From The Bimah: Jewish Lessons For Life

On the morning of Kol Nidrei—Friday, October 11 to be exact—my colleagues and I were doing a Kabbalat Shabbat service with our youngest learners, our preschool children who range in age from 15 months to 5 years old.  Yom Kippur was in the air. Kol Nidrei with all its solemnity, was in 9 hours.  How to convey Kol Nidrei intensity to our youngest learners? So I asked them: what is your favorite Jewish holiday?  One hand after another shot up.  The first young child answered:  Halloween!  The second learner spoke up: Halloween! And so it would go.  Surprisingly, not a single child said Yom Kippur was their favorite Jewish holiday.  No three-year-old said I just love Unetaneh Tokef.  The clear choice for favorite Jewish holiday of our youngest learners is Halloween. I have been thinking about their response, and while of course Halloween is not a Jewish holiday, in a deep way, they are right.  Holidays are supposed to be joyful. What is more joyful than Halloween the way we practice it today?  It’s about parents