decisive steps in support of Israel represent a mutual
benefit for two nations.
Taking into account the mission to this country of Israel Prime Minister
Shimon Peres and the billions in American allocations to Israel, USA Today
treated the issues editorially in this fashion:
Some say we should either turn Peres down or tie tight strings to any
aid. But if we do, his fragile coalition could collapse — and with it any hope for
a real solution to the Mideast chaos. Israel is poised between two visions of
its future. Will it become an expansionist, militaristic state? Or will it choose
diplomacy and a lasting peace? By giving aid now, when the need is so great
and the threat so grave, we can help Israel make the right choice. Then those
billions will be a bargain, not a burden."
Israel and her friends, primarily the Jewish people, surely hope that the
need for large-scale foreign aid will be reduced with time. Meanwhile, the
assistance provided by this country creates the necessary bulwalk of strength
for the democratic ideals in the Middle East. They are factors contributing to
peace. This is a vitality that justifies the continuity of mutual accords
between the United States and Israel.
OP-ED
Hey, you ghosts and goblins:
All Hallows Eve is coming
BY RABBI BERNARD S. RASKAS
Special to The Jewish News
Although Halloween is really a
children's festival of fun and games,
thoughtful Jews wonder if they should
join in the celebration. After all, Hal-
loween originated as a pagan festival,
then became a Christian holiday and
is still observed as such in certain
church rituals. Therefore, should a
Jew celebrate Halloween?
The holiday had its beginnings in
a pre-Christian festival of the dead
celebrated by the Celtic peoples of
England, Ireland and Scotland in the
fall of the year. At that time, the festi-
val was called Samhain (pronounce:
Sah-weep) and was the biggest and
most significant holiday of the Celtic
year. Celts believed that Samhain was
a time when the souls of those who died
during the year traveled into the other
world. People gathered to sacrifice
animals, make offerings of fruits and
vegetables and light bonfires and help
the dead on their journey during Sam-
hain. Ghosts, fairies and demons
roamed the countryside.
In the year 601, Pope Gregory the
Great took this pagan festival and
made it the Christian feast of All
Saints. It was a feast day honoring
every Christian saint and it was sup-
posed to be a substitute for the pagan
festival. All Saints Day was also
known as All Hallows Day, hallow
being another word for saint. Later,
the day became a time to pray for the
souls of all the dead. Since dead souls,
fairies, witches and demons were on
the prowl that day, people left out food
and drink to placate them. As the cen-
turies wore on, people began dressing
as these dreadful creatures to disguise
themselves and some performed antics
in exchange for food.
Witches are emphasized because
they were the most dreaded of crea-
tures, based on the Biblical verse in
.Exodus 22:18, You shall not permit a
witch to live." This took on an ominous
form in the Middle Ages when
thousands of innocent people were
condemned to death in Europe an4
Great Britain because they were sup- j
posed to be witches. Under the Inquisi-
tion, Jews, and especially Jewish
chemists, doctors and women, were
often condemned as witches. In Salem;
Mass., witch trials took place in 1692
and 20 people were tortured and
hanged because of the testimony of
some hysterical girls.
The verse taken from the Torah
about witches had meaning for Jews ,
Moreover, a soothsayer, a diviner, a
sorcerer and anyone who uses magic i
to be condemned. The Hebrew word for .
magic is kishuf and from that we ge t
the Hebrew word for witch,
machashafa. There must have been
Should Jewish children
celebrate a holiday with
pagan origins that later
became a Christian feast
day?
•many magic makers around in
cal times because again and again in
the Torah we find them condemned.
Under the influence of the general cul-
tural and social environment, we firm:
the use of magic and sorcery often in
the Jewish community. The stated op
position of the rabbis was found in the–
saying: "He who whispers charms has
no share in the world to come."
In Jewish lore one finds the belief
that there are night demons that -
would harm us. Some are called maz- ,
zikin (trouble makers), Shadim, which
have human forms and eat and drink, -
ruchin, which are complete/y disem-
bodied and formless. A dybuk is a
wandering soul that enters people and
causes them to act in strange manners.
Lillit is a female demon who is particu
larly powerful against women.
Continued on Page 13
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